For months now, you’ve been asking us about “the hottest pepper in the world”.
We finally found some time to sit down and tell you a little bit more about it:
Meet Pepper X – the new holder of the Guiness world record for the hottest pepper in the world. In October 2023 Pepper X displaced the previous sort, the long-standing champion Carolina Reaper, who held the title for more than a decade.
How hot is Pepper X?
There are a few people who have single handedly tasted the hottest pepper in the world and most of them describe its flavor as “brutally hot”. This itself is eloquent enough, but a better perception of what it feels like to eat Pepper X, gives us the official spiciness measurement scale. The so called “Scoville scale” measures the amount of capsaicin, the active substance, that gives the specific flavor of the chilli peppers.
The previous owner so far was a sort called “Carolina Reaper”, with a content of 1.64 million Scovilles. The people who haven’t tried it, can imagine how hot it is if they compare it with the sweet red pepper, which averages between 100 and 500 Scovilles. On the other hand, chillies such as jalapeño measure about 5000 Scovilles. However, Pepper X breaks all the records with a whopping 2.693 Scovilles, reaching unseen heat levels.
What does the hottest chilli pepper in the world taste like?
Pepper X is the fruit of many years of work by American Ed Currie from South Carolina, who loves to experiment with different sorts of peppers. His experiments turn out to be more than successful, the previous holder of the title (Carolina Reaper) is his work as well.
For the creation of the current hottest pepper. Ed Currie used a mix of Carolina Reaper and another sort of chilli pepper. Pepper X is a small pepper with an irregular shape and color, that varies between red and yellow. This pepper is definitely not recommended for raw consumption by amateurs with no experience.
Before the senses get conquered by the spiciness, the taste of Pepper X is quite pleasant, the few people who have tried it share that it has fruity flavors. The strong, chilli flavor, on the other hand, comes almost immediately, just a few seconds after the first bite and the aftertaste lasts for a few hours. That’s why Pepper X should be used in combination with other ingredients, which suppress its strong effect.
It’s hard for the average person to imagine there is a spicier pepper than Pepper X,
But Ed Currie stated that this is the hottest pepper for now.
And no, we do not have seeds for Pepper X.
In addition, we can say that Ed Currie patented that type of chillie pepper and refused to share it with the world. At least for now.
So, to our spicy eating friends, we will dare together and hope that Uncle Ed will give us the chance to have a taste of Pepper X.
