Pepper Varieties - Superhot

For years, the Carolina reaper has held the #1 spot for the hottest pepper on earth. There have been contenders, but none have officially dethroned the reaper for over 6 years. Until now. In October of 2023, Smokin’ Ed Currie announced a new Guinness World Record for the hottest chili pepper: Pepper X. This is …

The Carolina reaper is cool. Being the hottest pepper on Earth demands a lot of respect. However, I think the purple reaper may be even more awesome (and not just for how it looks). Purple peppers are nothing new, but growing a purple variant of the hottest pepper in the world is just plain cool. …

There have been whispers and murmurs about a new ‘hottest pepper’ variety. Though nothing is official or confirmed, there may already be a pepper hotter than the famed Carolina Reaper. No, we’re not talking about Smokin’ Ed’s own ‘Apollo pepper’ which is still shrouded in mystery. We’re talking about the primotalii pepper, a cross between …

The number of “superhot” pepper varieties is always growing larger. Through cross breeding, the frontier of spice seems to be expanding every year. One of the long-standing superhots is the chocolate bhutlah pepper. This variety was an early entry into the world of cross breeding peppers to create something new and extra-spicy. Chocolate Bhutlah Pepper …

Troy Primeaux has led an interesting life. From thrashing out in the 90s as part of the Deep South psychedelic rock band Santeria, to breeding one of the world’s hottest peppers, the 7 Pot Primo pepper. Primeaux shifted to horticulture in the early 2000s, reportedly in need of a more family-appropriate lifestyle. While studying at …

In 2008, David Cappiello (known as Cappy on TheHotPepper forum) shared a unique variant of a 7 pot pepper plant. The skin of his peppers was particularly wrinkly, and he posted about it to share with the community. This went on to become the “brain strain” pepper, and was created through selective plant breeding. This …

Jay’s Peach Ghost Scorpion pepper is a hybrid pepper variety created by Jay Weaver from PA. Commonly known simply as JPGS, this pepper is the result of crossing a common ghost pepper with the Trinidad Scorpion. The pepper looks angry, with a highly wrinkled texture and long, curly stingers on the end. The color is …

The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper is fiercely spicy. The small, wrinkled peppers look angry, because they are. They are known as one of the hottest peppers in the world. Most commonly used to make super-spicy hot sauces and powders, Moruga Scorpions are highly sought after. They take a long time to fully ripen, often 1-2 …

The ghost pepper is one of the most notoriously spicy peppers on the planet. It is a result of ancient plant breeding, and is a cross between the species Capsicum chinense and Capsicum fructescens. In the late 2000s, ghost peppers became famous as the hottest peppers in the world. The name was perfect for such …