Are you the type of person who likes to spice things up… with your food?
If you enjoy adding a little, or a lot of kick to your dishes, then this is a challenge that you may want to think of taking. Check out the list of some of the hottest chili peppers on the planet, and see which ones you can stomach without giving into pain.
Red Savina Habanero – 500,000 Scoville Heat Unites (SHU)
An oldie, but a goodie, this pepper still packs a punch and can set a mouth on fire. If you’re looking to start this list slowly, you might as well start here at the bottom and move your way up. This pepper was created in Walnut, California.
7 Pot Red (GIANT) – 1,000,000 SHU
Originating from Trinidad, this pepper is one of many strains of the 7 pot and it was given its name because one pepper was said to be able to flavor seven different pots of stew.
7 Pot Barrackpore – 1,000,000 SHU
Another strain of the 7 pot pepper, it too is rare and from Trinidad. The Barrackpore is tolerable for the first 20 seconds, but then it really starts to heat up.
Bhut Jolokia – 1,041,427 SHU
Back in 2007, the Bhut Jolokia was at the top of the Guinness Book of World Records list for being the hottest chili in the world, but has since moved down the list. Also known as the Ghost Pepper, it was dethroned by the infinity chili in 2011.
Infinity Chili Pepper – 1,067,286 SHU
Created by Fire Foods, Grantham and Lincolnshire in England, the Infinity chili (also known as the Infinity Pepper) held the top spot as the hottest chili for two weeks in February 2011 before it was dethroned. The pepper is known as a slow burner, and once you eat it, you’ll feel it for burn for hours and hurt for the rest of the day. Ouch.
7 Pot Primo – 1,268,250 SHU
Another strain of the 7 pot, this pepper looks lethal with its pointy tail and is a hybrid of the Naga Morich and the Trinidad 7 Pot.
Naga Viper, 1,382,118 SHU
Created in England at The Chilli Pepper Company, the Naga Viper is a hybrid of the Naga Morich, Bhut Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion peppers. Some of the hottest peppers ever created.
Trinidad Scorpion Butch T – 1,463,700 SHU
Derived from the Trinidad scorpion, the Butcher T pepper was the hottest pepper on earth for three years. It is said that the secret to the heat of the pepper was due to fertilizing the soil with the liquid runoff of a worm farm. Well, that’s one way to make things spicy.
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion – 2,009,231 SHU
The former Guinness Book of World Records holder back in 2012, this pepper seems harmless at first, but then the spiciness begins to grow and keeps growing until it becomes unbearable. The pepper is native to Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago and has a sweet-hot combination flavor.
Carolina Reaper – 2,200,000 SHU
The hottest of the hottest, the Carolina Reaper was named the Guinness Book of World Record’s hottest pepper on August 7, 2013. The pepper was created by the PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, South Carolina and is a crossbreed between a Bhut jolokia and Red Habanero pepper. That’s quite the lethal combination. And if you need visual proof on what this pepper can do, just watch the video below.
Depending on which lists you read, there could be a few other peppers that can be added to the list. Regardless, if you are able to eat every pepper on this list, you are seriously one tough cookie.