The worlds hottest Chillies

The worlds hottest Chillies

Chilli pioneers

There is great prestige among Chilli enthusiasts to claim to have created the worlds hottest. When a new  Chilli is announced it brings tremendous interest from the world and international fame to the breeder . Most of the new variants that have been created have been made by taking already hot Chillies and cross-breeding them to develop a new hybrid. The characteristics that give them heat are super concentrated in the new creation by a process of intentional special selection by the grower. It is a slow process and requires great skill and patience to achieve success. My hat goes off to these great Chilli pioneers

The hottest ot the Hot

One of the worlds hottest Chillies. The Caroliner Reaper

The hottest Chillies

The Guinea's book of records lists the Coroliner Reaper as officially being the world's hottest Chilli. The South Carolina Chilli grower who originally developed it, Ed (Smoking Ed) Curry, has however developed an even hotter Chilli. It is claimed his new hybrid – Pepper X – is twice as hot as the Carolina reaper.  It apparently has a Scoville heat rating of 3.18 million units (this still has to be officially confirmed). The Corolina Reaper has a SHU of about 1.5 million, but can go above 2 million SHU.

List of the world's hottest Chillies

The following are recognised as being some of the world's hottest Chillies

  1. Caroliner reaper – 1.5 million to 2.125 million SHU
  2. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion - 1.2 to 2 million SHU
  3. 7 Pot Douglah - 923 000 to 1.9 million SHU
  4. Trinidad Scorpion Butch T - 800,000 to 1.4 million SHU
  5. Naga Viper - 1.25 million to - 1.38 million SHU
  6. 7 Pot Barrackpore - 1,000 000 – 1.300,000 SHU
  7. Dorset Naga - 900,000 to 1 300,000 SHU (see note)
  8. 7 Pot Primo - 800,000 to 1.2 million SHU
  9. Bhut Jolokia - 855000 – 1.041 million SHU
  10. Seven pod red Giant - about 1 million SHU
  11. Red Savina Habanero – 550000 SHU

Note: This Chili could have a higher top limit. Testing that the BBC had done on the Dorset Naga found it to be 1.6 million SHU.

These are very hot Chillies indeed. When considering that the hotter eating Chillies like Scotch Bonnets and Habaneros have Scoville ratings of about 100000 to 350000 SHU, it becomes clear just how pungent they are.

Another Chilli that is unofficially hotter than the  Carolina reaper is the Dragon's Breath. This Chilli was developed by Chilli grower Mike Smith of St Asaph in the United Kingdom.  He collaborated with Nottingham Trent University to create it for medicinal purposes, rather than as an eating Chilli. Indeed, with a reading of 2.48 million SHU (this too needs official confirmation), anyone eating this Chilli would be in danger of anaphylactic shock. Definitely not a good idea!