Spice – the world’s hottest pepper

chili-peppersspicesspicy-hot

I'm growing some bhut jolokia peppers, and they are almost ready for harvesting.

However, I've since seen that the naga viper pepper has beaten the bhut jolokia as the hottest pepper. I've also seen that a variety of Trinidad Scorpion pepper has beaten out the naga viper.

The store I bought my bhut jolokia from now is selling "the world's hottest pepper" called naga jolokia.

Is the naga jolokia the same as the naga viper? Is it the same as the bhut jolokia?

I understand that the naga viper was an unstable hybrid. Presumably this means that it cannot be reliably sold for home gardeners. Is the Trinidad Scorpion variety stable? If not, how do the stable varieties compare with the naga viper and bhut jolokia?

To summarize the questions:

  1. What is a naga jolokia, and where does it stand in comparison to
    the other "contender" peppers?
  2. What is the world's hottest pepper?
  3. What is the hottest pepper that the average home gardener can purchase, and then grow
    at home (local climate permitting)?

Best Answer

The world record holder is currently the Carolina Reaper according to Guinness (as of AUG 2013).

This pepper began its family tree as a crossbreed between a Ghost Chili pepper and a Red Habanero.

The LA Times reports that the hottest Reaper has been clocked at 2.2 Million Scoville units. That's higher than some commercial pepper spray products. They go on to cite a study conducted by Winthrop University (South Carolina, US) that claims the average is closer to 1.5 M.

Carolina Reaper peppers. Image courtesy of delectationoftomatoes.wordpress.com

There is a hotter pepper contending for the throne. "Pepper X" (a codename pending a permanent name) is now supposedly clocking in over 3M but is pending Guinness verification.

What a time to be alive.