What Is The World’s Hottest Pepper?

So, you love spicy food, huh?

You are always reaching for the hot sauces when you’re about to eat your next delicious savory meal for that extra heat?

We get you, and as spicy food lovers ourselves, we’re always looking for the hottest sauce we can use!

If you’re like us, you’re probably left wondering, “what is the hottest pepper in the world?“

Read on for those brave enough to go beyond their usual hot sauce! We’re talking about the world’s hottest peppers.

Top 24 Hottest Peppers In The World To Try!

You might be surprised to know that there are numerous super hot peppers around the world.

It isn’t limited to the ones you see in the grocery stores, and many of these can really knock you out!

The current world record holder is Carolina Reapers, but many other hot peppers are to learn about. Without further ado, here are the hottest peppers you can feast on… If you dare.

1. Carolina Reaper Pepper – The Hottest Pepper in The World

You probably already know about the Carolina Reaper Pepper, which has been named the world’s hottest pepper time and time again. (*)

It recently reached peak levels of more than 2,200,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), the highest anyone’s seen! (*)

It’s also known as the HP22B pepper with a bit of history before completing its journey towards being the world’s hottest pepper. As of 2013, the Carolina Reaper pepper is over seven generations old!

The Carolina Reaper Pepper is the world’s hottest pepper again, developed by Ed Curie, who runs the Puckerbutt Pepper Company.

He created the Carolina Reaper by crossing a Red Habanero and Pakistani Naga Pepper.

This pepper’s history comes with a bit of controversy.

Troy Primeaux from Primo’s Peppers bred the 7 Pot Primo made of Trinidad Capsicum Chinese Peppers, which look very similar to the Carolina Reaper.

It’s rumored that the company responsible for the Carolina Reaper received early seeds from Primo pepper plants.

Some people suggest that the reaper is merely a poorly-altered 7 Pot Primo Peppers! While we can’t be sure about that, the Caroline Reaper continues to be one of the world’s hottest peppers every year.

Today, this extremely hot pepper is accessible with home gardeners able to grow them. However, the seeds are difficult to germinate, and you’ll have to be patient, as the plants have a long growing season!

Bottom line: What pepper is hotter than the Carolina Reaper?

There are a few peppers that are hotter than the Carolina Reaper. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is one of the hottest peppers in the world, and it’s even hotter than the Carolina Reaper.

Other peppers that are hotter than the Carolina Reaper include the Ghost Pepper, Trinidad 7 Pot, and Bhut Jolokia.

2. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion was once the world’s hottest pepper in 2012.

It clocked in at over 2,000,000 units on the Scoville scale, so expect this pepper to go beyond the usual hot sauce.

3. Chocolate Bhutlah

Don’t let the Chocolate Bhutlah fool you by its name. This is nothing but sweet! (*)

It’s actually one of the hottest peppers worldwide, reaching up to 2,000,000 units on the Scoville scale.

This pepper is a cross between the Douglah seven pots and ghost pepper.

Why is it called chocolate Bhutlah?

Check out the pepper’s color: Unlike other super hot peppers that are traditionally red, the Chocolate Bhutlah defies what’s normal, coming at a brown color and with a scorching hot flavor.

4.7 Pot Douglah

The 7 Pot Doughlah comes from Trinidad, a very hot pepper with a dark chocolate brown and slightly pimpled appearance. While this pepper starts green, it will mature to a rich brown color.

Other than the color, the 7 Pot Douglah looks just like the other hottest peppers mentioned, measuring two inches long with a habanero shape.

5. Chocolate 7 Pot Chili

This is not to be mistaken for the Chocolate Bhutlah. The Chocolate 7 Pot Chili Pepper reaches 1,850,000 units on the Scoville scale.

This pepper takes on a habanero shape with similar pimply textures as the other hottest peppers on here.

Surprisingly, the Chocolate 7 Pot Chili will have a fruity, sweet, and nutty flavor… That is if you can get past that sweat-inducing heat!

6. Dorset Naga Chili Peppers

As the name suggests, the Dorset Naga Chili originated in Dorset, England, in 2001.

It came from Joy and Michael Michaud from Peppers by Post, who bought a Naga Morich plant in southern England.

The Naga Morich chili comes from Bangladesh, a highly-regarded chili in the community.

The Michaud’s selected fruits with specific characteristics; they wanted to extract the seeds throughout the next few years.

Those seeds were then planted, and the Michaud’s continued with the process until they felt satisfied with the results.

The Dorset Naga Chili’s heat level has continued to be tested since 2005, with the SHU measuring from 661,451 to 1,032,310.

One test measures the Dorset Naga’s heat level to almost 1,600,600 SU, deeming it one of the hottest peppers worldwide.

7. Naga Morich

As mentioned, the Naga Morich comes from Bangladesh and Northeast India.

It’s closely related to the ghost pepper, called the bhut jolokia.

The Naga Morich can reach up to 1,500,000 SHU!

8. 7 Pot Primo

This chili crosses between the Trinidad 7 Pot and Naga Morich pepper.

Troy Primeaux (Primo) created the pepper, a horticulturist in Louisiana.

He started crossing the Naga Morich and Trinidad 7 Pot in 2005.

What makes this chili unique is its scorpion-like tail!

When comparing the 7 Pot Primo to the Carolina Reaper, it’s said that the former has a better consistency.

9. Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Chili Peppers

Butch Taylor of Zydeco Hot Sauce created this pepper.

It’s also grown in the Chilli Factory.

Expect this hot pepper to have almost 1,500,000 SHU, making it one of the hottest peppers to date.

10. Komodo Dragon

The Komodo Dragon is another famous hot pepper grown by Salvatore Genovese.

Salvatore Genovese is UK’s largest pepper producer, with a seven-acre farm in Blunham, Bedfordshire.

Genovese continues to produce even hotter chilies and super hot peppers.

We continue following him for future inventions!

11. Naga Viper

The Naga Viper measures almost 1,400,000 SHU based on the UK’s Warick HRI Mineral Analysis Laboratory. It’s a hybrid of three hot peppers:

• Bhut Jolokia
• Naga Morich
• Trinidad Scorpion Butch

Gerald Fowler created the Naga Viper.

He runs the Chili Pepper Company in Cumbria, England.

The Naga Viper is even hotter than the Bhut Jolokia by about 300,000 Scovilles. It’s said to be so hot that people claim that it can peel paint!

• Fun fact: Compare the heat of these peppers to pure capsaicin, which has about 16,000,000 SHU. On the other hand, police-grade pepper spray measures 5,000,000 SHU

12. 7 Pot Brain Strain

David Cappiello is responsible for the 7 Pot Brain Strain, who created the pepper from selective breeding.

He cultivated those peppers from specific traits, which ended up being a pepper resembling tiny pocked brains, hence the name.

Besides that, the heat itself will truly mess with your brain, as it measures a whopping 1,350,000 SHU!

13. 7 Pot Barrackapore

The 7 Pot Barrackapore comes from the Caribbean Islands of Trinidad, having larger pods than the other seven pots. It also has longer pods with more wrinkles.

Those who get past the heat (1,300,000 SHU) can taste a bit of a fruity flavor from this pepper.

14. Infinity Chili

Nick Woods made the Infinity Chili of Fire Foods from England. It was the world’s hottest pepper for two weeks in 2011. However, that title was ousted when the Naga Viper Chili came along.

Even then, this is one of the hottest peppers you’ll ever taste, measuring up to 1,250,000 SHU.

15. 7 Pot Jonah

The 7 Pot Jonah has larger pods than the other 7 pot chili varieties. Furthermore, these peppers have scorpion-like tails and bumpy, pocked fruits. Once they mature, they turn bright red and weigh about half an ounce, being the size of a golf ball (or larger).

Two other 7 Pot chili varieties deserve to be on the list, which is the:

• Trinidad 7 Pot with 1,200,000 SHU
• 7 Pot Infinity with 1,176,182 SHU

16. Bedfordshire Super Naga

Salvatore Genovese also produced this superhot pepper, which measures 1,120,000 SHU.

• Fun fact: Genovese produces about half a million chili peppers weekly. He even produced the Komodo Dragon chili pepper.

17. New Mexico Scorpion

The New Mexico Scorpion measures almost 1,200,000 SHUs.

18. Spanish Naga

Also called the Gibralta Naga, this is a pepper grown in Spain but first developed in the UK from Indian chili peppers. It once beat the Bhut Jolokia as the hottest pepper but was overtaken by other pepper.

As these peppers grow, they are stressed in a hot environment, which also helps make these chillies very hot.

19. Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper)

We’re all familiar with the ghost pepper, one of the hottest peppers existing back then. It topped the Red Savina Habanero, with the Guinness World Records deeming it the World’s Hottest of All Spices in 2006. However, hotter peppers came to be.

Ghost peppers were extremely spicy back then, up to 2-3 times more than a habanero. In fact, there was a ghost pepper challenge that trended in the early 2000s.

The ghost pepper is now commonly available in specialty supermarkets worldwide. You can also find ghost pepper seeds for sale to grow and use yourself.

20. Dragon’s Breath

This pepper was bred by a Wales-based farmer and was originally meant to be a topical anesthetic.

The initial tests showed that the Dragon’s Breath pepper has a Scoville rating of under 2,500,000 SHU, making it slightly spicier than the Habanero and Carolina Reaper combined.

That said, some experts speculate that the pepper is merely an overwintered Carolina Reaper pepper plant featuring smaller pods.

The tests are still limited, so we just have to wait and see. This pepper is worth noting, even if it’s not officially a record-breaker!

21. Pepper X

People claim that this pepper has a rating of 3,000,000 SHU, but this is still unconfirmed.

After the news of the Dragon’s Breath pepper, the Puckerbutt Pepper Company and Hot Ones collaborated to make a new hot sauce known as the Last Dab Reduxx.

The Pepper X Pepper is listed as the main ingredient in this hot sauce. After trying it out, we found that the Last Dab hot sauce is extremely hot but not as violent and harsh as the hot sauce with the Carolina Reaper variant.

But hey, you never know, because the companies are now looking into creating even hotter peppers and hot sauces. Smokin’ Ed Currie is hinting at releasing peppers and hot sauces with over 4,000,000 SHU!

the Other hottest peppers in the world

While these hot peppers are no longer part of the list of the world’s hottest peppers, they are worth mentioning, too!

22. Trinidad Scorpion Cardy Yellow

As the name suggests, the Trinidad Scorpion Yellow comes from Trinidad. It was named Cardi because it was developed in part with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute.

This strain was made to standardize the industry for yellow scorpion chili peppers. The pepper pods begin with green color, then maturing to a golden yellow, having a diameter of about four inches.

23. Red Savina Habanero

The Red Savina Habaneros are cultivars of habaneros and were once the hottest chili by the Guinness Records. However, more peppers took over, as this pepper measures up to 580,000 SHU, lower than the others mentioned above.

We like the red saving for its bright red and robust appearance, with up to 50 fruits growing in one plant!

We know it isn’t the hottest pepper since it has a lower Scoville rating than other peppers mentioned here. However, we want to put it on the list since it’s easy to find habaneros in grocery stores. You can also grow Red Savina from seeds!

Even with the low SHU level, it’s still extremely spicy, with not everyone taking the heat level!

24. Primotalii Peppers

These peppers don’t have an official Scoville rating. However, many of the world’s chili experts say that these peppers are the hottest they’ve ever tried.

Primotalii peppers are a cross between Fatalii and 7 Pot Primo peppers. You can even grow them on your own!

How the Heck Do Peppers Get So HOT?

You’re probably wondering – How do people continue to produce peppers so hot and measuring over 2,000,000 SHUs? That’s thanks to the high concentration of capsaicin in super hot peppers.

The New Mexico State University has crossbred and tested chili peppers for decades, garnering information on how peppers can get as hot as they do. For peppers with Scobile ratings of over 1,000,000 SHU, it boils down to the capsaicin vesicles.

Capsaicin vesicles are tiny yellow sacs containing capsaicinoids, which you can find concentrated on the placentas of peppers, like the jalapeno. But in a superhot pepper, you can find those vesicles in almost every part of the fruit!

So, when you try tasting pepper with over 1,000,000 SHUs, expect even just a tiny piece to garner an intense reaction.

We’ve tried a few of the hottest peppers, and we feel fierce heat that continues to build up in intensity within ten minutes.

Milk, ice cream, or the ice itself won’t help, but time will. And boy, that feeling of euphoria and relief, once the spice dies down, is fantastic.

With all that said, it makes you wonder about the point of having hotter and spicier chilies every year?

What’s the point of having extremely spicy food in the first place?

Some of us do it for that endorphin rush and spicy pepper high, while others just want to take up the challenge and see how much pain they tolerate!

Plus, mild and hotter varieties of peppers can add great flavor to your dish.

Wrapping It Up

And you thought Tabasco hot sauce was hot?

Try any of these world’s hottest pepper, and let us know what you think of the insane heat levels if you’ve had them already!

Up Next: Does Hot Sauce Go Bad or Expire? How Long Can It Last?