Top 10 World's Hottest Peppers

Hottest Pepper

The world’s hottest pepper is constantly changing, evolving almost.

It seems every year a new pepper is either created or discovered so check back often to see new record breaking peppers!

PepperHead® has the most up-to-date list of the World’s Hottest Peppers.

Here at PepperHead® we have been growing these “super hots” for over 20 years and have grown and eaten every pepper on this list.

We are dedicated to providing you spicy lovers with the ability to grow all of these insanely spicy peppers in your own backyards.

Without further ado, here is our Top 10 Hottest Pepper List.

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Top 10 Hottest Peppers In The World [2024 Update]

SHU = Scoville Heat Unit (A measure of Spiciness)
Pepper Scoville Scale displayed as Peak SHU Values

SHU is a way of quantifying how spicy a pepper is by measuring the concentration of capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the chemical responsible for the spicy sensation within a pepper.

1. Pepper X 2,693,000 SHU

Pepper X is now the World’s hottest Pepper with an average of 2.69 Million Scoville Units and peaks over 3 Million SHU. Not much is known about this pepper since seeds have not been publicly released. So unfortunately you cannot taste or grow Pepper X yourself.

2. Carolina Reaper 2,200,000 SHU

The previous world champion, Carolina Reaper has been beat!  by itself… The Carolina Reaper is once again officially the Worlds Hottest Pepper.

Originally ranked as world’s hottest in 2013, the Reaper was tested again in 2018 with an even higher SHU. (71,000 SHU higher to be exact) This gives the reaper a renewed title as World’s Hottest!

It was bred for heat and that it is, with an average SHU of 1,641,000 SHU and peaks at 2.2 Million SHU!

Let’s put the scoville rating into perspective for you:

The Carolina Reaper pepper is 200x hotter than a Jalapeno #WorldsHottestPepper

Just looking at the pictures above, you know its one mean pepper. The Carolina Reaper has a unique stinger tail that is unlike any other pepper and every pod is different!

It gets this insane heat from being a cross between a Ghost Pepper and a Red Habanero. Oddly enough this pepper doesn’t just have heat, but excellent fruity flavor to boot. Well, that is before it melts your face off.

More Carolina Reaper Info

 

Watch these Chicks eat The Carolina Reaper

10 Even more Hilarious Videos of The Carolina Reaper Challenge

 

Test your heat tolerance with the PepperHead ChallengeEat a whole Carolina Reaper Pepper on camera and receive a FREE T-Shirt!

You can now buy the reaper as powder, live plants or seeds so you can grow your own plant and try for yourself.

3. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion 2,009,231 SHU

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper

Straight from the depths of hell the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend, AKA Moruga Scorpion, is a rare sought after pepper that was only just recently discovered.

Native to the lands of Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago. Once you take a bite of this formidable pepper the heat never stops building.

This pepper may be lacking the Reaper’s stinger, but don’t let that fool you. The Moruga Scorpion is every bit as hot as The Carolina Reaper.

More Moruga Scorpion Info

 

Watch Rhett & Link from Good Mythical Morning Eat the Moruga Scorpion

4. 7 Pot Douglah 1,853,936 SHU

7 Pot Douglah Pepper

Well renown in the pepper community as one of the hottest peppers with the best flavor.

The 7 Pot Douglah is the hottest pepper you can find that isn’t red.

The hottest “superhot” peppers are traditionally red, but the Douglah defies the odds by being brown AND scortching hot.

You can’t go wrong with fresh, dried, or powdered Douglah on any food.

Also known as 7 Pod Douglah, Chocolate 7 Pod or the 7 Pot Brown.

More Douglah Info

5. 7 Pot Primo 1,469,000 SHU

7 Pot Primo The 7 Pot Primo is very distinctive with its long skinny “tail”.

This pepper was created by horticulturist Troy Primeaux.

Some peppers cultivators have tried to replicate the Primo look by breeding their own peppers to have a long stinger.

When you just look at this pepper, you know it’s going to be INSANELY hot. It coincidentally looks strikingly similar to The Carolina Reaper…

More Primo Info

6. Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” 1,463,700 SHU

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T is a previous Guinness World Record Holder (2011) from Australia.

No doubt it’s insanely hot, but other peppers have been proven to be hotter.

It’s aptly named due to the scorpion stinger found at the tip of the pepper and also the creator, Butch Taylor.

The burn from this pepper is unlike any other.

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper burns like you swallowed a 1,000 suns.

More Butch T Info

7. Naga Viper 1,349,000 SHU

Naga ViperNaga Viper is an extremely rare pepper cultivated in the UK. Hybrid of many different peppers and years of cross pollination created this variety of “Super HOT” pepper.

It was never fully stabilized before being released so pod variation is expected.

More Naga Viper Info

8. Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) 1,041,427 SHU

Ghost Pepper The Ghost Pepper is the most famous “Super Hot” due to the amount of press it has received in the past.

It exploded in popularity on YouTube and other social sites where pepperheads ate whole Ghost Peppers as part of a challenge.

This is the first pepper to scientifically test over 1 million scovilles.

Many mistakenly believe the Ghost Pepper is still the World’s Hottest pepper, this list shows it is far from it.

This isn’t 2007. If you have friends that still think the Ghost Pepper is the hottest pepper, share this page with them.

However, don’t be fooled by how low this is on the list as it can still bring a grown man to his knees.

More Ghost Pepper Info

 

Kid swallows ghost pepper, instantly regrets it.

9. 7 Pot Barrackpore ~1,000,000 SHU

7 Pot Barrackpore

The 7 Pot Barrackpore is one of the hottest of the 7 Pot peppers.

This one is from the Town of Chaguanas in Trinidad and Tobago.

Many of these “super hots” come from this region.

More Barrackpore Info

 

10. Red Savina Habanero 500,000 SHU

Red Savina Habanero

Back in the early years of super hots, the Red Savina Habanero was KING!

It held the title of the World’s Hottest Pepper from 1994 to 2006. 12 Years!

The Red Savina has since been dethroned and many peppers have passed it in heat, but still to this day it is one of my favorite peppers to grow because it has the perfect balance of heat and flavor..

The Red Savina just barely makes the Top 10, but does so in fashion with its great flavor and extreme heat.

More Red Savina Info

Are you a PepperHead®?

Try growing these Superhot peppers! PepperHead® seeds grow real peppers with real published SHU ratings.

Order all Top 10 Hottest Pepper Seeds and save 30% over purchasing individually!

We are so excited about our brand new product, the PepperHead Powder Sampler Kit! Its the perfect gift for spicy lovers.

Honorable Mentions

Lets talk about some upcoming hybrid peppers that show promise. These two hot peppers will be added to the list once their validity has been confirmed.

Dragon’s Breath 2,483,584 SHU

There have been recent reports of a Dragon’s Breath pepper claiming to be hotter than the Carolina Reaper.

Preliminary testing of the Dragon’s Breath pepper pegs it at 2,483,584 SHU which would blow the Carolina Reaper out of the water.

It could be a publicity stunt in which the “news” websites ate up, even claiming Dragon’s Breath could kill you. Technically a pencil can kill you too…

$8.95Read more

 

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645 thoughts on “Top 10 World’s Hottest Peppers

  1. Rusty says:

    Hey guys , I’ve found the best cure for this yrs flu virus.
    A hot sauce made with heaps of garlic and the top 5 powdered chillies , mixed in with any tasteless food.
    Guarantee within 24-48 hrs ,it’s up and gone .

  2. Ryan says:

    I live in NC and currently have 2 Carolina reaper plants from Smokin’ Ed’s. Bought them from the Lowe’s 2 miles away. Also 2 ghost pepper and one GIANT habanero. Dehydrated some of the Habs, added some citric acid and msg. Very hot. I like to add sulfur powder to increase the heat. Planning on fermenting them this fall and making another hotsauce. Sold out last year but gave most away. This year I’m just going to ask for a $10 donation to charity (haven’t picked one out yet) proof then I’ll send them out. Just need a reaction video as well

  3. Brucie B says:

    I have eaten many different peppers in my time. My worst day on this planet was after popping 2 whole Carolina Reapers within 1 1/2 hours apart. I am growing Reapers, Scorpions, Ghost, and Habs in the garden but will never pop a Reaper again. Some things on this planet need to be respected.

  4. Rodd says:

    I love picking peppers. Don’t eat them. I have 3 reaper plants with 30-40 peppers. As thru turn red I pick them. I also have red savina. That is a beautiful pepper. The original and still top 10. I gee 1 ghost last year.

  5. Marty says:

    Growing Pepper X and Dragons Breath peppers. Started indoors at the beginning of February. Also got free seeds from place I ordered from and believe some are Scorpion and Ghost. Ordered Chocolate Reapers a year and a half ago and had one mature pepper and a few green ones but dried the seeds for this year. Reapers growing good. Just a hobby. I use a dehydrater and electric grinder to make pepper. Will post pics if anyone interested

  6. Scot Light says:

    I’m surprised that the chiltepin isn’t on this list. It is at least worth an honorable mention, being the Mother of all Peppers and all. And for the person who complained that none of these are “found in nature,” here you go. The Chiltepin has been around for thousands of years, grows in nature, is the best tasting pepper in existence and is at least ALMOST as hot as some of the peppers on this list. Can you tell I’m a fan of the Chiltepin?

  7. Shawn Grigg says:

    I feel like cake, ice cream, and farting just as much as I like to poop out Carolina reapers the morning after I ate all that Carolina reaper cake and ice cream with Carolina reaper cream sauce on top of my bean sauce so I could fart Carolina reaper in the morning cuz I like my Carolina reaper I’m not boring I’m just mentally challenged used to be called retarded but now it’s called mentally challenged ever since I ate that Carolina reaper.

  8. Jamil Ahmed says:

    I will like to purchase 25 seeds of top 25 hottest peppers. To be shipped to saudi arabia by courier or express mail parcel. Can you give me an idea about cost.

      • Rusty says:

        I’ve had pepper x and after eating a bite I did not feel like it was a good day to be alive just saying but was surprised that at first it was kind of fruity before my face felt like it was melting

  9. Hartono Tanaja says:

    Anywhere you can buy this hot peppers (Carolina Reaper) in bulk quantity for industrial use? I just get an impression that they are only good for hobbyist and only available in small quantity.

  10. James McDermott says:

    I don’t believe eating extremely hot chili peppers above 500,000 SHU is good for your health. The natural reaction to most people is to spit it out when tasted. That’s the body’s natural reaction for a reason.

  11. Tim Hallbeck aka Timmeh says:

    Background info:
    Within the family Nightshade, genus Capsicum, there are multiple species of chili, each of which can have its own hottest, sweetest, most flavorful, etc. ranking. Most but not all of those mentioned here are capsicum chinense (yes that is spelled correctly) and generally referred to as habaneros. Poblano and serrano and jalapeños are a different species (annuum), tabasco and thai yet another (frutescens), so you can grow 1 from each of the groups in the same garden and get pure strain chilis.

    Notice I didn’t used the term pepper until now. Pepper is more a cooking term than a biological term. Black pepper for example is from the family Piperaceae, genus Piper, very different attributes than Nightshades (its a vine). Yet in cookbooks they’re just different kinds of peppers.

    The chinense rules the roost when it comes to SCH, while the annuum are the most widely used because of their shorter growing period and hardiness vs weather.

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