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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 [2022 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. 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
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Watch these Chicks eat The Carolina Reaper
10 Even more Hilarious Videos of The Carolina Reaper Challenge
Test your heat tolerance with the PepperHead Challenge! Eat 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.
2. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion 2,009,231 SHU
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
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Watch Rhett & Link from Good Mythical Morning Eat the Moruga Scorpion
3. 7 Pot Douglah 1,853,936 SHU
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
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4. 7 Pot Primo 1,469,000 SHU
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
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5. Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” 1,463,700 SHU
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.
More Butch T InfoThe Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper burns like you swallowed a 1,000 suns.
$7.95
$18.95
6. Naga Viper 1,349,000 SHU
Naga 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
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7. Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) 1,041,427 SHU
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
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Kid swallows ghost pepper, instantly regrets it.
8. 7 Pot Barrackpore ~1,000,000 SHU
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
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9. 7 Pot Red (Giant) ~1,000,000 SHU
The 7 pots were named after their ability to heat up 7 pots of stew and that it does! There are 100’s of varieties created from crossing this breed with other peppers. Some varieties include 7 Pot Jonah, 7 Pot Yellow, 7 Pot Katie, 7 Pot Barrackpore and countless others.
$5.95Read more
10. Red Savina Habanero 500,000 SHU
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
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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.
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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
Pepper X
Pepper X is another pepper claiming to be TWICE as hot as the Carolina Reaper has surfaced, but this might have more merit. Very limited information is know about Pepper X as the creator has kept it under wraps.
However, we will have to wait and see if Pepper X is real before adding to our Top 10 list.
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I can’t wait to see dragons breath and pepper X to come onto the market. I don’t eat hot peppers but I want to grow them.
I just cultivated my first couple dragons breaths. I cannot tell you if it’s hotter than a reaper but my God it’s a rough one to get through.
I love hot pepper’s is there just thing as pepper-x
I can eat a Habanero pepper and never break out in a sweat .I had my first taste of hot stuff in the 50’s . In Mexico. Never stop.I am 77’s old. I drink shot’s of hot sauce once in a while.
oh my gosh me too lol. them damn bell peppers..
Hi there,
I’m Ben Botes from Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. I would like to order chille seeds from you. How do I go about it?
Regards
Ben
I don’t eat really hot peppers but this site was quite interesting!!
Ben, can order chillies/seeds from Geoff Little (owner of Westville chilli farm)
I believe all this list is still a joke without a mention of the African tiny pepper (called ‘ata wẹ́wẹ́’ in Yoruba). It’s so hot that it can make a person run mad! Until you factor that into this rating, you are joking.
Ata Wewe is Thai chilli peppers and it’s around 100,000 on the Scoville scale. It’s very far from even the last pepper on the list.
You’re stupid, it’s not even half as hot as the #10 pepper on list by SHU.
Those who are verbally aggressive/abusive have been found to lack intellectual soundness. Do you know “ata wẹ́wẹ́”? And what in God’s name would warrant you labelling someone you don’t know as stupid?
Don’t say dumb things you won’t be called stupid.
Mmmmmmm where can I get these peppers???
Hot peppers are so strong, you can die from it. CRAZY!
Do you sell seeds in India ?
I want to order pepper x
As of August 2018, there has been no official word that Pepper X has ever tested higher than the Carolina Reaper, so for now, the Carolina Reaper is still officially the World’s Hottest Pepper. Pepper X has been in the works for nearly 10 years by Ed Currie, creator of the Carolina Reaper.
Posted on one of his pages (Twitter,Facebook, ect) he is working on it
Actually know somebody who “claimed to grow them” I have had so many Carolina reapers but his peppers made me want to actually die, if I can find it I’ll send the video if me eating the reaper and x
youre crazy!
fuck the dragon’s breath
I grow the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, man that pepper could kill you. I can’t eat as much as I used to. Now I just grow and give away. Here and there I might make a bottle which I called “Ass Kickin’ Hot Sauce”. LOL
First time hearing about the Carolina Reaper, I must try it.
Hi gd plz i’m looking for this pepper & no where too be found can u plz help me by getting this pepper to me
I love Carolina reaper hot sauce. I want to try the hottest fresh one with the seeds still in it and look forward to pepper X. I want the seeds to cultivate once I get my own place….
I actually make my sauce with the seeds still in it but I blend it so much that the seeds are broken down so much that you don’t notice them in it. Heat comes from the seed. Why remove them?
There is no heat in the seed. They often add a bitter aftertaste in sauces.
i love the carilona reper it is so good
Pepper x looks like a pepper called madame Jeanette
I ate a whole carolina reaper at school once, i was 11, and i was completely fine 20 mins later. Until the stomach pains started and thise lasted like 2 hours, but honestly it was kind of disappointing. I hope i get the chance to eat a pepper X
Wow
I have eaten many peppers that most claim to be the hottest peppers in the world and I’ve yet to find one that is to hot for me including the Carolina reaper I love peppers and my whole family think I’m crazy and say I have an iron guy lol anyways peppers are awesome
The hybrid of pepper x and the Carolina reaper called the Apollo pepper is the hottest pepper.
I would NEVER EAT THE CAROLINA PEPPER!
I have tried the Naga chilli… It’s decent heat not “blow your head off” heat. I have found African Birdseye chilli to feel hotter on the tongue. The naga is hot but it builds and you feel it more in your stomach, which for me takes away from the enjoyment of the chili. I have a somali recipe hot sauce called basbas which uses African birdseye, and that makes me cry and get high. The naga on the other hand does not have the same impact. It’s overhyped.
Great stuff….all of these peppers are awesomely delicious in their own ways.
I’ve been a Pepperhead ever since my Nicaraguan wife caught me growing cannabis 30 years ago. Wish I had been introduced to you guys and gals earlier, but want to join your Club. Send me emails so I don’t forget. I can share some pretty cool photos as well.
Where’s ghengis khan brain fit on this list
I actually have a sauce made of ghost peppers! I know it’s not on the list I just wanted to mention it lol
Hot peppers diced super fine and fried up slow & low w/onion, garlic, EVO and a little lemon pepper are a most versatile addition to any dish you want to KICK. My landlord is a master gardener, and so generous. I go a-pickin’ … reapers, scorpions, habaneros, dragons… and make a golden brown fry mix I sprinkle on anything from eggs to veg burgers to pasta. DEADLY heat, and waaaaay tastier than ANY hot sauce I ever had. And I tried many. #freshrules, #fryemifyagotem