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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 15 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 [2021 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
Seeds
$8.95
Powders
$22.95
Whole Peppers
$9.95
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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
Seeds
$7.95
Powders
$18.95
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
Seeds
$7.95
Powders
$18.95
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
Seeds
$8.95
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
Powders
$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
Seeds
$7.95
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
$7.95
Powders
$17.95
Flakes
$16.95
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
Seeds
$7.95
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.
$5.95Add to cart
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
Seeds
$4.95
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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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Is your 1 oz of reaper pepper powder by volume or by weight?
1 oz by weight
Sorry to inform you. Dragons breath was a sauce. It was a mixture of Bhut Jolokia and Habenero mix with spices.
I see a lot of the top North American peppers on this list. I was just wondering how the Thai Pepper matches up on this heat scale. Thai peppers can be intensely hot but It feels like a different type of burn than many north American peppers. It doesn’t affect your lips as much but it’s quite intense on the tongue.
Inform me on pepper x availability
you forgot the naga dorset ; is 1.5 million SHU
For a few months i thought the Scorpion pepper was the hottest pepper ever
It was. The full name is Trinidad Scorpion Butch T. You can find that here:
https://pepperhead.com/shop/trinidad-scorpion-butch-t/
Also if the Pepper X is 2x as hot as the Reaper, WHY ISN’T IT NUMBER ONE!?!
I agree with you. I think it should be first. Maybe we can try to change it to first? Who knows.
At this point Pepper X is still a rumor, an unverified claim.
HI,
I JUST WANTED TO GET ON YOUR E-MAIL LIST. GREAT WEBSITE WITH REALLY COOL INFO. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.
Where is the Peruvian Death Pepper?
Wow this was a great pepper to see and watch and grow and learn and love! My favorite pepper was the tic toc yelling boy gamer! He was eating a pepper that I liked to watch and see and grow and learn and watch and loved pepper! Wow wow wow wow wubzy!
Always like to keep up with the ratings
Would like to know more about the dragons breath and pepper x.
Like to purchase the seeds
7 Pot Barrackpore is being confused with Trinidad chilli. The place Barrackpore is in West Bengal INDIA and origin of Bhut Jholkia is also North East India. I believe the chilli location and originality is being confused.
No it isn’t. I am from Trinidad and Barrackpore is a village located in the southern part of the island where they grow the pepper hence the given name.
Send me a pack 14 Carolina reapers
What about the Black Mamba? It caused me to instantly tear up, my sinuses opened up causing multiple sneezes, followed with a burning off of my face. Flavor was great. I am a hot chili fanatic, but this was over the top.
Black Mamba is truly a beast of a pepper. No one has had it tested so I don’t know the SHU.
I have had these peppers before and I could not breath and was also tearing up. The same as you. So I recommend never having them AGAIN. 🙂
Has anyone heard of a Poblano Viper pepper
Yes i heard of a poblani viper pepper and see it, but did not taste it but I heard of a different type of pepper that posed to be like Carolina pepper but a little bit harder it only grows in the Philippines and the other one grow and Pakistan it’s a hottest chilli and their bracket I’m planning to go up there and pick up a couple seed and peppers so if you guys want some of the Seas is $50 per seed
I have been growing hot peppers for years, currently growing Hungarian wax, Scotch bonnets, Trinidad red scorpions and Ghost peppers. Have found by experimenting , adding ashes from my wood stoves to the soil increases the hotness of the pepper. Grew some bell peppers with ashes, and some jalapeño without, the bells were considerably hotter.
Not possible. Green, yellow, orange and red bell peppers lack the ability to produce capsaicin. My guess would be they are cross pollinating with one of the hot varieties, which is creating a hybrid variety.
To learn more about the SPICIEST peppers ever, go to Netflix and search up We are the Champions and go to the second episode.
Has anyone heard of a Poblano Viper pepper. I have looked on the internet but can’t find anything.
I haven’t heard of it Mike.
I planted ghost pepper for the first time and I must say it’s really hot.
don’t eat none of these , my stomach hurted too much cause i ate a . 7 Pot Douglah
These are indeed the world’s hottest peppers. If you aren’t used to eating superhots you will want to ease your way into them. Going straight for #3 hottest is asking for a stomach ache.
Have grown a Carolina Reaper at home I have eaten the hottest curry around but the reaper is frightening
i tried my very first HOTTEST thing in the world such as the Carolina reaper yesterday it was the hottest pepper ever i cried i almost had an heart attack and i will never eat a pepper again as a matter fact my grandma offered a jalapeno today.
NONONO NONO NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! never
I didn’t find the reaper much HOTTER than the Ghost or red Habanero! I need FIRE!!!
We have some pepper seeds being released soon that are hotter than the Carolina Reaper. Stay tuned.
Chocolate Reaper Powder will be listed on the shop page by the end of the month.
bruh u put some habnerro hot sauce on that bitch and then eat it
You have gotten in the spice world i have a pepper spicier than the Carolina reaper text me this is a secret pepper
I’m interested.
ok, keep that AWAY FROM ME i hate peppers!!!!
Awesome heat talk ..thnx ..
I bought some carolina reeper seeds and planted them this past spring, all come up and look really good, all are blooming good, BUT, every bloom just falls off, every plant the same. What could be wrong
So I did a bet with some dudes(classic dumb fratboy) that if I ate the #1 hottest pepper in the world and survived I would be given a PlayStation 5. Guess what, I did it because I wanted to play Minecraft on it. Also guess what, I was burnt so hard that (Minecraft reference alert) I thought I ate a Fire Aspect sword for a second before I passed out…
Like Jay said excessive temperature or excessive nitrogen can cause flower drop. Unpollinated flowers will also drop. Do you have enough natural pollinators flying around in your garden?
We have some other tips in our article that might help.
https://pepperhead.com/growing-hot-peppers/
Temp or fert.
Mix some Epsom salt with water and spray the blossoms. Same thing happened to my plant, and this fixed it.
You pollinate them?
How do you pollinate them? I have the same problem with my ghost peppers and habenero’s. Plants are in a greenhouse, get plenty of water and heat, are about 3 ft tall, and are full of flowers that just abort. Very Sad!
After having my “jones19” tested at SBL, Las Cruces, NM last year, it rated at 691k Scoville.