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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
NEW
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
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
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.
NEW
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 am interested in planting chilli pepper for farming purposes and would appreciate guidance and market outlets.
I love hot peppers
That Pepper X is as hot as Mad Dog 357 the hottest sauce in the world coming at 9,000,000 Scoville Hotness Units (SHU)
Making it as hot as the surface of the sun
This guy thinks it’s as hot as the sun, does your tongue melt as soon as it touches your mouth? I think not. Otherwise it wouldn’t be edible, more or less an acid.
r/whoosh
Dude, do you have a stick in your butt and you can’t understand an expression?
HA!
Where can I find sauce made pepper x
🙂 Dragon Breath Possibilities Please 🙂
Look up the 7 pot brain strain pepper is hotter then a ghost pepper yet isn’t listed
yes it is the 7 pot red stupid
these look good
you’re insane
I felt fine untill i touch my eyes.
these look terrifying
definitly hot and long lasting tried for first time today as a as a new tabasco sauce w/ added scorpion pepper. to bad they put too much vinegar as some brands do,i think they r on to a good idea as i only use tabasco on my eggs I happen to like more heat than that, tabasco . it is not an additive heat like curry or habinero, so adding more sauce only results in a more vinegar content. I have grown hot peppers for thiry years always aquiring new varietys as they become available. Last year was ghost,carolina red caribbean, thai dragons,sweet heat,hungarian hot wax,hot portugal,basket of fire,golden cayenne,scotch bonnet,hot italian,purple serrano,various chiles from arond the world and of course some milder ones such as jalapenos and anchos for sauces and nachos.130 plants in all. i bring them to work every year – the basket empties each week quickly. This year I was impressed w/ basket of fire,looks like apointy acorn that turns purple but finishes orange to red{ takes a while for red stage! ] ,also sweet heat, a nice sweet pepper that slowly gets hotter as you go- very much heat in red stage!. Ghost peppers were great ,surprised by the abundance but took a long season to grow.Still,even green they pack a pleasant but serious punch.Next year the nippon taka is on my list as it is a great pepper from japan. Thanks,keep capsaisoning!
I love heat but most of these peppers taste like ajax. I like a very hot chilli with a great flavor not taste like a house hold cleaner
I hear you James. We are currently growing some white habaneros that fit the bill perfectly. Personally one of my favorite hot peppers. Tons of flavor, hints of cucumber with a little kick at the end! Check back with us soon!
You can join the waiting list here for Giant White Habanero Seeds
wow
Personally the maruga scorpion peppers My husband and I have eaten before had an amazing heat and great flavor. We eat it at least 3-4 days a week. We just ordered some maruga scorpion powder from Pepperhead and it is going to arrive by tomorrow. Would love to see some crushed maruga scorpion as well. Will post a review about our powder once we try it. #chasetheheat #pepperhead
Sounds amazing!! Want some of those!!
White habaneros, these sound amazing- I’m in!
I like the sounds of the white habanero
You’ll be the first to get it! I can even send you fresh peppers to try on your TikTok
Hi good evening sir I would like to order the 10 most artist pepper If you have it any other hour appreciated
Send me images and info about peppers.
I’ll stick to Siling Labuyo here in the Philippines. 80,000-100,000 SHU I just wasn’t brought up on peppers. These little mothas are all I can take.
How far apart from each variety of peppers should I space the plants to avoid cross pollination?
Thanks for ur site it is very informative. I myself have only handled a habanero. I plan on trying ur ghost peppers one day.
eeek your gonna give me a nightmare.
those look scary
I ate a Carolina reaper my tongue hurt for 2 days
scary
To my knowledge, the Reaper is 275 times stronger than Jalapenos.
I have never found a pepper that was hot enough for me
Try the end hot sauce
Ok..you lie. Eat a reaper on cam and share. Bet you can not.
It’s possible. Some people are born without any, or with very few of the receptors for detecting heat. My 13 yr old just ate some habaneros for the first time – jalapeños have no heat to her – and no reaction. We’ll be ordering the seeds for the red savina habanero soon.
I have laid down the law; no ghost or Carolina reapers until she’s 18 .
Many will say so, how many of them really can really do that.
So you touched on Pepper X but I found another Contender, a Dragon’s Breath Chili Pepper, made by Neal Price. I have no idea of the authenticity of it, but it said to have 2.48 Million Scoville Units.
Do you seel seeds of dragon breath and peeper x.if so are you able to send them over to Australia?
I am more than likely considered a wimp, but, I will stick with my Jalapeños and Sriracha sauce. For me, if a pepper burns as bad as a Ghost Chili or Carolina Reaper, my taste buds are ruined for quite a while and I can’t enjoy the flavor that the heat accentuates!
Really they both dont hurt and i’m a 13 year old.
Johnny Scoville is eating several Dragon’s Breath Pods in his latest video and he is only at a 3 maybe a 4 on his heat level.
what is less heat