Top 4 Hottest Chilies In The World
Peppers are commonplace in any heat-loving individual’s pantry, but the ones on this list are above and beyond jalapenos or habanero chilies. While the habanero is rated at 500,000 Scoville heat units (SHU), some of these rank 2 to 4 times hotter than that. They have found their way to high-end restaurants and home dinner tables alike, with the tiniest bite reducing even the toughest men and women to tears.
Loaded with astronomically high levels of capsaicin, this formidable group was gathered from around the world – from the Caribbean Islands to the mountain valleys of India. Challenge your friends and online culinary school classmates and see who can stand up to the hottest peppers in the world.
No. 4: The pepper that has the lowest SHU levels on this list used to be considered the hottest in the world. The Bhut Jolokia, which translates to “ghost chili,” scores a respectable 1.04 million, double that of the habanero strain. It is found in the Indian states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, three regions that run along the the section of Himalayan mountains next to the Brahmaputra River. In 2007, it was named the “Hottest Chili in the World” by Guinness World Records, but as you will see, there are hotter strains to come.
No. 3: The Trindad Scorpion Butch T chili pepper is the reigning Guinness World Record holder. It beat out the Bhut Jolokia for the title of World’s Hottest Pepper in 2012. It has been known to be so volatile to humans that some people cooking with the strain found it necessary to wear protective chemical gear over their faces and bodies, reporting that they were experiencing numbness in their hands and arms.
No. 2: The 7 Pod douglah chili hails from Chaguanas region of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. One particular strain, which is also known as the “chocolate 7 Pod,” comes in at a staggering 1.85 million SHU, and has been gaining a lot of press in the media and chili-phile forums. It has a habanero-esque shape, but can grow to twice the size of a normal habanero. It is called 7 Pod because one chili has enough heat to fill 7 pods, or pots, of stew.
No. 1: The most revered pepper in history is the Morugan Scorpion chili. Also a native of Trinidad, the cousin to the douglah is a capsaicin nuclear bomb that tips the scales at more than 2 million SHU. Its potency is felt after a single bite. People are known to cry uncontrollably and go into fits of hiccuping and sweating after eating this intensely hot pepper.
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