It's an interesting race that began just a couple years ago - not a race with wheels, oars, feet, or points -but one that is assured to cause pain, one that will leave you sweating at the least and the worst what we affectionately call "ring sting" and why you use frozen toilet paper the following morning.  The chase for the next "super-hot" pepper continues. 

This time a pepper called the "Carolina Reaper" or a more scientific name - strain HP26, surpasses the rest at a monstrous claimed peak of 2.1 million Scoville heat units (SHU's).  The Guinness Book of World Records has not had an opportunity to determine the exact SHU rating of the Reaper so the measurement claim has ignited a heated debate among chili heads as to the actual number.  The reason being, two peppers picked from the same plant will have different concentrations of capsaicin and therefore different SHU's.  Ed Currie is the developer of the Carolina Reaper has estimated the average Scoville rating of his pepper is 1.5 million he also claims an unbelievable high of 2.1. 

Although the pepper is not commercially available yet, I had a very conscientious customer bring this super-hot into the store and coerced me into consuming it.  Somehow he managed to get seeds and grew his own plant.  You wouldn't believe the challenges my loving customers bring me as the owner of a "hot-shop".  Having eaten a ghost pepper before I figured how much worse could it really be - trust me, not a good assumption!  The pepper was a gumball sized bright red sculpture of pure innocence.  After placing the pepper in my mouth I chewed meticulously, and hesitantly swallowed.  It wasn't really hot at first but after about thirty seconds and without warning a strange numbness spread through my toes and straight up to my shoulders - I still have no explanation for that as it had never happened to me before.  Strangely, an onslaught of drunken yet nonalcoholic head spins set in.  My pupils dilate as tears stream down my cheeks.  The burning sensation lasts for about twenty minutes at the end of which my body decided it really did not enjoy the experience in any manner what so ever and devalues the incredibly painful experience strait into the toilet.  You can imagine how my customer - who never tried the pepper himself by the way - and my employees were reacting to my strangely satisfying distress.

Out of all the different strains of peppers a menial five "super-hots" have been proven to exist - many others claim this distinction but few have been proven.  A super-hot must register above one million SHU's.  These five in heat order are the Ghost Pepper (1.1 million), followed by the Butch T Scorpion (1.2 million), Carolina Reaper (1.5 million), 7 Pot Brain Strain (1.8 million), and finally the Moruga Scorpion (2 million).  The Carolina Scorpion is gaining prominence because of the claimed peak number of 2.1 million - never before reached by any agronomic anomaly. 

For the six years between 2007 and 2012 the Guinness Book of World records received 25 different claims of the world's hottest pepper.  Since then, they have received several new admissions including peppers called the Jigsaw, the Infinity X, and the Carolina Reaper.  The first two did not make it to main stream media but the Reaper made it because of its estimated peak rating.

If you are planning on growing your own super-hot, keep in mind, a new surreptitious manifestation in the race is that some unethical growers will inject their pepper with capsaicin extract just before submitting their pepper to the judging authorities.