Every chili pepper, ranked by heat
Thirty-four chili peppers, from the bell pepper — the only cultivated Capsicum with no capsaicin at all — to Pepper X, which took the world record in 2023 at 2,693,000 SHU. The figures are published averages, and the published range beside each one is not a rounding error: a stressed plant in a dry season makes pods several times hotter than the same variety grown easy.
The heat lives in the pith, the pale membrane the seeds attach to, not in the seeds themselves. Removing the seeds works because you take the pith with them.
| Published range | Origin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell pepper | 0 | — | Warmth | Central America |
| Shishito | 100 | 50–200 | Warmth | Japan |
| Banana pepper | 250 | 0–500 | Tingle | Hungary |
| Pepperoncini | 300 | 100–500 | Tingle | Italy and Greece |
| Anaheim | 900 | 500–2.5K | Glow | New Mexico |
| Padrón | 1,000 | 500–2.5K | Glow | Galicia, Spain |
| Poblano | 1,250 | 1K–2K | Kick | Puebla, Mexico |
| Ancho | 1,500 | 1K–2K | Kick | Mexico |
| Cascabel | 2,000 | 1K–3K | Kick | Mexico |
| Guajillo | 3,500 | 2.5K–5K | Burn | Mexico |
| Chipotle | 5,000 | 2.5K–8K | Burn | Mexico |
| Fresno | 5,000 | 2.5K–10K | Burn | California |
| Jalapeño | 5,000 | 2.5K–8K | Burn | Veracruz, Mexico |
| Hungarian wax | 8,000 | 5K–15K | Bite | Hungary |
| Aleppo | 10,000 | — | Bite | Syria and Turkey |
| Serrano | 17,000 | 10K–23K | Sting | Puebla and Hidalgo, Mexico |
| Chile de árbol | 22,000 | 15K–30K | Sting | Mexico |
| Cayenne | 40,000 | 30K–50K | Scorch | French Guiana |
| Tabasco pepper | 40,000 | 30K–50K | Scorch | Tabasco, Mexico |
| Thai bird's eye | 75,000 | 50K–100K | Scorch | Thailand |
| Malagueta | 80,000 | 60K–100K | Blaze | Brazil |
| Piri piri | 100,000 | 50K–175K | Blaze | Southern Africa |
| Scotch bonnet | 200,000 | 100K–350K | Inferno | Caribbean |
| Habanero | 225,000 | 100K–350K | Inferno | Amazon, via the Yucatán |
| Fatalii | 250,000 | 125K–325K | Inferno | Central Africa |
| Datil | 300,000 | 100K–300K | Inferno | St Augustine, Florida |
| Red Savina | 450,000 | 350K–577K | Ghost | California |
| Ghost pepper | 1,041,427 | 855K–1M | Ghost | Assam, India |
| Naga viper | 1,382,118 | — | Reaper | Cumbria, England |
| Trinidad Scorpion Butch T | 1,463,700 | — | Reaper | Trinidad |
| Trinidad Moruga Scorpion | 1,600,000 | 1.2M–2M | Reaper | Moruga, Trinidad |
| Carolina Reaper | 1,641,183 | 1.4M–2.2M | Reaper | South Carolina |
| 7 Pot Douglah | 1,853,936 | — | Reaper | Trinidad |
| Pepper X | 2,693,000 | — | Reaper | South Carolina |
Start at the rung you are actually on
Twelve rungs. The top one is a Carolina Reaper, whole, in front of witnesses. You do not have to want that to want rung seven.
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