Chili pepper · South Carolina
Pepper X
2,693,000 Scoville heat units
Current record holder, confirmed in 2023. Also Ed Currie. Ten years of breeding after the Reaper.
What this rung gets you A Carolina Reaper, whole, in front of witnesses
How hot Pepper X actually is
Pepper X is about 539 times hotter than a jalapeño. Growing conditions move any published figure several-fold, so read it as the middle of a range rather than a promise.
On the twelve-rung ladder
It sits on rung 12, Reaper, which spans 1.1M to 2.7M SHU. The top of the ladder and the end of the program. There is no level above this that is worth training toward — past here it is a stunt, not a tolerance.
Training to this rung is what gets you: A Carolina Reaper, whole, in front of witnesses.
Comparable heat
Anything here burns at roughly the same level, which is what makes them interchangeable when you are training at this rung.
- Blair's Ultra Death 1,100,000
- Naga viper 1,382,118
- Trinidad Scorpion Butch T 1,463,700
- Trinidad Moruga Scorpion 1,600,000
- Carolina Reaper 1,641,183
- 7 Pot Douglah 1,853,936
Common questions
How hot is Pepper X on the Scoville scale?
Pepper X measures about 2,693,000 Scoville heat units. That is about 539 times hotter than a jalapeño.
Where does Pepper X sit on the ladder?
Rung 12 of twelve — Reaper, covering 1.1M to 2.7M SHU. The top of the ladder and the end of the program. There is no level above this that is worth training toward — past here it is a stunt, not a tolerance.
What stops the burn from Pepper X?
Dairy. Capsaicin is fat-soluble, so water spreads it rather than removing it; the casein in milk, yogurt or ice cream lifts it off the receptor. A spoonful of sugar held in the mouth measurably helps too. Starch — rice or bread — physically carries it off the tongue.
So where does that leave the rest of us?
Nobody arrives here in one night. The people who eat these climbed. One rung down is already this: The ghost pepper wings on the challenge board. Name the hottest thing you eat without thinking. See where you actually stand.
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