Chili pepper · Tabasco, Mexico
Tabasco pepper
40,000 Scoville heat units
Grown on Avery Island, Louisiana and aged three years in oak before it becomes the sauce.
What this rung gets you Nashville hot chicken at hot, not medium
How hot Tabasco pepper actually is
Tabasco pepper is about 8 times hotter than a jalapeño, and it does not hold still — published figures run from 30,000 to 50,000 SHU. Sunlight, drought stress and ripeness all push a pod up its range, so the number on a chart is the middle of a wide spread rather than a promise.
On the twelve-rung ladder
It sits on rung 8, Scorch, which spans 35K to 80K SHU. Most people never train past here. Portions get small: a single Thai chili is a full session, and finishing a plate is no longer the goal.
Training to this rung is what gets you: Nashville hot chicken at hot, not medium.
Comparable heat
Anything here burns at roughly the same level, which is what makes them interchangeable when you are training at this rung.
- Cayenne 40,000
- Thai bird's eye 75,000
Common questions
How hot is Tabasco pepper on the Scoville scale?
Tabasco pepper measures about 40,000 Scoville heat units, with a published range of 30,000 to 50,000 SHU. That is about 8 times hotter than a jalapeño.
Where does Tabasco pepper sit on the ladder?
Rung 8 of twelve — Scorch, covering 35K to 80K SHU. Most people never train past here. Portions get small: a single Thai chili is a full session, and finishing a plate is no longer the goal.
What stops the burn from Tabasco pepper?
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.
Tabasco pepper is rung 8 of twelve. Which rung are you on?
Nashville hot chicken at hot, not medium. That is rung 8. Name the hottest thing you eat without thinking. See how far that is.
$0.99 a month for the training program · no free trial · the pepper library is free · no account · nothing leaves your phone