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Chili pepper · Trinidad

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T

1,463,700 Scoville heat units

Record holder in 2011. Named for the tail-like point on the pod.

What this rung gets you A Carolina Reaper, whole, in front of witnesses

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T sits at 1,463,700 SHU — rung 12, Reaper.

How hot Trinidad Scorpion Butch T actually is

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T is about 293 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.

Common questions

How hot is Trinidad Scorpion Butch T on the Scoville scale?

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T measures about 1,463,700 Scoville heat units. That is about 293 times hotter than a jalapeño.

Where does Trinidad Scorpion Butch T 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 Trinidad Scorpion Butch T?

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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