This New Pepper Is Now the World’s Hottest

Tori Latham
·2 min read
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If you think you can handle the heat, you might want to think again.

There’s a new pepper in town, and this one has received the honor of being named the world’s spiciest chili pepper by Guinness World Records. Pepper X has overtaken the Carolina Reaper for that title, the organization announced on Monday. Created by Ed Currie and his PuckerButt Pepper Company, Pepper X has an average of 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units, which are used to measure a pepper’s spiciness. (In comparison, a jalapeño sits at just 3,000 to 8,000 SHUs.)

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“The jalapeño is a roller skate,” Currie told The Washington Post on Wednesday. “Those super hot peppers are space shuttles.”

Currie has been working to perfect Pepper X for about a dozen years, growing eight to 12 generations of the pepper to get the exact heat and flavor he wanted. But he was reluctant to share it with the world, and planned to only reveal the new veggie if someone tried to out-spice the Carolina Reaper, which he also created and which nabbed the Guinness title a decade ago. That never happened, so Currie simply decided that now was the time to share Pepper X with the world.

The chili has an earthy flavor for just a second, before it morphs into searing heat. Currie said that hotness lasts for three hours, and leads to stomach cramps that stay for another four. “It just hurts like mad,” he said. Although he has tried the whole pepper a few times, he more commonly uses smaller amounts mixed in with his food.

Even then, Pepper X isn’t for the faint of heart—or tongue. Currie doesn’t recommend that casual spice lovers immediately jump on PuckerButt’s chips, salsas, and mustards that contain the chili. (In the aftermath of the “One Chip Challenge,” which allegedly led to the death of a teenager, Currie said he doesn’t sell PuckerButt’s extra-spicy chips to children.) Rather, he suggests starting with the more mild jalapeños and cayennes, before progressing to habaneros, ghost peppers, and even hotter varieties.

And although Pepper X just received its off-the-charts rating, Currie is already working on creating even spicier peppers, although he wouldn’t tell the Post much about the two candidates he’s decided on. Something tells us, though, that they’ll set the world—and the world’s mouths—ablaze.

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