Winner, winner, pepper dinner! The Paddy Wagon's 10th annual hot pepper contest

Oct. 6—Carey Holbrook

The Paddy Wagon Irish Pub brought the heat this past Thursday, Sept. 28, with red hot chili peppers — not the band, but rather many of the hottest peppers known to man.

The Paddy Wagon, a staple in Richmond since they were established in 2006, held their 10th annual Hot Pepper Eating Contest.

This competition was only for the bravest souls as the Scoville units went up to 2,400,000. A Jalapeño ranges between 2,500-8,000 Scoville units.

"I think we had either four out of five or five out of six of the hottest (peppers) in the world," said co-owner of The Paddy Wagon Chuck Fields.

Owners of the Paddy Wagon were able to get their hands on the spiciest peppers in the world. A few of the spiciest peppers and the ones with the most notoriety that were in the competition were:

Dragon's Breath, 2.48 million Scoville Units

Carolina Reaper, 2.2 million Scoville Units

7 Pot, ranges between 1 to 1.5 million Scoville Units

Brain Strain, 1 to 1.35 million Scoville Units

Bhut Jolokla, more widely recognized as "Ghost Pepper," 1.04 million Scoville Units

Moruga Scorpion, 2 million Scoville Units.

The statistics are according to chilipeppermadness.com and provided additional information of the heat in context to more popular and milder strains. Dragon's Breath pepper, a newer strain, recently surpassed the Carolina Reaper, as the hottest pepper in the world and documented in the Guinness' Book of World Records. Dragon's Breath is 992 times hotter than a Jalapeño pepper.

This year's winner of the 2022 Hot Pepper Contest was Ivan Pomeroy, a Richmond local and employee at Apollo Pizza, who seemed completely unbothered by the extreme spice of the peppers at every level.

Pomeroy stated that he had participated in the event the year prior, and won; making him champion for the second year in a row.

Despite impressing everyone by his total composure, Pomeroy said "It was no big deal really... not sure what to say, I won last year — the competition was pretty stiff then with ten or 12 people; this year was a lot easier to beat just a few people."

All of the strains listed above hold rankings as the hottest peppers in the world — and as time progresses there are surely more strains that will attempt to compete with these fiery peppers. Spicy food fans are frequently cross breeding several of the current hottest peppers in an attempt to bring more diversity to those who like to feel the burn.

2022 brought in a smaller crowd this year with only four contestants to compete in this year's contest, two of which were out after the first out of four rounds in the hot pepper competition. Silas Smith, Co-Owner of the Paddy Wagon, stated that in prior years, they typically have more people enter the competition.

"It's just one of those things I really enjoy, it's one of the highlights of my year, kinda disappointed that we only had four people enter. In the past we had around 10 to 12 contestants and every round two or three or four would drop off.. a little disappointed in the the turnout, but the peppers were hot," stated Chuck Fields, Co-Owner of The Paddy Wagon.

All participants who entered the challenge had to be 21 or older and even had to sign a consent waiver due to the possible contribution to health problems, which each individual was made aware of prior to the start of the contest. The contest consists of a series of rounds allowing participants to withdraw at any stage either during a round, or before the next one begins.

Even the rules for the competition raised stakes and drew the attention of everyone in the Irish pub; both flyers for the participants and the announcer also reiterated these rules prior to the competition. The peppers began at a mild heat that increased, based on the Scoville Scale, as each round of the competition progressed; each contestant received the peppers at the beginning of each round.

One of the rules states that participants in the contest are required to eat the entire pepper including the flesh, seed, and membrane — only excluding the cap of the peppers.

Each contestant can consume as much water as necessary and the Paddy Wagon provides contestants with a pitcher of milk to consume when desired, although drinking the milk results in an automatic disqualification. In addition, any contestant that vomits either during the round or within one minute after the round has been completed would be completely disqualified.

The winner is ultimately determined by being the last remaining contestant willing to continue.

In addition, any contestants in the Hot Pepper Eating Contest that coat the inside of their mouth with any sort of protective coating will be disqualified if caught doing so.In an interview with The Register, Smith was asked how they were going to adapt the rules or allow those who have recovered from COVID, and experienced loss of taste could have an advantage in the hot pepper eating contest.

In response, he stated "I am not sure, I didn't even think about that... we will definitely look into that more for next year's competition."

The Paddy Wagon Irish Pub hosts this event annually, typically in the fall — for more information about next years Hot Pepper Eating Contest and other events: visit www.richmondpaddywagon.com or follow their official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thepaddywagonirishpub/