The world's hottest peppers are a group of plants from the genus capsicum chinense. The range in spiciness from barely edible to so hot it can cause skin and eye irritation.

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What Is The Scoville Scale

The Scoville Scale is a measurement of the heat level of chili peppers. It was developed in 1912 by American chemist Wilbur Scoville to estimate how much spice/heat) an individual pepper possesses, named the Scoville Heat Units (SHU). The scale assigns a rating from zero to infinity, with sweet bell peppers at zero and Carolina Reapers at over 2 million Scoville units!

This article will give you everything you need to know about the spiciest hottest chili peppers in 2021. Also, learn how the Scoville Scale works and what SHU ratings mean for those who enjoy spicy foods!

Scoville Scale Spice Level Scoring

Scoville heat units are used to measure the pungency (spicy heat) of chili peppers and other spicy foods, recorded using the Scoville Organoleptic Test.

This method of measuring spiciness does not involve tasting the food items. Instead, it uses high-performance liquid chromatography to identify capsaicin content through indicator chemicals that react with active components.

Scoville heat units (SHU): The spice level score is based on the amount of capsaicin in one unit, influencing other components such as dihydrocapsaicin and ß-cis-capsaicin.

The Scoville scale is only an approximation. It measures total heat present in a solution or food that contains a mix of capsaicinoids and non-capsaicinoid components that affect the overall perception of spiciness.

Hottest Peppers In The World 2021

🌶️ Carolina Reaper

Scoville Rating: 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 Scovilles (SHU)

Carolina Reaper still reigns supreme as the hottest commercially available pepper on earth today. The spiciness and heat of the Carolina Reaper is derived from capsaicinoids, specifically those that contribute to its Scoville scale ranking as one of the hottest chilis on earth. The pepper was bred by "Smokin" Ed Currie in a greenhouse near Rock Hill where he has been growing chili peppers since 1968. It took him over three years' worth of breeding for this accomplishment!

🌶️ Pepper X (Hottest 2021)

Scoville Rating: 3,180,000 Scovilles (SHU)

Pepper X Pepper (Hottest 2021) — Pepper X - photo courtesy Thrillist

Ed Currie, the creator of the Carolina Reaper pepper, said that Pepper X is "two times as hot," which makes it one of his favorite chilis. He started developing this new cultivar over ten years ago in an effort to have more heat with less flavor loss when compared with other spicy varieties on display at farmer's markets or grown by home gardeners.

The extreme heat of Pepper X chili deems it unwise to consume the fruit. If the reports are accurate, one bite has the ability to kill the diner.

Hot Ones, a web series produced by First We Feast in which the host and his interview subjects eat increasingly spicy chicken wings. One of their sauces is called 'The Last Dab.' The original sauce for this dish was made with Pepper X as its active ingredient; now, they use pepper extract instead because it has more heat.

🌶️ Dragon's Breath

Scoville Rating: 2,480,000 Scovilles (SHU)

The newly crowed chili pepper plant, Dragon's Breath, was discovered in the UK. The Dragon's Breath is a type of chili pepper that was bred to have medicinal properties. The therapeutic properties of aesthetic treatment with its essential oil, believed by some people who study plants, the scientific value of Dragon's Breath cannot be overstated.

One of the hottest peppers on Earth, this chili has been bred by Mike Smith and his team at Tom Smith’s Plants. They say if you eat one, it will close your airways immediately-burn mouth/throat out and possible anaphylactic shock, so be careful!

🌶️ Komodo Dragon

Scoville Rating: 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 Scovilles (SHU)

Komodo Dragon is a beast of an ingredient, with over one million Scoville heat units and 2.2million on average to compete against some serious peppers in Carolina Reaper territory at 880 times hotter than jalapeños!

Komodo dragon chilies are about 2 inches long and slim. They have skin that twists, turns, pocks along its length before ending in a point-like tip. Komodos follow the typical chili pepper color maturation pattern starting green at maturity followed by bright red when fully ripe.

🌶️ Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

Scoville Rating: 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 Scoville (SHU)

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (Capsicum chinense), a chili pepper native to the village of Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago, has been identified as one of the spiciest chiles on Earth. It was measured at 1.2 million Scoville heat units (SHU) by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute in 2012, making it amongst some other listings such as Carolina Reaper with its record-setting designation.

The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion has a unique, fiery taste that builds as you eat it. The yellow cultivar of this chili pepper was created by Wahid Ogeer in the 1980s and named after his home country of Trinidad. Paul Bosland says that "You take one bite; then suddenly your tongue is on fire!"

🌶️ Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate

Scoville Rating: 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 Scovilles (SHU)

Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate pepper is 100x hotter than a jalapeno. The short 2-inch long wrinkled chocolate brown, red fruits have hints of sweetness. Its undertones make perfect for spicy fruit-forward sauces.
We recommend wearing protective gear while handling Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate pepper, just as one would do any other chile pepper on our list. This chili has less acidic flavor profiles overall due to some smokiness present, along with earthy tones.

🌶️ 7 Pot Douglah

Scoville Rating: 923,889 to 1,853,986 Scovilles (SHU)

7 Pot Douglah is an extremely hot pepper from Trinidad. It has skin that’s notably dark chocolate brown and somewhat pimpled but starts off green before maturing to a rich brown coloration. At 1,853,986 Scovilles, making it one of the HOTTEST peppers in the world.

The 7 Pot Douglah Pepper has a heat rating of 232 times hotter than jalapenos and more than 5 times as spicy as habaneros.

🌶️ 7 Pot Brown

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,853,396 Scovilles (SHU)

7 Pot Brown pepper comes from Trinidad and is also known as the Chocolate 7 Pot. The reason is it matures to dark chocolate brown in color, with bumpy texture and dimples on its surface that give off fruity flavors followed by nutty notes at the finish.

7 Pot peppers are not for the faint of heart. They're hot, with a potency level that's over 125 times hotter than jalapeños and close cousin to Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper.

🌶️ Dorset Naga

Scoville Rating: 544,000 to 1,598,227 Scovilles (SHU)

Dorset Naga is a strain of the Naga Morich. This chili began the modern British obsession. First cultivated by Joy and Michael Michaud at Sea Spring Farm, Dorset, it was named one of Earth's hottest peppers in 2006.

Some say that the Dorset Naga and Morich pepper are one in the same, but their differences make them unique.

The Dorset Naga, which has thin skin and a pointy tip, can be pretty spicy. The heat starts building up almost immediately after consumption with an out-of-this-world fruity flavor that some people might find too intense for their taste buds - but those who love fiery foods will thoroughly enjoy it!

🌶️ Naga Morich

Scoville Rating: 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 Scovilles (SHU)

Naga Morich is a small-medium shrub with large leaves, and it has five-petaled flowers. The fruit of this chili plant differs from the Bhut Jolokia. In comparison, it's slightly smaller while having a more pimply texture than other varieties due to being grown at higher elevations where there's less sunlight available for photosynthesis. Thus, growing faster but not producing as many fruits over time makes harvesting difficult without destroying part or all its crop yield potential.

🌶️ Trinidad Scorpion "Butch-T"

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,463,700 Scovilles (SHU)

Trinidad Scorpion "Butch-T" was listed as the hottest pepper in the world briefly in 2011. According to Guinness World Records, it was eventually surpassed by Moruga Scorpions and then again with Carolina Reaper. But still, this fantastic chili will satisfy those craving massive heat.

The Scorpion Pepper is indigenous to the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, which was named after Neil Smith from The Hippy Seed Company. He initially received these seeds through Butch Taylor (the owner of Zydeco Farms in Woodville/Crosby, Mississippi), who sourced them out.

🌶️ Naga Viper

Scoville Rating: 900,000 to 1,382,118 (SHU)

Naga Viper, created in England by chili farmer Gerald Fowler of The Chilli Pepper Company UK. Naga Viper is the creation of a three-way hybrid produced from the world's hottest peppers - Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper), Naga Morich and Trinidad Scorpions which are all on record as registering 1 million Scoville heat units or higher!

🌶️ 7 Pot Brain Strain

Scoville Rating: 1,000,000 to 1,350,000 Scovilles (SHU)

7 Pot Brain Strain was developed in North Carolina by David Cappiello. He created it after breeding a pepper that originated from Trinidad and Tobago, which gave its name to this strain because this particular pepper immediately brings to mind an image of the human brain. It also resembles melting lava and reflects just how hot it can be when tasting these fiery fruits! The shape is very similar to that which you'll find on Moruga Scorpiones though they do not have a pronounced tail as many other scorplings do.

This sweet yet spicy chili can exceed 1 million Scoville units depending upon where they're grown but still has enough kick without being overwhelming thanks also having great flavor as well.

🌶️ Ghost Pepper

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,041,427 Scovilles (SHU)

Ghost Pepper is a hybrid of chili pepper endemic to Northeast Asia. They have been measured at over one million Scoville units, though they typically score in the upper hundreds of thousands or lower millions on modern tests. Ghost peppers are closely related to the Naga Viper variety from India which is ranked about 400,000 SHU and named after its resemblance to a snake’s hood when fully ripe. The ghost pepper was formerly considered the hottest chili pepper in the world until recently being surpassed by several others such as Dragon's Breath and Carolina Reaper.

When eaten raw or unprocessed, it can cause intense discomfort; however, this same effect becomes surface only when appropriately cooked.

Other names for ghost pepper include bhut jolokia and Bhutanese chili.

🌶️ 7 Pot Jonah Pepper

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,200,000 (SHU)

7 Pot Jonah is a pepper 7 times hotter than the standard habanero. The Chaguanas region of Trinidad is where you'll find the 7 Pot Jonah Pepper. It's a chili with up to 1.2 million Scoville heat units and can make your stew as hot as it sounds - seven pots worth! Making this specialty food item perfect for those who want some spice in their lives.

The 7 pot jonah peppers themselves look like typical chilies except for their size; they grow to about five inches long by two inches wide.

🌶️ Spanish Naga Pepper / Gibralta Naga Pepper

Scoville Rating: 1,086,844 to 1,200,000 (SHU)

Spanish Naga Pepper / Gibralta Naga Pepper Spain. Chilli Pepper Pete was involved with setting up this project to grow them just across from Gibraltar- although there are other places where they're found too!

The hottest chili pepper in India. It beat out other contenders to take first place by many reports of it reaching up over 1 million SHU with some even claiming1,220,000 Scoville heat units!

These chilis grow about 3 inches long and are round on top before narrowing towards an end that's tapered off into small points.

Recipes To Try

📖 Recipe

Hottest Peppers In The World

Steven Pennington

Comprehensive list in 2022 of the hottest peppers in the world. This is a list to showcase, discuss and even research about the hottest peppers on this planet!

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Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 pepper Carolina Reaper
1 pepper Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
1 pepper Komodo Dragon
1 pepper Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
1 pepper Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate
1 pepper 7 Pot Douglah
1 pepper 7 Pot Brown
1 pepper Dorset Naga
1 pepper Naga Morich
1 pepper Trinidad Scorpion "Butch-T"
1 pepper Naga Viper
1 pepper 7 Pot Brain Strain
1 pepper Ghost Pepper
1 pepper 7 Pot Jonah
1 pepper Spanish Naga Pepper / Gibralta Naga Pepper Spain

Instructions

17 Hottest Peppers In The World

Carolina Reaper

Scoville Rating: 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 Scovilles
Carolina Reaper still reigns supreme as the hottest commercially available pepper on earth today. The spiciness and heat of the Carolina Reaper is derived from capsaicinoids, specifically those that contribute to its Scoville scale ranking as one of the hottest chilis on earth. The pepper was bred by "Smokin" Ed Currie in a greenhouse near Rock Hill where he has been growing chili peppers since 1968. It took him over three years' worth of breeding for this accomplishment!

Pepper X

Scoville Rating: 3,180,000 Scovilles
Ed Currie, the creator of the Carolina Reaper pepper, said that Pepper X is "two times as hot," which makes it one of his favorite chilis. He started developing this new cultivar over ten years ago in an effort to have more heat with less flavor loss when compared with other spicy varieties on display at farmer's markets or grown by home gardeners.
The extreme heat of Pepper X chili deems it unwise to consume the fruit. If the reports are accurate, one bite has the ability to kill the diner.
Hot Ones, a web series produced by First We Feast in which the host and his interview subjects eat increasingly spicy chicken wings. One of their sauces is called 'The Last Dab.' The original sauce for this dish was made with Pepper X as its active ingredient; now, they use pepper extract instead because it has more heat.

Dragon's Breath

Scoville Rating: 2,480,000 Scovilles
The newly crowed chili pepper plant, Dragon's Breath, was discovered in the UK. The Dragon's Breath is a type of chili pepper that was bred to have medicinal properties. The therapeutic properties of aesthetic treatment with its essential oil, believed by some people who study plants, the scientific value of Dragon's Breath cannot be overstated.
One of the hottest peppers on Earth, this chili has been bred by Mike Smith and his team at Tom Smith’s Plants. They say if you eat one, it will close your airways immediately-burn mouth/throat out and possible anaphylactic shock, so be careful!

Komodo Dragon

Scoville Rating: 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 Scovilles
Komodo Dragon is a beast of an ingredient, with over one million Scoville heat units and 2.2million on average to compete against some serious peppers in Carolina Reaper territory at 880 times hotter than jalapeños!
Komodo dragon chilies are about 2 inches long and slim. They have skin that twists, turns, pocks along its length before ending in a point-like tip. Komodos follow the typical chili pepper color maturation pattern starting green at maturity followed by bright red when fully ripe.

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

Scoville Rating: 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 Scoville
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (Capsicum chinense), a chili pepper native to the village of Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago, has been identified as one of the spiciest chiles on Earth. It was measured at 1.2 million Scoville heat units (SHU) by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute in 2012, making it amongst some other listings such as Carolina Reaper with its record-setting designation.
The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion has a unique, fiery taste that builds as you eat it. The yellow cultivar of this chili pepper was created by Wahid Ogeer in the 1980s and named after his home country of Trinidad. Paul Bosland says that "You take one bite; then suddenly your tongue is on fire!"

Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate

Scoville Rating: 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 Scovilles
Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate pepper is 100x hotter than a jalapeno. The short 2-inch long wrinkled chocolate brown, red fruits have hints of sweetness. Its undertones make perfect for spicy fruit-forward sauces.We recommend wearing protective gear while handling Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate pepper, just as one would do any other chile pepper on our list. This chili has less acidic flavor profiles overall due to some smokiness present, along with earthy tones.

7 Pot Douglah

Scoville Rating: 923,889 to 1,853,986 Scovilles
7 Pot Douglah is an extremely hot pepper from Trinidad. It has skin that’s notably dark chocolate brown and somewhat pimpled but starts off green before maturing to a rich brown coloration. At 1,853,986 Scovilles, making it one of the HOTTEST peppers in the world.
The 7 Pot Douglah Pepper has a heat rating of 232 times hotter than jalapenos and more than 5 times as spicy as habaneros.

7 Pot Brown

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,853,396 Scovilles
7 Pot Brown pepper comes from Trinidad and is also known as the Chocolate 7 Pot. The reason is it matures to dark chocolate brown in color, with bumpy texture and dimples on its surface that give off fruity flavors followed by nutty notes at the finish.
7 Pot peppers are not for the faint of heart. They're hot, with a potency level that's over 125 times hotter than jalapeños and close cousin to Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper

Dorset Naga

Scoville Rating: 544,000 to 1,598,227 Scovilles
Dorset Naga is a strain of the Naga Morich. This chili began the modern British obsession. First cultivated by Joy and Michael Michaud at Sea Spring Farm, Dorset, it was named one of Earth's hottest peppers in 2006.
Some say that the Dorset Naga and Morich pepper are one in the same, but their differences make them unique.
The Dorset Naga, which has thin skin and a pointy tip, can be pretty spicy. The heat starts building up almost immediately after consumption with an out-of-this-world fruity flavor that some people might find too intense for their taste buds - but those who love fiery foods will thoroughly enjoy it!

Naga Morich

Scoville Rating: 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 Scovilles
Naga Morich is a small-medium shrub with large leaves, and it has five-petaled flowers. The fruit of this chili plant differs from the Bhut Jolokia. In comparison, it's slightly smaller while having a more pimply texture than other varieties due to being grown at higher elevations where there's less sunlight available for photosynthesis. Thus, growing faster but not producing as many fruits over time makes harvesting difficult without destroying part or all its crop yield potential.

Trinidad Scorpion "Butch-T"

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,463,700 Scovilles
Trinidad Scorpion "Butch-T" was listed as the hottest pepper in the world briefly in 2011. According to Guinness World Records, it was eventually surpassed by Moruga Scorpions and then again with Carolina Reaper. But still, this fantastic chili will satisfy those craving massive heat.
The Scorpion Pepper is indigenous to the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, which was named after Neil Smith from The Hippy Seed Company. He initially received these seeds through Butch Taylor (the owner of Zydeco Farms in Woodville/Crosby, Mississippi), who sourced them out.

Naga Viper

Scoville Rating: 900,000 to 1,382,118
Naga Viper, created in England by chili farmer Gerald Fowler of The Chilli Pepper Company UK. Naga Viper is the creation of a three-way hybrid produced from the world's hottest peppers - Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper), Naga Morich and Trinidad Scorpions which are all on record as registering 1 million Scoville heat units or higher!

7 Pot Brain Strain

Scoville Rating: 1,000,000 to 1,350,000 Scovilles
7 Pot Brain Strain was developed in North Carolina by David Cappiello. He created it after breeding a pepper that originated from Trinidad and Tobago, which gave its name to this strain because this particular pepper immediately brings to mind an image of the human brain. It also resembles melting lava and reflects just how hot it can be when tasting these fiery fruits! The shape is very similar to that which you'll find on Moruga Scorpiones though they do not have a pronounced tail as many other scorplings do.
This sweet yet spicy chili can exceed 1 million Scoville units depending upon where they're grown but still has enough kick without being overwhelming thanks also having great flavor as well.

Ghost Pepper

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,041,427 Scoville
Ghost Pepper is a hybrid of chili pepper endemic to Northeast Asia. They have been measured at over one million Scoville units, though they typically score in the upper hundreds of thousands or lower millions on modern tests. Ghost peppers are closely related to the Naga Viper variety from India which is ranked about 400,000 SHU and named after its resemblance to a snake’s hood when fully ripe. The ghost pepper was formerly considered the hottest chili pepper in the world until recently being surpassed by several others such as Dragon's Breath and Carolina Reaper.
When eaten raw or unprocessed, it can cause intense discomfort; however, this same effect becomes surface only when appropriately cooked.
Other names for ghost pepper include bhut jolokia and Bhutanese chili

7 Pot Jonah

Scoville Rating: 800,000 to 1,200,000
7 Pot Jonah is a pepper 7 times hotter than the standard habanero. The Chaguanas region of Trinidad is where you'll find the 7 Pot Jonah Pepper. It's a chili with up to 1.2 million Scoville heat units and can make your stew as hot as it sounds - seven pots worth! Making this specialty food item perfect for those who want some spice in their lives.
The 7 pot jonah peppers themselves look like typical chilies except for their size; they grow to about five inches long by two inches wide.

Spanish Naga Pepper

Scoville Rating: 1,086,844 to 1,200,000
Spanish Naga Pepper / Gibralta Naga Pepper Spain. Chilli Pepper Pete was involved with setting up this project to grow them just across from Gibraltar- although there are other places where they're found too!
The hottest chili pepper in India. It beat out other contenders to take first place by many reports of it reaching up over 1 million SHU with some even claiming1,220,000 Scoville heat units!
These chilis grow about 3 inches long and are round on top before narrowing towards an end that's tapered off into small points.

Notes

Chef Notes

Keyword hottest peppers 2022, hottest peppers in the world

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