‘Pepper X’ Creator Ed Currie Blind Tastes 12 of The World’s Hottest Peppers

I'm Smokin' Ed Currie.

I am a pepper breeder and a hot sauce producer.

And today, I'm gonna try 12 different peppers.

[upbeat music]

The producers here ordered some really unique peppers,

which I am going to blind taste test

and try to guess what they are.

And our board is back

where we're going to have more flavorful to less flavorful,

and mild to spicy,

so we're gonna rate each and every pepper.

[upbeat music]

First pepper they gave me is a little green one.

There are a lot of peppers that look like this,

green, no wrinkles, it's kinda smooth,

but it is not indicative of what's inside.

With all the oil coming out of here,

it's kinda scaring me.

This oil,

the shiny stuff that's coming up out of the glands,

that's gonna be kinda hot.

[pepper crunches]

Boom, the heat just popped all over the place.

Even though it's got a bitter tone to it,

that freshness comes out,

that earthy tone comes out too.

I feel heat in my throat and on this side of my face.

It's not affecting the front

or the middle of the tongue like a chinense does.

There are different families of hot peppers,

and milder ones come from the annuums,

the hotter ones come from the chinense.

Heat wise, it's got a little bit good heat.

I'm gonna put it on the flavorful side,

just above the flavor line, the midpoint,

and on the very mild side.

I'm gonna say this is a Thai Bird pepper,

[bell dings] 'cause that's exactly

what it tastes like.

These peppers are best when ripe,

and they usually ripe into a red.

I say this is the best one for cooking,

but again, let it go ripe and roast them.

They're delicious.

[upbeat music]

It's a very unique shape.

From the outside, it has no aroma at all.

One of the ways to get the aroma is to pull the calyx off.

The calyx is where the fruit grows.

That's what happens to the flower

when the pepper starts growing.

And the calyx is essentially

the umbilical cord to the pepper from the plant.

[pepper crunches]

The lack of aroma

really doesn't give me a hint as to what it is.

It's gonna be a milder pepper just from the smell.

But those ridges in there, give me kind of a scare.

The seed pocket goes all the way down.

The placental tissue goes all the way down.

I'm really not seeing any oil inside of this pepper.

The inside of the pepper isn't totally green.

It's kind of a lighter color than what's on the outside,

and that is indicative of a little bit of heat.

It just smells fresh.

There's really no tone to it at all.

I'm a little stumped right now.

[pepper crunches]

There's no heat in it at all.

Absolutely none.

[insect chirping]

All it does is really, it just tastes like a leaf.

It's gonna go way down here.

It reminds me of like a Cascabella or something like that,

that you can get at any grocery store.

I was wrong on that one.

It's a Shishito pepper. [buzzer buzzes]

Didn't taste like a Shishito.

What I'm told is one in 10 is spicy,

and that really depends on where they're grown.

Ones that are grown in a hot house

have a tendency to be a little hotter

than the ones that are growing out in the field.

Once they turn red,

they develop a little bit more flavor

and a little bit more heat.

[upbeat music]

This pepper is gonna be extremely brutal.

See all those ridges there?

See all these spikes and nodules coming out of here?

Ooh, very indicative that this pepper is an angry pepper.

These ridges and bubbly appearance,

there's several different indications of what they are.

The plant itself

wants the fruit to look angry so it'll survive.

There's another school of science that says

this is the capsaicin glands expanding through the skin,

and that's what gives it these horns.

From the outside,

it doesn't smell like a thing.

If you see the skin is very shiny, it's encapsulated,

but this really has no [sniffs]

unique smell to it on the outside.

But where I cut, you see the oil coming out,

you see that shiny part pulling up?

This is gonna be a very, very brutal pepper.

It doesn't have that earthy tone

or that grass flavor that I described

with the last two peppers.

Just smelling it, your body is like,

Oh, no. Don't even eat this.

The right way to find out how hot a pepper is,

is to go down to what my wife calls the cheater piece,

the very bottom of the pepper.

It's gonna give you the most flavor with the least heat.

This slice is probably gonna be

10 times higher than this slice.

I'm stupid. I like the hot slice. [chuckles]

Right now, my throat feels like it's gonna close.

My eyes are twitching and watering.

I've got a little bit of ringing in my ears.

And I can already feel my hands starting to shake.

No matter how big of a professional you think you are,

there's nothing you can do to stop

the base brain things from happening.

It just kinda feels like I'm floating.

As far as the flavor goes,

it has a really deep earthy, mustardy flavor.

Spicy, it's off the charts.

Flavorful, it's one of the most flavorful

of the super hot peppers.

This is the Noah. [bell dings]

Something I named after a friend of mine.

Very delicious and very grumpy.

This is not the type of pepper

to play a trick on someone with.

[upbeat music]

Very unique ridges.

A few of those little spikes I was talking about before,

but for the most part, the skin is very smooth and shiny.

Break the calyx off,

you get this really floral tone,

kind of like lemongrass.

It smells really good

and it brings like a happy, happy, happy tone.

You can see that very high seed pocket.

It's glistening on the inside,

which is indicative of a lot of oil.

These seeds down here that are brown, did not mature.

These seeds that are a normal color up top, are mature.

And the aroma is coming straight up already.

All this oil is kinda scaring me.

[upbeat music]

See, that lemony flavor came in,

but is a very bitter tone.

So it's really not good for eating,

but it is great for cooking.

This is a little more on the spicy side,

and because of that bitterness,

I'm gonna put a little bit below the less flavorful side.

This family is the Jolokia family,

specifically this is Yellow Bhut Assam.

[bell dings] When I use it at home,

I slice it into slices like this.

So, so far we've had two mild peppers and two hot peppers.

Let's see what they're gonna bring in next.

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One of the things that I really like is this spiral look.

See how it's got like ridges.

It's just a really, really pretty pepper.

It's got a whole bunch of bumps on it.

It's just another phenotype from the same plant.

And if you isolate them,

you can grow them over and over and over again

to have that look.

[pepper crunches]

It's a very pretty pepper,

but this is one that isn't as hot

as the one that we're chasing for the next world record.

You can see that that placental tissue has grown

all the way around the pepper,

producing a whole lot of capsaicin.

And you can see the oil pooling,

which it tells me that this is gonna hurt me very bad.

Really doesn't matter where I cut a piece from.

So I'm gonna eat this one.

It is a brutally hot pepper. Brutally hot.

But the flavor is so unique

it makes me want to eat some more.

It's like fruit, spice, heat,

and then pain.

[sighs] My teeth actually feel like they're on fire.

The pain is so intense in my throat

that it's making me wanna run and grab something to drink.

I kinda feel high.

I'm gonna dance now.

[upbeat music]

[chuckles] I don't know what to do.

I'm gonna rate this really high.

So far, this is the best flavor we've had.

Can you see I'm shaking?

That's from the endorphin rush.

This would be Pepper Y, [bell dings]

also known as the Apollo.

If I was to rate this one to 10,

this would probably be

in my top three favorite peppers to play with.

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This pepper is very unique.

There is a virus.

It doesn't hurt anything. It's plant virus.

We get these separations in the wall that form unique arms

that kinda give the pepper character.

We call them arms

because they might be giving you the finger,

they might be pointing at something.

We break off these arms,

and this is a really delicious part of the pepper.

It still has all the heat,

because if you can see inside,

it's nothing but placental tissue.

There's none of the bumps that you get on chinense,

and that's indicative on all the ones with arms.

This one happens to have a really earthy tone.

It's a strange mixture of everything.

It's just mutant.

This one's gonna be brutal when you look inside.

It is not a pleasant pepper at all.

Essentially, the whole thing is placental tissue.

And look how the oil is pooling up from the cut.

The flavor of that one tasted more like the Shishito.

As far as flavor goes,

these only smell good.

They don't taste good.

I don't want to eat any more of this one.

I'm actually gonna put it below this one.

But as far as spiciness goes,

it's on top of the charts.

It is a member of the chinense family,

Pepper X. [bell dings]

This is the hottest pepper in the world.

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Look at this pretty little pepper.

It doesn't look like it's anything.

It's very smooth.

Has those three distinct ridges.

It's got a little bit of a curve built in.

So there's a little crossbreeding going in down there.

I know it's a crossbreed 'cause it could be my pepper.

We'll see. Ooh, you might have

fooled me.

[pepper crunches]

This placental tissue runs

all the way down to the edge of the pepper,

glistening inside but there's really no oil, so to say,

and really not much aroma at all.

It has the inside of an orange habanero, okay?

It has the shape of an orange Ghost Pepper.

We're gonna find out what the flavor is.

[pepper crunches]

I took a big bite of this pepper

'cause I'm not afraid of it at all.

It almost has a creamsicle flavor.

It's really fruity and it's actually quite enjoyable.

It looks like it's gonna be an orange habanero.

These ridges are indicative of Ghost Peppers,

that unique three-sided look,

but it tastes like a carrot pepper to me,

what's normally called a carrot.

When they're fully ripe,

they kind of look like a Bugs Bunny carrot.

They get that dark orange tone.

This is the top of the chart as far as flavor,

but it has absolutely no heat at all.

My original guest was a carrot pepper or no heat habanero,

and it turned out to be one of the two,

Habanada. [bell dings]

Let's see what's coming up next.

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So right off the bat, visual,

this is a really beautiful pepper.

The color draws you in.

It's just one of those earthy tones, these fall tones.

If you rotate it a little bit,

you can see some bumps coming out of it.

This top right here, this five lobe top,

lets me know that it might be

either something in the Scotch Bonnet family

or the 7 Pot family.

But on this side where I cut through some placental tissue,

you can see the oil popping out right away.

The aroma is really sweet.

I mean, it's a very, very sweet pepper.

Even though it smells fresh

and it doesn't have that acridic smell

of a real super hot,

it's got all the indices of being a real super hot.

When I smell this, I think of things like ceviche,

something with citrus and sugar.

I've had so many hot things, [chuckles]

and it's saying, Please don't do this.

[pepper crunches]

Oh, it's extremely sweet.

It's got such a fruit forward flavor.

It needs to be in something like jelly.

It needs to be in a marmalade.

All flavor, very little heat,

just a little bit more heat than the Thai chili,

but a lot more flavor,

Orange Habanero. [bell dings]

We've had some peppers from all around the world.

Some really exciting ones, some really tasty ones,

some stupid hot ones.

I'm just ready to roll.

So let's see what pepper number nine is.

[upbeat music]

This is actually the true shape of a true Scotch Bonnet,

but with one exception on this one.

If you look at the skin on this side,

then you can see these little sharp spikes.

This pepper has been bred with something else.

Unlike the last pepper that we tried,

which is from the same family,

this one has a very thick seed pocket and very thick skin.

This one has that same fruity aroma,

but what happens when you eat it

is that you get the cross that's in there.

Whereas the last one would be good ceviche for my wife,

this one would make good ceviche for me,

'cause I like things with a little kick.

[Ed munches]

Excellent flavor, man.

Anything you were gonna use a habanero for,

If you want a little more heat,

this is the one to use.

Look at this one. It's got a little mouth.

[Crew] Is it laughing or crying?

Well, it's laughing at you,

but it's crying 'cause it's gonna get ate.

This is the spice I like.

Okay, this is the heat level I like

for everyday normal eating.

I'm gonna put it as less flavorful,

but it's got more flavor than the Yellow Ghost Pepper.

So if I'm guessing the name of this one,

it's a Scotch Bonnet x Reaper.

[bell dings]

We're the ones who did it.

We're the ones who sell it.

And you can get it at any time to grow at home.

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Ah, look at this.

Look, it's kinda beautiful.

It's a very flat, very long pepper.

Doesn't have any unique lines for the placental tissue.

I think it's gonna be a really flavorful pepper.

Okay, so if we look at the interior of this one,

there are two distinct placental lines,

that's indicative of a cayenne,

especially a cayenne from Central America.

Very long seed pocket goes all the way to the bottom.

Just by touching it to the table,

you got two very distinct lines of oil.

This one's a little bit hotter. It's making my nose run.

I'm gonna put this on the mild side

and just a little bit higher than the Scotch Bonnet Reaper.

So the name of this crossbreed is Cayenne x White Ghost.

[bell dings] Cayennes tend to breed

really well with other peppers.

We've done 10 peppers,

most of which have been pretty good,

a couple of which who have it.

[upbeat music]

I'm excited about this next one.

It is a beautiful pepper.

It has a very distinct tail,

very distinct lobes,

and very distinct bumps all over it.

And it's also a bright, shiny color.

It says, Don't eat me.

When you cut this inside,

we got the high seed pocket.

It's got placental tissue everywhere,

which is extruding the oil from the glands.

And the aroma from it is absolutely amazing.

And if it seems like I'm talking

because I don't wanna eat the pepper,

that's 'cause I'm talking

'cause I don't wanna eat the pepper. [chuckles]

My eyes are watering.

My mouth is on fire.

My chest is on fire.

And I'm the happiest man in the world.

Flavor though,

it's not nearly as flavorful as these X and Y variants.

Such a quick punch,

that unless you cook with it,

it's really not a good pepper for anything else.

This is one of my babies that I'm so proud of.

This is the Carolina Reaper.

[bell dings] When you put it in your mouth,

you're like, Oh, that's sweet.

When you chew it,

all of a sudden you're like,

Oh, that's not sweet. That's fire.

All the flavor of the pepper disappears almost immediately.

This is not for eating straight.

And we're to the final pepper,

and I'm so excited to find out what it is.

[upbeat music]

I don't even wanna look down.

Look at this unique shape.

It not only has wrinkles and warts,

but it's also got a good angle to it.

I'm gonna cut this in two slices

so you can see what's going on.

Not only has the high seat pocket,

but the placental tissue

goes all the way down to the bottom,

and it's got oil going everywhere.

The aroma that's coming out of it is just amazing.

The tannin smell from it reminds me of a dark chocolate.

I kinda wanna go for the cheater piece on this one.

Mm. Mm.

I'm gonna go a little higher 'cause that was nothing

but that first tannic flavor and then sweetness,

no real discernible heat.

Oh, there we go.

It kinda has a,

kind of an allspice taste to it.

It's a brutal heat.

It's not quite as spicy as a Reaper.

This is probably the least flavorful pepper

that we've tried today.

More spicy than the Reaper x Scotch Bonnet or the Bhut,

less spicy than the other ones.

It's only good for cooking,

only good for making hot sauce.

It's pretty easy for me on this one.

This is a Caramel Razor,

which was born and bred at PuckerButt Pepper Company.

We've gone through 12 peppers.

There's more on the table, we can rate those.

They're all mild. [chuckles]

But maybe we'll do something different the next time.

Okay, there you have it.

It was really a lot of fun

going from peppers that you can get anywhere,

to peppers that are not released yet to the general public.

I've had a blast being with you today.

Have a great day,

and I look forward to the next time.

We're here on Epicurious,

blindly tasting peppers.