‘Pepper X’ Creator Ed Currie Tries 16 Of The Hottest Snacks

I'm Smokin' Ed Currie.

I'm a professional hot sauce maker and pepper breeder,

and today we're gonna try a wide variety of spicy snacks,

rating them by the flavor and the heat.

Some of these snacks you can enjoy every single day,

but some of 'em are too spicy

for even the spiciest of the chili heads out there.

Let's get started.

Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

The ingredients are enriched cornmeal, oil,

yeast extract, monosodium glutamate,

potassium salt, citric acid, disodium...

Ooh, I don't even know how to pronounce that.

There's a lot of stuff in here.

What makes this spicy is the natural flavors.

And natural flavors could mean just about anything.

Probably something along the lines of cayenne

with a little salt enhancer.

And that red color

leads you to think they're gonna be spicy.

But when you eat one of these,

it's the cheese taste that comes out, not the spiciness.

Flavor-wise, middle of the road.

Heat-wise, no heat at all.

This is a spice snack for anybody in the whole world,

from grandma all the way down to a little kid.

Inferno Candy Company, Meltdown Potato Chips.

These are my friends from down Texas.

They make some really, really good stuff.

The ingredients are potatoes, vegetable oil,

Komodo Dragon peppers, and natural and artificial flavors.

When they have natural and artificial flavors on there,

it kind of scares me.

That can be capsaicin powder, capsaicin extract,

and that's what is used to make the heat unbearable.

They want you to buy more, so they do a good balance

between natural peppers and the chemical extracts.

And the chips themselves look really pleasant.

There's little dots of pepper all over them.

As far as taste goes, this is an extremely tasty snack.

Immediately you taste the vinegar

and then the heat is starting to come on.

There's definitely a lot of pepper powder. It's a good burn.

Komodo Dragon peppers are a very spicy pepper.

It's a phenotype of another pepper that someone bred out

so that it looks like it sounds.

When you eat them or you cook with them,

you get a really good flavor,

and it really accents the vinegar that's on here.

This is not a snack for your everyday user.

This is a snack for chili heads.

And if you ate a whole bag, you would be miserable.

For me, this is a snack. I want another bite.

Takis Blue Heat.

My kids love Takis and they ask me to get them all the time,

but I personally have never had one.

There's onion powder for flavor.

It says chili pepper, but I'm assuming it's powder

and something called Blue No. 1 Lake.

The chili powder itself has been dyed blue,

not the corn chip, and sprayed onto the chip.

The blue coloring is not eye appealing, but it's intriguing.

Now I can see why my kids like Takis. This is a fun snack.

It's a little bit hotter than the Cheeto

but not overbearing.

I don't get any of the onion.

I did get the chili powder,

but there's a lot of salt mixed into here.

So it's enhancing the flavor of not only the cornmeal

but the chili powder.

Manufacturers use different things to augment heat.

We have monosodium glutamate, we have salt,

we have citric acid.

All those things play tricks in the chemical reaction

with the nerve receptor that perceives heat to the brain.

This is a little more salty than a Cheeto.

That's part of the chemistry trick

that's bringing out a little bit of heat,

but in this case it's pleasant.

It's not unbearable.

I love these things. These are good.

Anybody can enjoy this.

What it is is a unique flavor experience.

Trader Joe's Ghost Pepper Potato Chips.

I didn't even know Trader Joe's made ghost pepper chips,

but Trader Joe's makes good products,

so I'm looking forward to seeing what's in here.

One thing I notice right away,

ghost pepper seasoning is the third ingredient.

Normally you see the heat at the very bottom,

which means they're using a chemical,

instead of the heat at the very top,

which means it's natural.

A really pleasant-looking waffle-ish chip.

This waffle shape gives a lot more surface area

so you're able to spread that powder.

It's not obvious that this is going to be hot.

It's very, very crunchy.

I really got the cumin, I got the black pepper, I got salt.

Heat-wise, no heat at all.

Normally when it's ghost pepper, I get a bitter flavor

with the heat on both sides of my mouth.

I'm not even getting that.

I'm now going on my fourth chip,

I still don't taste any pepper at all.

But for a chip it's a tasty chip.

You want to think you're impressing people

but you're not really doing anything,

this is the chip for it.

If you're a chili head, don't even bother.

Trader Joseph, you're a very, very bad boy.

Jurassic Jerky, Inferno X Jerky.

Made with Carolina Reaper, the hottest pepper in the world.

Hey, that's my trademark, buddy. We need to talk.

The heat on jerky needs to be

a complement to the piece of meat,

but a lot of times when people make jerky,

all they're doing is adding extract for heat.

Spice extractives.

Could be oil of garlic, oil of cinnamon, capsaicin oil.

You know, it could be a lot of different things,

but it also says Carolina Reaper mash.

Just opening the bag, you can smell the extract.

So I'm gonna say without even tasting it

that this is not for the general public.

But just because it has extract

doesn't mean it can't be good.

The beef is very moist.

Even though you see all this pepper on it,

there's really not a pepper-forward flavor.

The molasses, the tamarind, the pineapple juice.

But then that extract heat

is coming on right away in the back.

You know, now I'm getting hints

of the Carolina Reaper mash.

When you do Reaper, it builds up to boom.

I can feel sweat starting already on the side of my face.

I can feel it on my forehead like my eyebrows and stuff.

The burn isn't natural, okay? And I don't like that feeling.

If you want something spicy, doesn't taste good,

and is a challenge, this is the one for you.

If you want to eat some jerky

at home while you're watching TV, don't use this product.

Chilitos Chamoy Dried Mango.

This one looks really exciting.

The chili peppers in it,

there's four listed there, none of which are hot.

It's got tamarind pulp, but tamarind tastes so good.

Few other accelerants for flavor.

The chili paste on these is thick.

This is one of the best snacks I've ever had.

It's kind of like a mildly spicy fruity explosion

going on in your mouth.

The chilies in here, even though they're mild,

I'm getting a little extra saliva going

'cause there's a lot of chili on there.

The chilies are mixed with the tamarind

and then it just looks like they're soaked in it,

and that's why everything's sticking together.

I mean, this is the most flavorful thing we've had.

But heat-wise, it is very, very mild.

Even though it's delicious, it is pricey.

Ranges from between $10 to I've seen them as high as $16.99.

This is delicious, and it's a good spicy adventure

for those who like mild heat.

Taza, Spice Guajillo Chocolate.

I love that this chocolate

just has a couple of ingredients.

Organic cane sugar, organic ground chili,

and organic cayenne.

That's it. Chocolate is beautiful.

I guess they're calling this a serving.

I would think one of these is a serving.

This has texture, okay?

And that texture adds, for me,

to the experience of eating the chocolate.

As far as the heat goes,

there's no discernible heat in this chocolate.

They're using a very mild pepper.

But as far as the texture goes and the flavor goes,

this is absolutely delicious.

If you want something you can enjoy

that has a little hint of heat to it,

I give this one a thumbs up.

Pepper Joe's Carolina Reaper Chocolate.

It's a dark chocolate with Carolina Reaper powder.

I know Joe and I know Joe's product

and I'm pretty sure that the new owners of Joe's

have carried on his tradition.

This is going to be a brutal piece of chocolate.

You cannot see the powder in the chocolate,

which can be very, very deceptive, okay?

The heat is immediate.

It is Carolina Reaper heat and it is brutal.

There's so much pepper powder in there

that it doesn't taste like a dark chocolate.

It tastes like a milk chocolate.

Right away, boom, your face is on fire.

And I don't know if you guys can see,

but I immediately started sweating

and tears came to my eyes.

When you eat chocolate, you wanna be happy.

I'm eating chocolate, you know?

This is not a happy experience.

That being said, I really enjoy them,

but my wife calls me an idiot,

and you have to be an idiot to enjoy this much pain.

This particular chocolate bar

doesn't taste as good as other ones I had

and I think that's 'cause of the massive amount of powder.

Andy Capp's Hot Fries.

The only thing that's giving it heat really

is the paprika extract

and then it's got spice extractive.

It's a whole bunch of stuff

you just don't want to know you're eating,

but they taste really good.

For those of us who have had it in our youth,

it brings back a very warm, fuzzy experience.

They don't have the dust all over 'em.

There's really just salt and big chunks of flavoring.

But heat, there's absolutely no heat again.

This is for everybody

who wants to say they're eating something hot,

who can't eat something hot.

Don't start eating a bag by yourself

'cause you're gonna hate yourself an hour later.

Why?

Because you'll eat the whole damn bag.

Huang Fei Hong Spicy Peanuts.

It just says peanuts, red chili pepper, soybean oil, spices.

Pleasantly surprised to see

that it's not just dusted in pepper.

There are peppers right inside

and it looks like they were actually fried

together with the peanuts.

Hmm.

For the normal person it's probably gonna be,

Ooh, these are spicy,

but for me, it's just something

I would eat on an everyday basis.

I got a little something going on in my mouth

that I wasn't expecting from a peanut.

It says on it Sichuan pepper,

and I don't know if that's the actual peppers

or Sichuan peppercorn.

Sichuan peppercorns have no heat.

What they do is they kind of tingle,

they give you a numbing effect in your mouth.

Instead of the pepper being like, Ooh, this is hot,

the pepper is being an accent to the experience

that's going on in your mouth.

If you like a little bit of heat,

like say the pepper flakes that you might put on pizza

or something like that,

eating these would be a unique experience

that you could enjoy.

This is something I would buy by the case

and keep in the house.

This is a great snack to have

and one that's not gonna go over

to the other side of the set.

I'm keeping these for later.

Blue Diamond Carolina Reaper Almonds.

This is probably the spiciest almond you're ever gonna have.

If you look at the ingredients,

Carolina Reaper seasoning is the second,

but it also has like white vinegar and paprika

and garlic and stuff.

So it's not just a pepper experience,

it's a flavor experience.

I like that they don't do heat just for heat's sake.

I know from previous experience

that if I eat too many of these,

the heat becomes overwhelming.

But eating them normally as a snack,

say while you're watching a football game

or something like that, it's really good.

Also mixing them in with pretzels

so you get a little heat and a little pretzel.

The heat is very subtle. It comes on in the throat.

Little bit of burn in the mouth.

Not for everybody,

but generally something you can put out on the table

as long as you're letting people know it's hot.

Like I wouldn't feed these to my wife.

She'd hit me and say, Ed Currie, what are you doing?

They've let the flavor of the almond come out

before the heat comes on.

Sonoran Spice Company, Trinidad Scorpion Gumballs.

On the very back it says contains scorpion peppers,

which will cause skin and eye irritation.

Not for children.

And this is not listed as a challenge,

so I think it's supposed to be an everyday snack

for the spicy person.

It's really not eye appealing.

I mean, it kinda looks like something you clean up.

I broke the gumball up so I could get the flavor

from inside the gumball

as well as the powder that was inside and outside of it.

There was a huge amount of powder in there.

Whew.

Not an unpleasant burn,

but a really good burn through my whole mouth.

My tongue is on fire.

When you're chewing gum, normally, whatever the flavor is,

within a couple of bites, the flavor's gone.

I really couldn't tell

if there was gonna be a flavor experience with this

because that sugary taste that started

disappeared almost immediately

with the amount of pepper in it.

And right now my saliva glands

are going a million miles an hour.

And the pepper itself doesn't taste

like a Trinidad Scorpion pepper.

It's just hot.

I'm totally confused as what I'm supposed to be thinking

after eating this.

Is it a challenge? Is it a snack?

Is it just a piece of gum? I don't know.

All it is is pepper. I don't know what else is going on.

Inferno Candy Company, Hell Puffs.

These guys make great stuff. It's also very spicy stuff.

Habanero pepper, ghost pepper,

Reaper pepper, Scorpion pepper.

When you open the package,

you immediately smell that cheesy, spicy.

You're kind of like, Oh no, do I want to eat this?

Because the spice is so predominant,

but that cheese draws you in.

The odor, you know, is confusing

and you can tell it's gonna be spicy.

The very first flavor was that chemical flavor,

that extract flavor.

And I honestly don't know if there's any extract in it,

but the flavor is there.

Kind of mixture of blue cheese

and cheddar cheese is really good,

but these extract snacks are not for normal munching.

If you ate a bag of them, it would be for a challenge,

you would get sick and it wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

But it is not to say that it is not flavorful.

It is flavorful.

That chemical flavor went away

and it was taken over by the cheese and the powder,

which is a good mixture.

The flavor from just that one piece,

it's still really pleasant in my mouth.

Hapi Wasabi Peas. You can get these at any grocery store.

They're a lot of fun.

When you open it,

it has that American horseradishy wasabi flavor.

These are green peas with glutinous rice flour,

wheat flour, horseradish.

Nowhere in the ingredients does it say wasabi.

Most of the wasabi you taste in America

is really horseradish that's been dyed green.

Horseradish works on the same receptors

and other receptors in your nasal cavity

to give you the experience

that the heat of a pepper gives you.

It's really a green pea,

but it has been dehydrated and then fried,

and all the nutrition is pretty much missing from it,

but sometimes bad things just taste good, okay?

My brain is telling me I shouldn't eat these at all.

My heart and my taste buds are telling me,

eat 'em by the handful.

They're a little bit hotter than say a Cheeto or that.

A very quick, fast punch and then they're done.

The way the body reacts to horseradish

is a very quick thing.

I can still smell it in my olfactories,

but I cannot taste it in my mouth anymore.

I feel very partial on this 'cause this has been a snack

that's been in my house since they actually came out.

It's not hot, it's just a spicy experience,

and it's probably the least lasting

spicy experience there is on the table.

It's a quick note in a total flavor package.

Kicking Ass Carolina Reaper Popcorn.

When hot sauce was not prevalent

and the only place you could find different hot sauces

was at silly stores at the beach,

Ass Kickin' was one of the brands that you could find.

Some of their products are really good.

Some of 'em taste like the name.

It just lists everything normal popcorn would have,

only it has garlic and Carolina Reaper pepper.

It also has some warnings on it, which I do like.

May cause respiratory irritation and failure when popping.

That's because a lot of that pepper powder

will become airborne during that process,

but it won't hurt you.

What that'll do is help get the mucus out of there.

See, a lot of times when I'm feeling a little stuffy,

I put a spoonful of pepper powder in my mouth.

Part of it gets inhaled, part of it works on my olfactories

and it just gets rid of all that crap.

And see, that's got a mild spice,

that's got a pleasant spice.

It really doesn't taste like Carolina Reaper spice.

There's probably very little of it in there.

For me this is very salty, all right?

But that salt and butter

and mild spice flavor mixing together,

it's really kind of nice.

I don't know, for a normal person it might be spicy.

A pleasant heat. It's not a brutal heat.

Oh, I just got a little bit of like powder in my throat.

Some of that oil went down and there was some powder

and it got a little hotter.

All right, with that last, spicy.

But that heavy garlic flavor

and that butter flavor is pleasant with the heat.

I've never had that mixture on popcorn,

and it's a really good flavor.

Flamethrower Candy Company,

Lil' Nitro: The World's Hottest Gummy Bear.

I've avoided trying to taste this

for many, many, many, many times.

What it has is our signature

9 million Scoville unit chili heat extract,

making it 900 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper.

I really do hate

when people make claims like this on packages.

And that chili pepper extract

is just a small piece of a big part,

and diluting it significantly cuts the SHU.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is a brutal piece of candy.

Everybody I've seen who's eaten it in person,

they wound up vomiting.

But it is not 9 million Scoville heat units.

These are for that spicy snack enthusiast

who is going for a challenge

and is going to make a video about that challenge.

It even comes with a little card

telling you to put the snack up on YouTube.

It's really nothing special to behold.

Like I said, I've never wanted to taste this.

I want to be able to accurately describe what the flavor is.

I already know what the heat is gonna be like.

It does have a pleasant fruity taste

when you're chewing it.

Immediately when you stop chewing it,

what you taste is that extract.

To me that's just a horrible, horrible taste,

and right now it's already giving me

a little bit of a cramp right here.

A new feeling than I've had

from the past 20 snacks I've had.

Normal human beings should not try this.

Only experienced chili heads

who want to do something to get a few views.

It would not be a good thing to prank someone with this.

You would not wanna mix one of these in with jellybeans.

Just that little taste

let me know that if I'd eaten the whole thing,

it would've been the spiciest thing I ate today.

That chemically, extracty taste just came on full force.

Tastes kinda like a wastewater plant at a chemical factory.

There's no flavor at all.

It's the worst thing I had out of all of them.

We've been trying spicy snacks for a long time.

Some of them were really bad, but really hot.

A lot of them that are available in the market

are very mild and very flavorful,

which is approachable to everyone.

The one we thought was the best,

that was hot and flavorful,

Inferno Candy, their cheese puff was amazing.

However, my favorite thing that I tried today

were these peanuts

fried with Sichuan peppercorns and chilies.

They're amazing, and it is a unique culinary experience.

These are just few of the amazing options

you have on your liftoff

to the experience with spicy snacks.

Now I'd really like to see

what some of your favorite spicy snacks are,

so please put 'em in the comments and share 'em with us.