The US hot chilli pepper expert who grew the infamous Carolina Reaper has broken his own world record with a variety that is much hotter.
Pepper X was publicly named the hottest chilli in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records in Ed Currie’s decade-long hunt to perfect a pepper that provides “immediate, brutal heat”.
Mr Currie, from South Carolina, said when he first tried Pepper X, it did more than warm his heart.
“I was feeling the heat for three and a half hours. Then the cramps came,” said Mr Currie, one of only five people so far to eat an entire Pepper X.
“Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.”
Heat in peppers is measured in Scoville heat units. Zero is bland and a regular jalapeno pepper registers about 5,000 units.
A habanero, the record-holder about 25 years ago, typically tops 100,000, and the Guinness Book of World Records lists the Carolina Reaper at 1.64 million units – hotter than most pepper sprays police use to subdue unruly criminals.
Pepper X’s record is an average of 2.69 million units. By comparison, pepper spray commonly holstered by police is around 1.6 million units.
Pepper X has been in the works since Mr Currie last set the hottest chilli record in 2013 with the Carolina Reaper, a bright red, knobbly fruit with what aficionados call a scorpion tail. The goal was to offer an extremely hot pepper flavoured with sweetness.
Pepper X is greenish-yellow, does not have the same shelf appeal and carries an earthy flavour once its heat is delivered. It is a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and what Mr Currie mysteriously classifies as a “pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot”.
The chemical in peppers that causes the burn, called capsaicin, is in the same family as arsenic, but is much milder and not dangerous unless pounds of it are consumed. Even so, the minds of humans and other mammals perceive capsaicin as a threat and send a strong burning signal to the body.
The burning sensation sparked in humans also releases endorphins and dopamine into the body.
Mr Currie, who took up growing peppers after kicking drug and alcohol addictions, considers that kick a natural high. He shares his peppers with medical researchers, hoping they can use them to cure disease and help people who suffer chronic pain or discomfort.
Having the hottest chilli in the world has been a two-decade obsession. It took 10 years to get Pepper X from the first crossbreed experiment to the record, including five years of testing to prove it was a different plant with a different fruit and documenting its average heat over different plants and generations.
“We covered the genetics, we covered the chemistry, we covered the botany,” he said.
Mr Currie, who is s trying to build an empire of hot pepper sauces through his PuckerButt company, said he had also learned plenty of business lessons during the past decade. While the Carolina Reaper drew much attention, much of it was not proper — or profitable.
He allowed people to grow them without protecting his ideas, and his lawyers have counted more than 10,000 products that use the Carolina Reaper name, or its other intellectual property, without permission.
With Pepper X, he said no seeds will be released until he is sure his children, his workers — many of whom are on their second chances like him — and their families can fully earn the rewards of his work.
“Everybody else made their money off the Reaper. It’s time for us to reap the benefits of the hard work I do,” he said.
He hinted that more pepper heat may be bubbling up from the fields, labs and chillers that he will not let fans, reporters or even the bankers helping his business see.
“Is this the pinnacle?” Mr Currie said of Pepper X, a mischievous smile warming his face. “No, it’s not the pinnacle.”
