The world’s hottest chili, Pepper X, was not created by accident. This mind-blowing pepper was developed by chili-breeding pioneer Ed Currie, who also created the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper. So what exactly went into the meticulous process that took more than a decade to complete?
In a nutshell, Pepper X was created by carefully selecting different chili varieties and crossbreeding them so that their heat and flavor amplified each other in the desired direction. The result was a chili with an average heat level measured in the millions on the Scoville scale.
Patient, meticulous breeding resulted in a chili that is truly one of a kind. Are you ready to dive into the fascinating story of Pepper X—and discover how the world’s hottest chili makes chiliheads’ mouths water, only to set them on fire in seconds? 🔥
The Man Behind the World’s Hottest Chili
Behind years of determined breeding and meticulous testing of Pepper X lies, above all, the ambition of one relentless grower — a creator who has already broken multiple records in the world of chili peppers.
Ed Currie and His Vision
Ed Currie, nicknamed Smokin’ Ed, is the creator of both the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X. At the core of his work is a clear vision: to develop chili varieties where extreme heat and distinctive flavor truly go hand in hand.
Currie’s passion for chili peppers ignited decades ago and evolved into a systematic project aimed at pushing the limits of capsaicin further than ever before. In practice, this meant repeated crossbreeding, disciplined tracking, and an enormous amount of patience — only the very best plants were allowed to move forward.
Unlike many hobbyists, Currie approaches chili breeding as both a science and a business. Heat levels are carefully documented using the Scoville scale, and the results are verified in laboratories — so the claims are based on facts, not feelings. As the ultimate result of this approach, Pepper X was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s hottest chili in 2023.
Currie’s vision doesn’t stop at record-breaking heat. He also highlights the potential benefits of capsaicin (for example, in topical pain-relief applications) as well as the culinary possibilities of super-hot chilies. When heat is balanced with a carefully considered flavor profile, the result isn’t just a “capsaicin bomb,” but an interesting, functional ingredient — especially in sauces, where the heat can be precisely controlled.
Soosikauppa tip: If you want to step into the world of Pepper X without unleashing a full firestorm, start with micro-doses (a dab about the size of a toothpick tip) and pair it with a fat-rich side — yogurt, mayonnaise, or sour cream work well. The heat stays under control, while the flavor gets its moment to shine.
PuckerButt Pepper Company
Ed Currie founded the PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, South Carolina, in 2003. The idea for the one-of-a-kind name came from how his wife described the effect Currie’s sauces had on the people eating them. The company grows, breeds, and sells the world’s hottest chilies — including the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X — and has grown into the largest organic chili farm in the United States.
PuckerButt’s range spans everything from fresh peppers to processed products: sauces, selected seeds (depending on the variety), and seasoning blends. That way, the same brand can serve both dedicated chili enthusiasts and professional kitchens.
The company’s reputation is built on authenticity and verified heat. With the entire chain under one roof — from cultivation to bottling — quality stays consistent, and the Scoville numbers are more than just guesswork.
Through PuckerButt, Currie has built a platform that accelerates innovation in chili breeding and makes super-hot peppers available to chiliheads around the world.
When Was Pepper X Created? The Journey From Ed Currie’s Vision to a Guinness World Record
Ed Currie’s goal was to push the limits of heat without sacrificing flavor. This work ultimately led to the Carolina Reaper, which claimed the world record in 2013. After that milestone, Currie continued with selective breeding, refining his work even further.
Through more than a decade of crossbreeding and selection, the Pepper X variety was developed with the goal of eventually surpassing the Reaper in intensity. The pepper was refined through careful crossbreeding and testing before being officially revealed.
In October 2023, Guinness World Records officially confirmed that Pepper X is the world’s hottest chili. Tests showed an average heat level of over 2.6 million SHU, clearly surpassing the Carolina Reaper’s approximately 1.64 million.
Pepper X Chili Timeline:
- Early 2000s: Ed Currie begins systematic breeding of super-hot chili peppers.
- 2007–2008: The development of the Carolina Reaper is well underway, while Pepper X is also being bred in parallel.
- 2013: The Carolina Reaper is named the world’s hottest chili.
- After 2013: Development of Pepper X continues through selective crossbreeding and extensive testing.
- October 2023: Guinness World Records tested and officially confirmed Pepper X as the world’s hottest chili (average ~2.69M SHU).
Pepper X was unveiled to the general public in the Hot Ones YouTube series, during the final episode of season 23. The episode featured Hot Ones host Sean Evans, with guests Ed Currie and Chili Klaus, the latter known worldwide for his viral chili challenges.
Pepper X’s Genetic Background and Breeding Process
The world’s hottest chili, Pepper X, was created through selective crossbreeding with the goal of combining extreme heat and a clear, recognizable flavor profile. Its genetic background comes from Capsicum chinense peppers — including the Carolina Reaper and other super-hot varieties. From a breeding perspective, the key trait of this species is the structure of the pepper itself, which is particularly well suited to accumulating high concentrations of capsaicin.
The Capsicum chinense Species
Pepper X belongs to the Capsicum chinense species — the same family as the Habanero, Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper), and the Carolina Reaper. This species is characterized by:
- Extremely high capsaicin content (often hundreds of thousands of SHU and beyond).
- Fruity, floral, and citrusy aromas that come through before the full burn sets in.
- Excellent crossbreeding compatibility with other C. chinense varieties.
Unlike jalapeño (Capsicum annuum), which has a much milder heat level, Capsicum chinense serves as the foundation for breeding super-hot chili varieties.
The Role of Carolina Reaper and Other Super-Hot Chilies
The Carolina Reaper played a central role as a “parent” in the development of Pepper X — its strong, stable genetic background and extreme heat made it a natural starting point. Another key “parent” was a super-hot chili that remains undisclosed to this day. In addition, other super-hot chilies contributed:
- Multi-layered flavor profiles (fruitiness, floral notes).
- The pod’s distinctive shape and structure (wrinkled texture).
- Efficient capsaicin storage within the fruit itself
The goal was simple but demanding: to surpass the Reaper’s heat while still preserving a usable flavor — especially for applications like sauces.
Crossbreeding Practices
Creating Pepper X required years of methodical, carefully planned work:
- Hand pollination using selected parent plants.
- Raising and screening offspring: each generation was evaluated for factors such as heat level, flavor, and pod structure.
- Weaker plants were systematically culled; only those where the combination of heat and flavor truly worked were allowed to move forward.
- Continuous refinement: the steps above were repeated generation after generation for more than a decade, until the desired traits became stable and consistent.
The result was a variety that delivers extremely high capsaicin levels while maintaining the desired flavor profile.
Pepper X – Appearance and Structure (and Why It Matters)
Pepper X pods are small, wrinkled, and irregularly shaped — with deep grooves and folds, relatively thick walls, and a clearly developed white interior tissue. As they ripen, the color shifts from green to yellow and finally to orange.
- The wrinkles and folds increase the internal surface area where capsaicin concentrates.
- The thick walls and dense pod structure support both the production and storage of capsaicin.
These traits were deliberately selected to support extreme heat without letting the burn completely overpower the flavor.
Testing and Recognition of Pepper X as the World’s Hottest Chili
Pepper X made headlines not only for its extreme heat, but also because of its rigorous testing process. Independent laboratories, university research, and Guinness World Records all confirmed its status as the world’s hottest chili.
Chili heat is measured on the Scoville scale (SHU), which indicates the amount of capsaicinoids — the compounds responsible for the burn. In the past, SHU was estimated based on human taste tests, but today the standard method is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which measures capsaicinoid concentration directly. The advantage is accurate, repeatable results that can be compared reliably across different studies.
Pepper X’s heat was tested at Winthrop University (South Carolina), which has extensive experience in capsaicin analysis for chili peppers. Using the HPLC method, the lab separated and quantified compounds such as capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, which account for most of the burn. Across multiple samples, the results consistently showed extreme SHU readings.
After the lab results were in, it was time to take them to Guinness World Records. Guinness required independent data, thorough documentation, and verification of the testing protocols. The results were compared against previous records before the title was awarded. In the end, Guinness recognized Pepper X as the world’s hottest chili in October 2023, and it was entered into the Guinness World Records book.
Controversy and Criticism Surrounding Pepper X’s Status as the World’s Hottest Chili
While Pepper X is widely regarded as the world’s hottest chili, its status has not come without questions from enthusiasts and competitors within the chili community. Does Pepper X’s testing fully meet the community’s expectations when it comes to independent repeatability, transparent reporting, and the long-term consistency of the variety’s heat level?
Difficult to independently replicate the results
Seeds and pods are not publicly available, meaning external laboratories and growers cannot reproduce the results without the consent of Pepper X’s creator.
Guinness vs. Scientific Standards
Guinness is not a peer-reviewed scientific publication. Some critics view Pepper X’s record entry in the Guinness book as a reader-friendly summary rather than a sufficiently precise or comprehensive validation of the chili’s heat level.
Sample size and calculation of average heat
Some discussions question whether the reported average was based on a small sample size and whether the method used to calculate the average heat level was interpreted correctly.
Stability of heat levels across generations
Because access to Pepper X remains restricted, outsiders cannot verify whether the variety consistently expresses the same extreme heat across different generations and growing conditions.
As long as seeds or pods are not widely available for testing, skepticism among many experts and enthusiasts is understandable. Despite the criticism, Pepper X is widely recognized as the world’s hottest chili. On a practical level, what matters most is that Pepper X is genuinely insanely hot — and that it works exceptionally well in sauces when used in very small amounts.
How Hot Is Pepper X — and What Does It Taste Like?
Pepper X has an average Scoville rating of an astonishing 2.693 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU). This makes it the hottest chili in the world, surpassing the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper, by more than one million units.
If you want to get a sense of just how big the jump is between the hottest chili you’ve tasted and Pepper X, take a look at the comparison below.
Some chili varieties show SHU variation depending on the batch and even individual peppers. For example, when comparing cayenne to jalapeño, the range can be 3.75× to 25×, while around 8× is a more realistic average — since only a small number of measurements reach the extreme high end of 25×.
Comparing Chilies From Mild to Extreme Heat
- Cayenne: ~8× hotter than jalapeño
- Habanero: ~6× hotter than cayenne
- Ghost pepper: ~5× hotter than habanero
- 7 Pot: ~1.4× hotter than ghost pepper
- Scorpion: ~1.1× hotter than 7 Pot
- Carolina Reaper: ~1.3× hotter than Trinidad Scorpion
Pepper X Compared to Other Chilies
- Pepper X: ~540× hotter than a jalapeño
- Pepper X: ~70× hotter than cayenne
- Pepper X: ~12× hotter than habanero
- Pepper X: ~3× hotter than Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper)
- Pepper X: ~2× hotter than 7 Pot
- Pepper X: ~2× hotter than Trinidad Scorpion
- Pepper X: ~1.6× hotter than the Carolina Reaper
So if you compare Pepper X to the more commonly used Habanero in chili challenges, the difference is, on average, around 12-fold. In other words, when tasting Pepper X, it can be hard to imagine that it even belongs in the same world as a Habanero.
Tasting the World’s Hottest Chili: Capsaicin and the Body’s Reactions
Typical reactions:
- Intense burning in the mouth and throat, heavy sweating, and facial flushing
- An endorphin surge (“chili high”) as the burn begins to subside
- Stomach discomfort and gastrointestinal distress
Based on experience, recovering from the afterburn can take hours, which is one of many reasons to use Pepper X only with great caution and control.
Handling Pepper X
- Wear gloves. Avoid touching your eyes or face.
- Wash your hands thoroughly. Capsaicin doesn’t wash off easily with water alone — fat and soap are far more effective.
- Start small: a toothpick-tip-sized amount is enough to season a dish.
- Be prepared for discomfort. Large amounts can cause nausea or stomach pain. This chili is not recommended for those with sensitive stomachs.
Flavor and Aroma
At the very beginning, you may catch earthy, slightly bitter notes and a hint of citrusy brightness — but the heat quickly overwhelms them. The aroma is sharp and pungent, reflecting the high capsaicin content. In sauces, these nuances come through more clearly when balanced with vinegar, fruit, or mustard.
How Pepper X Compares to the Second-Hottest Chili
The Carolina Reaper, also created by Ed Currie, previously held the Guinness world record. Its average heat level is around 1.64 million SHU, with some individual pods measuring over 2.2 million SHU.
Pepper X surpasses the Carolina Reaper’s peak readings by hundreds of thousands of SHU. This difference is significant, because at these heat levels, most people are no longer able to consume the chilies fresh.
In breeding Pepper X, the focus wasn’t solely on heat but also on developing thicker pod walls. This makes it less suitable for drying, but excellent for sauces, where its heat can be distributed evenly.
Where Can You Buy the World’s Hottest Chili?
If you’re looking to buy and taste the world’s hottest chili on its own, you may be a bit disappointed — Pepper X is not sold fresh. For consumers, the most convenient way to experience the world’s hottest chili is in sauce form. Pepper X can be found especially in the “Last Dab” hot sauces made famous by the Hot Ones series.
You can gradually work your way toward Pepper X–based sauces by exploring other extra-hot chili sauces and products made with the world’s hottest peppers in Soosikauppa’s selection. Or, if you’re feeling (dangerously) brave, you can jump straight in and try the Last Dab sauces:
Hot Ones The Last Dab XXX Hot Sauce 148ml
Hot Ones The Last Dab XXX Hot Sauce 148 ml is a legendary, ultra-hot sauce that delivers an incredible combination of extreme heat and complex flavor. It features a deep, spicy, pepper-forward profile with earthy notes of turmeric and cumin, plus a subtle hint of mustard. Pepper X — used as chili, powder, and extract — adds fruity tones, a touch of smokiness, and gentle sweetness that slightly softens the burn on the tongue. This sauce is for you if you want to taste the hottest sauce ever featured on Hot Ones.
Hot Ones The Last Dab Xperience Hot Sauce 148ml
Hot Ones The Last Dab Apollo Hot Sauce 148 ml is an extremely hot sauce that delivers a clean, straightforward pepper-forward flavor. Its taste is built on the sweetness of Carolina Reaper and the earthy character of Pepper X, complemented by savory notes, hints of carrot, and subtle nuances reminiscent of vegetable soup. This sauce is for you if you’re looking for a bright, clear flavor experience with an explosive and long-lasting burn.
Hot Ones The Last Dab Apollo Hot Sauce 148ml
Hot Ones The Last Dab Apollo Hot Sauce 148 ml contains Apollo, a cross between Pepper X and the Carolina Reaper. It delivers an intense burn paired with a clean, pepper-forward flavor. The taste also features fruitiness, a hint of citrus, light sweetness, and a touch of smokiness that slightly softens the deep heat. As one user put it, tasting this sauce felt like licking the sun.
