The hotness of chili peppers is measured using the Scoville scale, named after the first pioneer of the method Wilbur Scoville. He used organoleptic tests to determine the capsaicinoid content of chili peppers, and denoted the concentration using SHU (scoville heat units). These organoleptic tests were later replaced with HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography), since they were subject to high margins of error.
Technically, the Scoville scale is still considered inaccurate as the rating relies on the water concentration of the substance being tested, which can be tricky when comparing two completely different products like a hot sauce and a chili pepper. There is no regulation on the methods that may be employed to calculate the capsaicinoid content used to determine the rating. Despite these shortcomings, the Scoville scale continues to be the industry standard today.
The credit for breeding the first pepper with the intent of maxing out capsaicin content since the inception of the scale goes to Frank Garcia, one of the founding members of GNS spices. Garcia bred the pepper Red Savina by selectively breeding habanero peppers. Unlike regular habanero peppers, the Savina took on a dark red shade, and scored an impressive 577,000 on the Scoville scale, as opposed to 200,000 SHU most habanero cultivars score on average. The Guinness book of World Records would recognize the Savina as the hottest in the world in 1994.
However, the Savina’s reign was rather short lived. In 2001, Paul Bosland, a professor, would make a trip to India in order to collect research specimens. He obtained several seed stocks of the Bhut Jolokia (Ghost pepper) from multiple sources across north east India. Upon growing and testing the pepper, Bosland was surprised to find that cultivars of the pepper measured in at well over one million SHU, making the Jolokia not only the world’s hottest pepper, but also the world’s hottest naturally occurring pepper.
In the years to come, The Guinness book of World Records would hand the crown to several upstarts. The Bhut Jolokia was unseated by its cousin the Dorset Naga, another native east Indian chili variety. The Naga was then replaced by another hybrid, the Naga Viper, which beat it by around 100,000 SHU.
Jim Duffy would earn his place in the books in 2012, when his pepper, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, would win the title by a huge margin, racking up two million Scovilles. Duffy would go on to criticize the Guinness Book of World Records for the lack of proper metrics and authentication, stating that the claims made by some of the growers that held the title before him made no sense, especially the tale attached to the Naga Viper: he claimed that it was the result of an ‘unstable’ three way hybrid.
Over the years, the community began to gravitate away from the record books and turned its focus to the purity of the craft, relying on verified measurements to set benchmarks.
The popularity of the community would grew, thanks to the rise of artisanal hot sauce brands, foods featuring hot peppers, and content creators that reviewed them. Chili Klaus and The LA Beast became viral sensations on YouTube. The two men would subject themselves to intense pain by eating super-hot peppers (peppers that measure over one million SHU) raw, or incorporated into food items sent in by pepper farmers, hot sauce manufacturers, and enthusiasts. This would pave the way for the infamous Hot Ones series, a show where celebrities are invited to eat chicken or cauliflower wings coated with hot sauces of various intensities. The show has seen had several high profile appearances, from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey to Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters. More importantly, it turned the spotlight on to several pioneers of the craft.
Enter “Smokin” Ed Currie, the founder and president of the PuckerButt Pepper Company, the largest pepper farm in the U.S. Currie had long been renowned as a legend in the community, with his many unique cultivars, sauces and pepper mashes enjoying international renown for taste and near impossible Scoville levels. He first hit the bigtime when Youtubers started eating his Carolina Reapers (current Guinness World Record holder) for fun, and were subject to worlds of torment, ranging from hallucinations to acute shortness of breath.
Currie later went on to collaborate with Hot Ones and Chili Klaus for their hot sauce lines, often crafting cultivars to cater to both brands. His most recent pepper, the Pepper X, is a result of over a decade of selective breeding. Currie says the pepper is twice as hot as the Carolina Reaper, which would give it a score upwards of three million Scovilles, a claim that remains unverified. But Hot Ones fans that have tasted the brand’s offering featuring the pepper have no trouble believing his claims.