Pepper X has recently been named the hottest pepper in the world, but it’s far from the only spicy chili that’s setting tongues ablaze.

Throughout history , hoi polloi around the world have eat up live peppers for various reason , from cultural tradition to wellness welfare . But in late years , many have approached spicy peppers as a challenge . This has led some people to ask : What is the hottest pepper in the world ?

presently , the cosmos ’s hottest pepper is Pepper X , a small , yellowish - greenish pepper developed by Ed Currie , the founder of the South Carolina - based PuckerButt Pepper Company . Pepper X was inclose in 2023 , dethroning the previous record holder , the Carolina Reaper , which was also developed by Currie . Interestingly enough , Pepper X is a crossbreed of the Carolina Reaper and an unidentified “ savagely red-hot ” pepper that came from Michigan .

With the ascent of red-hot white pepper eating contests and show likeHot Ones — which involves famous person invitee eating increasingly hot annex as they attempt to serve average questions from host Sean Evans — it ’s no surprisal that chili capsicum pepper plant farmers are constantly look for manner to push the limits of how hot a pepper can be . And some , like Currie , keep outflank themselves .

Hottest Pepper In The World

Wikimedia CommonsPepper X was Ed Currie’s follow-up to the Carolina Reaper.

So , keep a Methedrine of milk ready to hand as we plunge in to explore seven of the hot pepper in the world — and the fiery level behind them .

Pepper X: The Hottest Pepper In The World

Wikimedia CommonsPepper X was Ed Currie ’s follow - up to the Carolina Reaper .

In October 2023 , South Carolina chili con carne black pepper breeder Ed Currie proved that he was the master of creating fiery white pepper when he set the Guinness World Record for the humans ’s hot pepper with Pepper X , breaking his own record that he set 10 years prior with the famous Carolina Reaper .

While the Carolina Reaper was only marginally hotter than its predecessor , the Naga Viper , Currie ’s new creation , Pepper X , incinerate the Carolina Reaper — with a rating of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units ( SHUs ) . To understand how hot that is , it ’s important to understand what an SHU is .

According to theNational Institute of Standards and Technology , the level of the chemical compound capsaicin determines how hot a pepper finger in a soul ’s backtalk , and that “ heat ” level is carry via the Scoville Scale . For equivalence , a jalapeño typically measures between 2,000 and 8,000 SHUs .

Currie debut Pepper X on the YouTube seriesHot Ones , prove off just how powerfully spicy this pepper is . As Currie explained to theAssociated Press , eat on the pepper is a truly painful experience .

“ I was feeling the heat for three - and - a - one-half 60 minutes . Then the cramps came , ” he recalled . “ Those cramps are ugly . I was lay out savourless on a marble rampart for approximately an hour in the rain , moan in pain . ”

Although Currie debut the Carolina Reaper a decade ago , he explain that he had been work on developing Pepper X for several years . consort to Currie , it took him 10 years just to get Pepper X from the experimental cross stage to the book , and that include five geezerhood of tests to establish that Pepper X was its own unique works .

Unlike the Carolina Reaper , however , Currie is not releasing the seeds for Pepper X. More than 10,000 other company used the Carolina Reaper name without his permit , and he want to be certain that Pepper X will be able to supply for his family and his worker . So , for now , anyone who want to try Pepper X has to bribe a product from Currie ’s PuckerButt Pepper Company .