Has The "Ghost Pepper" Been Beaten By A New Hotter Pepper?

Until recently, the Bhut jolokia (commonly called the ghost pepper and pictured above) was the undisputed king of peppers.   It was by far the hottest pepper known to man.   But that may not be true any longer.   An Englishman, Gerald Fowler, claims that he has created a pepper that is significantly hotter than the ghost pepper.

Fowler says he created this new pepper by crossbreeding three of the world's hottest peppers -- the Bhut jolokia, the Naga morich, and the Trinidad scorpion.   He calls his new pepper the Naga viper, and says it is over 30% hotter than the ghost pepper.   Fowler is not currently selling the pepper, but he is selling a hot sauce made from them.

But the new pepper is in its first generation.   If it is indeed hotter than any pepper, it remains to be seen whether the new pepper can retain its heat through succeeding generations.   Until it is proven it can do that, it can't truly be called the hottest pepper.   We'll just have to wait and see if the Bhut jolokia has really been dethroned.

I'll bet the Naga viper would make one hell of a bowl of chili though.   Here is how the different peppers stack up (rated in scoville units):

Naga viper..........1,359,000
Bhut jolokia..........1,001,304
Trinidad scorpion..........600,000 to 900,000
Red savina habanero..........580,000
Orange habanero..........150,000 to 325,000
Cayenne..........30,000 to 50,000
Serrano..........8,000 to 20,000
Jalapeno..........2,500 to 8,000
Poblano..........1,000 to 2,000
Bell pepper..........0