Carolina Reaper
Also known as HP22B · Reaper · Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper
The legendary superhot pepper that held the Guinness World Record for the hottest chili pepper from 2013 to 2023.
About 53 times a Capsi Jalapeño (25,086 SHU typical).
Growing
~105 days to maturity
Fruit size
5–7.5 cm
Flavor & Use
Surprisingly sweet and fruity with cherry and floral notes at first, followed by an extremely intense, slow-building, and very long-lasting heat that many describe as "molten lava".
Culinary
About
Developed by "Smokin' Ed" Currie of PuckerButt Pepper Company, the Carolina Reaper is a Capsicum chinense cultivar famous for its extreme heat and surprisingly complex flavor. It features a distinctive gnarled, warty pod with a curved "stinger" tail. While it delivers one of the most intense and lingering burns known, many tasters first notice sweet, fruity, and floral notes with hints of cherry before the heat builds dramatically. It remained the world's hottest commercially available pepper for a decade until Currie himself created Pepper X.
Backstory
Developed by "Smokin' Ed" Currie of PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, South Carolina, the Carolina Reaper was created through years of careful cross-breeding starting around 2001. Currie crossed a super-hot Naga pepper (Bhut Jolokia) from the Indian subcontinent with a La Soufrière habanero-type pepper from Saint Vincent in the Caribbean. What began as an experiment to create a flavorful hot pepper unexpectedly produced one of the hottest and most distinctive varieties ever known. After stabilizing the hybrid over many generations, one plant stood out for its extreme potency and unique appearance — featuring the curved "stinger" tail that inspired the name "Reaper".
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
ExploreCarolina Reaper is a stabilized line from Pakistani Naga and La Soufrière habanero.
Ed Currie · 2012
Parents
Peppers bred from Carolina Reaper
Sources
FAQ
- How hot is Carolina Reaper?
- Capsi’s sourced range is 1,046,000–3,006,330 SHU (Lab-verified; typical 1,335,466). Capsi uses a sourced range and a trust tier, not a single marketing number. How we verify heat: https://web.thecapsi.app/learn/heat-and-capsaicin/how-we-measure-heat
- What does Carolina Reaper taste like?
- Surprisingly sweet and fruity with cherry and floral notes at first, followed by an extremely intense, slow-building, and very long-lasting heat that many describe as "molten lava".
- How do I grow Carolina Reaper?
- Carolina Reaper: about 105 days to maturity, subtropical climate, full sun, hardiness zones 10-12.
- What can I substitute for Carolina Reaper?
- ghost-pepper, 7-pot-primo, trinidad-scorpion