Cibola
Also known as Cibola (VSRP Poblano)
Cibola is a Capsicum annuum f2+ from Florida, United States. Capsi’s sourced range is 5,000–10,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). Flavor is fruity, sweet. Used for Roast, stuff, sear, or slice fresh into salsas and sauces. Best picked fully golden orange. Works anywhere a fruity jalapeño or small roasting pepper would.. Heat is a range, not a single marketing number.
Cibola is a tall, variegated ornamental-edible chile from Eric Knight’s Variegated Sugar Rush Peach × Ancho Poblano cross, selected and named by Bryan Townshend. Broad pods ripen from dark purple to golden orange and eat like a fruity jalapeño.
About 1/4.3 the typical heat of a Capsi Jalapeño (31,902 SHU).
Fruit size
10–11 cm
Flavor & Use
Sweet and fruity with a familiar jalapeño bite. Raw fruit can taste close to a sweet pepper; roasting or stuffing caramelizes the sugars and brings out more flavor.
Culinary
About
Cibola is a modern Capsicum annuum selection from an interspecific Variegated Sugar Rush Peach (C. baccatum) × Ancho Poblano cross made by veteran flower-and-chile breeder Eric Knight. Rich Blood grew the F1 generation; Bryan Townshend of Towns-End Chili & Spice in Florida then selected later generations and named this line Cibola after the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Pods average about 4 inches long and just over 3 inches wide. They start a deep purple, then finish golden orange with burnt-orange and violet highlights. Plants exceed 4 feet, carry white or purple variegated foliage, and need staking. Heat sits near jalapeño, reported at 5,000–10,000 SHU, with a sweet, fruity flavor that deepens when the peppers are roasted.
Backstory
Eric Knight, a U.S. veteran and longtime flower hybridizer in North Carolina, crossed Variegated Sugar Rush Peach with Ancho Poblano to make larger ornamental chiles that still taste good in the kitchen. After Rich Blood grew out the F1, Bryan Townshend selected later generations in South Florida and named the keepers after mythical places. Cibola — the golden city Spanish explorers sought in the Southwest and never found — fits a pepper that turns from dark purple to gold. The line was listed as an F4 T-E selection when seed vendors picked it up.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
Cibola is an F2+ of Variegated Sugar Rush Peach and Poblano, still splitting and not yet a finished line.
Eric Knight
Parents
Towns-End lists Cibola as an F4 T-E selection of Eric Knight’s Variegated Sugar Rush Peach × Poblano; Rich Blood grew the F1 and Townshend named the keepers. Shop pages repeat VSRP × Ancho Poblano; VSRP is not sold as its own cultivar.
Sources
Heat figures in Capsi are tied to a source and a trust tier. How we verify heat
- Bryan Townshend / Towns-End listing for Cibola (VSRP Poblano): C. annuum, F4 T-E selection from Eric Knight’s Variegated Sugar Rush × Poblano cross.towns-endchiliandspice.com
- Seed listing with the only published SHU range (5,000–10,000), fruit size, ripe color, variegated foliage, and parentage.bohicapepperhut.com
- Refining Fire Chiles write-up of the Knight–Blood–Townshend breeding story, pod size, purple-to-golden-orange ripening, plant height, and jalapeño-level heat.superhotchiles.com
- Towns-End Mythical Places collection placing Cibola among other VSRP × Poblano selections from the same cross.towns-endchiliandspice.com
- Grower video on the Cibola name, dark-purple-to-gold ripening, variegated foliage, and roasting to caramelize sugars.youtube.com
Last updated 15 Sep 2026 at 07:49
FAQ
- How hot is Cibola?
- Capsi’s sourced range is 5,000–10,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). 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 Cibola taste like?
- Sweet and fruity with a familiar jalapeño bite. Raw fruit can taste close to a sweet pepper; roasting or stuffing caramelizes the sugars and brings out more flavor.
- How do I grow Cibola?
- Cibola: subtropical climate, full sun.
- What can I substitute for Cibola?
- Capsi does not have that recorded yet.