Hurt Berry
Also known as Hurtberry · Hurt Berry Red
Hurt Berry is a Capsicum chinense cultivar from England, United Kingdom. Capsi’s sourced range is 1,500,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). Flavor is fruity, floral. Used for Hot sauce, chile powder, salsa. Heat is a range, not a single marketing number.
UK-bred Capsicum chinense superhot from Graham Lee Warburton. Small, bumpy, berry-shaped pods ripen dark red and pack Reaper-class heat with fruity-floral flavor.
About 50 times a Capsi Jalapeño (31,902 SHU typical).
Growing
~100 days to maturity
Fruit size
2.5–5 cm
Flavor & Use
Fruity and floral under extreme heat, with a crunchy thin wall. Some tasters note a delayed burn that builds for several minutes and a mild bitterness.
Culinary
About
The Hurt Berry is an extreme superhot chile created in the United Kingdom by grower Graham Lee Warburton. He first crossed a Carolina Reaper with a Jigsaw, then introduced a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion UV into the line. Pods are short — about an inch across — and look like a wrinkled, spiky berry, often with a stinger tail. They ripen from light green to dark red, have thin walls, and hang pendant on plants that typically reach three to five feet. Seed catalogs commonly place the heat above 1 million SHU and often around 1.6 million, though no published HPLC test was found. Behind the burn, tasters report fruity and floral notes, sometimes with a delayed build and a hint of bitterness. The cross is still young and not fully stable, so pod shape and size can vary. It is used mainly in tiny amounts for hot sauce, powder, and salsa.
Backstory
The name comes from UK chileheads who tried the mean-looking berry-shaped pods over pints and agreed the fruit lived up to Hurt Berry. Graham Lee Warburton sent seed to growers in Britain and the United States; a more consistent selection from Texas grower Wes Lane became the line many US vendors sell. Do not confuse this variety with Hurt Berry Farm, an unrelated Canadian hot-sauce company.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
Sources
Heat figures in Capsi are tied to a source and a trust tier. How we verify heat
- 1,500,000 SHU · Vendor Claim(2023) Ohio Peppers
- 1,600,000 SHU · Vendor Claim(2024) The Hippy Seed Company
- 1,600,000 SHU · Vendor ClaimAtomic Seeds
- 1,000,000 SHU · Vendor Claim(2026) Rebec Valley Farm
- Refining Fire Chiles listing: Warburton origin story, Reaper × Jigsaw × Moruga UV lineage, green-to-dark-red bumpy pods, plant height.superhotchiles.com
- Ohio Peppers catalog: UK breeding, Warburton credit, 1,500,000+ / exceeding 1.6 million SHU, bumpy berry-shaped red fruit.ohiopeppers.com
- Hippy Seed Company: exceeds 1.6 million SHU, fruity-floral flavor, thin walls ripening light green to fiery red, ~1 m plants in pots.thehippyseedcompany.com
- Rebec Valley Farm: Warburton UK origin, Reaper × Jigsaw × Moruga Scorpion UV, 1,000,000+ SHU, 100+ days, 4 ft+ plants.rebecvalleyfarm.com
- ChilePlants.com spec sheet: C. chinense, UK origin, green to dark red, thin flesh, 1–1.5 × 1–1.25 in pendant pods, 30–36 in plants, super-late season.chileplants.com
- German grower report: C. chinense, UK origin, green to red-orange, round uneven 40–50 mm pods, ~90 days, ~100 cm plants.chili-pepper.de
- Atomic Seeds: 1,600,000+ SHU, 95–150 days from transplant, green-to-dark-red trifold pods with a stinger, Reaper × Jigsaw × Moruga UV.atomicpepperseeds.com
- Red Dragon Seeds (UK): Warburton Reaper × Jigsaw × Moruga UV cross, green to deep red, ~1 in textured pods, plants over 3 ft in pots.reddragonseeds.co.uk
Last updated 16 Sep 2026 at 08:03
FAQ
- How hot is Hurt Berry?
- Capsi’s sourced range is 1,500,000 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 Hurt Berry taste like?
- Fruity and floral under extreme heat, with a crunchy thin wall. Some tasters note a delayed burn that builds for several minutes and a mild bitterness.
- How do I grow Hurt Berry?
- Hurt Berry: about 100 days to maturity, subtropical climate, full sun, hardiness zones 9-11.
- What can I substitute for Hurt Berry?
- Capsi does not have that recorded yet.