Hurt Berry

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.

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.

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.

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.