Mojo Big Brown

Intense capsicum flavor with the brown earthiness associated with chocolate-ripe superhots; the burn is sharp and lasts several minutes.

Mojo Big Brown, also sold as Big Brown Kathumby or Pimenta Kathumby Big Brown, is a fairly stable F4 Capsicum chinense released in 2013 by the Italian grower known as Mojo Pepper. It came from Kathumby Chinense seed—itself a multiform Brazilian chinense line—crossed with an unidentified second pepper. Plants show dark stems and green foliage with dark shading. Pods start green to nearly black in strong sun and finish chocolate brown; many take a lantern or habanero shape with a scorpion tail. Heat is in the habanero class, with specialty catalogs listing about 250,000–350,000 SHU. Flavor is a straightforward capsicum bite with the brown earthiness typical of chocolate superhots, and the burn lingers for several minutes. Productive plants reach 90–120 cm and are used in sauces, stir-fries, soups, and drying.

The parent name Kathumby (Pimenta Kathumby) belongs to an unstable Brazilian Capsicum chinense known in Italian collector circles and catalogued by PepperFriends at around 200,000 SHU in several color forms. Mojo Pepper grew Kathumby Chinense seed in Italy, crossed it with an unidentified pepper, and by 2013 had an F4 chocolate-brown, habanero-shaped selection that seed houses now sell as Mojo Big Brown or Big Brown Kathumby. It is not the same plant as Kathumby Black, a milder accidental UK cross later distributed under a related name.