Sugar Drop Lemon
A high-yielding, sweet Capsicum baccatum hybrid with citrus notes and moderate heat. Developed in Canada as a cross between Lemon Drop and Sugar Rush Peach; prized for flavor, vigor, and productivity (often >200 pods per plant).
Fruit size
3–6 cm
Flavor & Use
Sweet and fruity with bright citrus notes; juicy when fresh and candy-like when dried into golden powder.
Culinary
About
Sugar Drop Lemon is a relatively new Capsicum baccatum hybrid created by Small Island Seed Co. in British Columbia, Canada. It comes from crossing the citrusy Lemon Drop with the sweet Sugar Rush Peach. Plants are extremely vigorous and productive, often yielding over 200 pods per plant, and grow to about 1.2–1.8 m tall and wide. Fruits are 3–6 cm long, ripening from green to bright lemon yellow. The flavor is sweet and fruity with refreshing citrus notes; the pods are juicy fresh and dry into a soft, sweet golden powder. Heat is moderate (generally 20,000–45,000 SHU) but can vary because the variety is not fully stabilized. It is well-suited to fresh eating, sauces, pickles, and seasoning.
Backstory
Sugar Drop Lemon is a recent hybrid developed by Small Island Seed Co. in Mill Bay, Cowichan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. It was created by crossing Lemon Drop (known for its lemony citrus character) with Sugar Rush Peach (valued for its sweetness and fruitiness), both Capsicum baccatum varieties. The resulting line combines the best traits of the parents but is not yet fully stabilized, leading to minor variation in pod color and shape. It has gained popularity among chili enthusiasts for its exceptional flavor, vigor, and impressive yields.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
Sugar Drop Lemon is an F2+ of Aji Limón and Sugar Rush Peach, still splitting and not yet a finished line.
Small Island Seed Co.
Small Island Seed Co. names Sugar Drop as its own Lemon Drop × Sugar Rush Peach cross and still calls the line unstable. Independent shops sell the yellow pods as Sugar Drop Lemon, a color variant of that same segregating pairing.