The Carolina Reaper is no longer the hottest chili pepper in the world, after the same grower unveiled Pepper X. Carolina Reapers average 1.64 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), while Pepper X rates an average 2.69 million SHU. For comparison, jalapeño peppers come in between 3,000 and 8,000 SHU. Ed Currie, founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company and creator of the Carolina Reaper pepper, unveiled Pepper X on the popular YouTube channel First We Feast. He said it took about 10 years of breeding to develop the super hot pepper. Pepper X is being kept proprietary for the moment, meaning pods and seeds will not be made commercially available. The public will, however, be able to try the pepper through the release of Pepper X hot sauces.
