2025 Update:
On August 23, 2023, a new pepper was crowned as the hottest pepper in the world by Guinness World Records, named Pepper X. However, if you want to grow the Pepper X, the new world champion for being the hottest pepper, you can't. The seeds are not available. But you can grow the former champ, the Reaper!
The Carolina Reaper was the hottest chili in the world until 2023! And it was the hottest chilli in the world in 2020, too, it has worn the crown for many years – originally being acknowledged by Guinness World Records in 2013.
There are said to be lots of other chilli peppers out there that could be the hottest, like the Dragon's Breath Chile, but these varieties have not yet been tested formally by the Guinness World of Records, and they also don't yet appear to be stable strains (at least in our tests!) Only Pepper X has won the crown, and you can't grow those in your garden as the seeds are not available.
We love growing the Carolina Reaper, not just because it's the world's hottest pepper, but also because despite it's heat, it has a great flavor!
To really taste the world's hottest pepper, we don't recommend eating it whole*, but rather using this wicked hot pepper to make hot sauces and salsas. Check out our amazing Carolina Reaper Salsa recipe which is a great way to enjoy the heat and flavor of the Reaper. Or, you can make fermented hot sauce recipe which tames a bit of the heat and turns it into flavor!
*Read: Can eating a Carolina Reaper kill you?
We also have tons of other super hot peppers like the Butch-T Trinidad Scorpion which was deemed the world record winner in 2011 and we think it's WICKED hot too! With Scovilles measured as high as 1,463,700 Scoville, this is also a wicked beast that will give you all the heat you desire! Or try growing any of our Ghost Pepper seeds, which all have an insane amount of heat plus lots of great flavor.
So make sure to grow the hottest chilli in the world in 2020 or try any of our other super hot pepper seeds for some spice in your life!
