The Guinness World Record for "hottest chili pepper" has been awarded to Pepper X, which clocks in 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), the publication announced in a press release on Monday, October 16.
Pepper X is a specially crossbred pepper created by Ed Currie, the owner of Puckerbutt Pepper Company in South Carolina. His Carolina Reaper pepper previously held the world record for hottest chili pepper.
The Carolina Reaper came in at "only" an average 1,640,000 million SHU. As the Scoville scale is logarithmic, that means that Pepper X is about three times as spicy as the Carolina Reaper.
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Comparatively, a poblano pepper is about 1,000 SHU, while a jalapeño pepper averages 5,000 SHU.
A habanero pepper, one of the spiciest non-hybrid peppers, is about 100,000 SHU.
Pepper X has a higher SHU rating than police-issue pepper spray and bear spray, notes the Associated Press.
Eating Pepper X is not an enjoyable experience, Currie recounted.
"I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. Then the cramps came," said Currie to the Associated Press.
"Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain."
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Only five people, including Currie, have actually eaten Pepper X.
Pepper X made its official public debut during the October 16 episode of the YouTube series "Hot Ones."
"Hot Ones" is an interview show that typically pits celebrities against a series of increasingly spicy hot wings.
The host, Sean Evans, asks celebrities increasingly personal questions as the spice levels increase.
Evans called Currie the "sick, twisted mind behind Pepper X."
The creation of Pepper X was the culmination of a 10-year process, beginning when Currie was first awarded the Guinness World Record in 2013 for the Carolina Reaper.
In breeding Pepper X, Currie sought to "offer an extremely hot pepper flavored with sweetness," said the Associated Press.
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Pepper X is a crossbred of the Carolina Reaper and a "pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot," Currie explained to the Associated Press.
It reportedly has an "earthy flavor" and "citrus tone."
The name was initially a placeholder that stuck.
Speaking on Hot Ones, Currie said that he had Pepper X's seeds "in the war chest for about a decade now," waiting for someone to overthrow the Carolina Reaper's heat record.
When nobody did, he "decided to bring it out to the world."
Spicy peppers, said Currie, is a serious business — and he has had to ward off people from trying to nab his creations.
"Literally, people have been trying to steal it for the last 10 years," he said to Evans. "We have to protect ourselves, because this is our pepper."
Currie was surprised with the Guinness World Record plaque for Pepper X during the episode of Hot Ones.
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"It took a team. This is a culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people," said Currie, who was visibly emotional.
Currie said that he was told that a pepper of Pepper X's spice level "couldn't be done," and that he was called a liar throughout the process.
"We proved to them that Pepper X is the hottest pepper in the world," he said, calling the work of his team "validated" by the world record recognition.
While Pepper X products are available on Puckerbutt Pepper Company's website, Currie told the Associated Press that a person should "build up a tolerance" before trying any of the more extreme products.
He also hinted that an even spicier pepper may be in the works.
"Is this the pinnacle?" Currie told the Associated Press regarding Pepper X. "No, it’s not the pinnacle."
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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