Re: [CH] Thai's vs. Habs

Charles Demas (demas@tiac.net)
Fri, 30 Jan 1998 19:13:41 -0500 (EST) 

On Fri, 30 Jan 1998, Harry Jiles wrote:

> > Subject:       Re: [CH] Thai's vs. Habs 
> > Date:          Thu, 29 Jan 1998 19:43:22 -0800
> > From:          Brent Thompson <brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com>
> 
> > Can't we please give this a break?  We've had so many bouts of knocking
> > this guy during the past two years.  Must we continually rehash the same
> 
> I did not start this thread.  My response was clearly stated as being 
> my own opinion.  I was not aware that my opinion, and my response 
> giving that opinion, had to meet certain criteria set by you.  The 
> fact is, the hotness scale that this individual invented is purely a 
> subjective scale and the resulting ratings that he publicly publishes 
> are determined by him, himself, with no unbiased, independent data to 
> verify those ratings.  The whole purpose of the the Scoville ratings, 
> as obtained by high pressure liquid chromatography, is to have a 
> standard that is not subjective.  I, personally, place more credence 
> in non-subjective scientific methods than personal subjective methods.

As I recall, the Scoville scale *is* a subjective dilution test, just as 
the one that this guy uses is a dilution test.  The liquid chromatography
stuff has merely been correlated to the original Scoville scale.  At least 
that's what I recall.

Please note that the interaction of the various capsaicin type things and
the strength of them and how they interact is not really measured by 
the liquid chromatography tests.  Further, some people are no doubt more
sensitive to one form of alkaloid than another and thus the Scoville 
scale is still very subjective.  

It's hard to judge heat also, remember that the Scoville scale is used to 
evaluate the start of perception, and that is thought to be a measure of 
heat, but it is not a measure of how hot it seems, but rather at what 
dilution it can just be perceived.  An important difference.

Personally, I don't care what's hottest.  I just go with what I like.

The guy with the peppers for sale obviously want to call their stuff 
"The World's Whateverest," and what you or I say will not stop them, 
so why bother.  If the commercial marketers care, they will take care of
it.


Chuck Demas
Needham, Mass.

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