[CH] Re: Hottest pepper you have?

Celeste or Dave Anderson (Gtoughchile@mail.greatbasin.net)
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 10:05:42 +0000 

	I thought I'd copy this to all of the chile-heads because these 
questions are asked quite often.

> Hi there,
> I live in Australia and I would like to order some pepper seeds for next 
> season.
> 
> 1) Which is your hottest pepper? The Red Habanero or the Red Carribbean 
> Hab?

	The hottest pepper is usually the one that gets the most hype. At 
the present time that's the Red Savina Habanero from GNS in 
California. Red Savina is listed in the  Guinness book at about 
500,000 Scoville units which is about twice the heat of an Orange 
Habanero.

	I had Red Savina which had been grown under ideal conditions in the 
San Francisco Bay area tested against Orange Habanero grown under 
less than ideal conditions (benign neglect) here in Nevada tested  
two years ago. The Orange Hab was hotter! This leads me to believe 
that the idea that stress causes hotter peppers is true.

	The hottest pepper that I carry that has been tested is the 
Caribbean Red Habanero which came in at about 475K Scoville Units and 
has also been extensively hyped. No one to my knowledge has tested 
any of the the other peppers which I sell. I have a new Caribbean Red 
Hot Pepper which I purchased from a French company this year and it 
may or may not be related to the other Caribbean Red.

	When Jim Campbell and I were in Jamaica in the fall of 1997, they 
were growing Orange Habaneros, Caribbean Red Habaneros and Jamaician 
Scotch Bonnets. I sampled them all and couldn't detect a difference 
in heat level. I also couldn't detect a difference in flavor even 
though our Jamaican friends claimed that the Scotch Bonnets were 
tastier. They were all hot, by the way.

	Peppers have different heat levels from garden to garden depending 
on growing conditions and even have different heat levels on the same 
plant. They also have different burn durations and different reaction 
areas in the mouth.

> 
> 2) Which are your rare peppers?

	Rarity kind of depends on what part of the world you are in and 
what's available there. I define rare as something that isn't 
usually available in US or Canadian seed catalogs. Off the top of my 
head, that would include Caribbean Red Hot Pepper, Cascabel, Chimayo, 
Espanola Improved, Guajillo, Jamaican Scotch Bonnet, Mirasol, 
Pasilla, Piquin, Peter Pepper, Safi Red from West Africa, Tepin and 
West Indian Red Pepper.

	Michael Bailes grows many peppers in Australia and some of these may 
not be rare there.
 
> 
> 3) How long do the seeds usually keep? Would I refrigerate them or 
> freeze them?

	I have seeds which I purchased in in 1990 in New Mexico which are 
still germinating 100%. Most sources say that Peppers remain viable 
for about 5 years though. Do not freeze or refrigerate them. Keep 
them in a dark dry place. If you are in an area which has high 
humidity, store them with some desiccant. I recently ordered 
desiccant pillow packs and plan to offer them for sale when I receive 
them.

> 
> 4) Is the postage and handling still US$2.00, does this come by Air 
> Mail???

	Shipping and handling is $2.00 and no charge on orders of $20.00 or 
more. US shipments are First Class mail and overseas shipments are 
via air mail. Global Priority mail is also available for about $4.00 
additional.

. 
> Hope to hear from you soon?

	Hope this is soon enough :-) 
Dave Anderson
Tough Love Chile Co.
http://www.tough-love.com