Carolina Reaper

The Carolina Reaper chili pepper is a cultivar of the Capsicum chinense plant. Developed by American breeder Ed Currie, the pepper is red and gnarled, with a bumpy texture and small pointed tail. It was the hottest chili pepper in the world according to Guinness World Records from 2013 to 2023 before it was surpassed by Pepper X, which was also developed by Currie.

Development

Currie, an American breeder, began working around 2001 on what would become the Carolina Reaper. It took over 10 years to develop. Sorting through hundreds of hybrid combinations, Currie was finally successful at crossing a "really nastily hot" La Soufrière (Saint Vincent) Habanero pepper from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and a Naga pepper/Ghost pepper (locally known as bhüt jolokia) from Assam". During November of that year, a reporter from NPR visited Currie to try the new pepper. According to Currie's website: "The reporter ate a small piece of the pepper, rolled around on the floor, hallucinated, and then shared his experiences with the national media." Currie officially named the pepper: "Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper". The word "reaper" was chosen by Currie due to the shape of the pepper's "sickle-like" tail.