- Meet the demonic entity its creator calls a ‘pepper.’
Peter Piper may have picked a peck of pickled peppers, but he didn’t create them. Ed Currie, however, does.
And what peppers they are. The South Carolina pepper wizard is the man responsible for crossbreeding the Carolina Reaper, officially the world’s hottest chili pepper.
Well, at least it used to be that. The Reaper has now been dethroned — by its own creator.
Now, as anyone who has tasted an actual Carolina Reaper (your author has had the dubious honor) can tell you, it was already absolutely ridiculously hot. Registering at 1.64 million Scoville heat units, the thing is spicier than the pepper spray cops use.
In a nutshell, it’s pain in pepper form. Currie’s new creation, the ominously titled Pepper X, is much, much worse.
The new Guinness world record holder for the hottest pepper comes to 2.69 million Scoville units, on average.
It’s more potent than bear spray. It’s so spicy that it’s not even funny.
Still, congratulations to Mr. Currie. You have created a vegetable that should be classified as a crime against humanity.
‘Groaning in Pain’
But perhaps you’re not a fan of spicy foods and Pepper X’s Scoville rating tells you absolutely nothing. Let us put that into perspective for you.
Scoville heat units (SHU) are a globally accepted standard for measuring the pungency of spicy foods, yet it’s mostly applied to peppers. Zero SHU is totally bland — think about a glass of water.
Most of us are familiar with the jalapeno. That common spicy pepper ticks 5,000 SHU on the scale.
Let’s ramp things up. The habanero — the world’s spiciest pepper in 1999 — is a common ingredient in very spicy hot sauces with its 350,000 SHU.
Now, compare that to the 2.69 million SHU of the Pepper X. Yeah, this thing is absolutely monstrous.
Only five people in the world have eaten a whole Pepper X, with one of them being Currie himself. We’re certain each of them regretted doing so later on.
According to Currie, the “immediate, brutal heat” of the pepper initially warmed his heart — and then some other parts of his body.
“I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours,” Currie told AP News.
“Then the cramps came. Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.”
Why anyone would voluntarily eat a Pepper X is beyond us.
Avoiding the Same Mistakes
In a way, though, Pepper X is a testament to Currie’s life’s work. He has been breeding peppers for more than two decades.
His work paid off in 2013 when he unleashed the Carolina Reaper on the world. But the man knew he could do better.
Pepper X is a crossbreed of the Carolina Reaper and… Something.
Currie hasn’t identified what the other pepper in the equation is. He simply calls it “a pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot.”
There’s a good reason for the secrecy, though. When we said the Carolina Reaper paid off, it did so in pepper cred — not cash.
Back in 2013, Currie allowed anyone to grow Carolina Reapers, as he is a true pepper lover. Yet, he didn’t protect his intellectual property appropriately and people started selling the pepper and products made with it freely.
None of that money went to the pepper’s creator. Although Currie is happy people enjoy the Carolina Reaper, warm sentiments don’t pay the bills.
This time, he won’t repeat the same mistake.
“Everybody else made their money off the Reaper. It’s time for us to reap the benefits of the hard work I do,” said Currie.
The butt-scorching fruits of Currie’s secret greenhouses will remain proprietary — at least for now. He says he may begin distributing seeds later once he’s made sure his family and employees get their well-earned dues.
It Could Be Hotter
While Currie wants to make some money from his work, he’s not greedy. After all, he genuinely wants people to eat hot peppers.
Currie believes the dopamine rush from the painful burn is good for people. Yet, he also wishes people would exercise caution with chili peppers.
Hot pepper eating challenges are popular on social media — and it irks Currie. As a professional hothead, he knows people shouldn’t just eat a chili pepper without proper preparation.
“You build up a tolerance,” Currie advises. He also cautions everyone to not eat his latest creation willy-nilly.
We have to agree. Pepper X is so hot it can be fatal.
Even then, Pepper X isn’t the end of the road. Currie has surpassed his already demonic peppers once and he believes he can do it again.
“Is this the pinnacle?” the man asked with a wink. “No, it’s not the pinnacle.”