Top 10 World's Hottest Peppers

Hottest Pepper

The world’s hottest pepper is constantly changing, evolving almost. It seems every year a new pepper is either created or discovered so check back often to see new record breaking peppers! PepperHead® has the most up-to-date list of the World’s Hottest Peppers. Here at PepperHead® we have been growing these “super hots” for over 20 years and have grown and eaten every pepper on this list. We are dedicated to providing you spicy lovers with the ability to grow all of these insanely spicy peppers in your own backyards. Without further ado, here is our Top 10 Hottest Pepper List.
Share this Hottest Pepper List

Top 10 Hottest Peppers In The World [2026 Update]

SHU = Scoville Heat Unit (A measure of Spiciness) Pepper Scoville Scale displayed as Peak SHU Values SHU is a way of quantifying how spicy a pepper is by measuring the concentration of capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the chemical responsible for the spicy sensation within a pepper.

1. Pepper X 2,693,000 SHU

Pepper X is now the World’s hottest Pepper with an average of 2.69 Million Scoville Units and peaks over 3 Million SHU. Not much is known about this pepper since seeds have not been publicly released. So unfortunately you cannot taste or grow Pepper X yourself.

2. Carolina Reaper 2,200,000 SHU

The previous world champion, Carolina Reaper has been beat!  by itself… The Carolina Reaper is once again officially the Worlds Hottest Pepper. Originally ranked as world’s hottest in 2013, the Reaper was tested again in 2018 with an even higher SHU. (71,000 SHU higher to be exact) This gives the reaper a renewed title as World’s Hottest! It was bred for heat and that it is, with an average SHU of 1,641,000 SHU and peaks at 2.2 Million SHU! Let’s put the scoville rating into perspective for you:
The Carolina Reaper pepper is 200x hotter than a Jalapeno #WorldsHottestPepper
Just looking at the pictures above, you know its one mean pepper. The Carolina Reaper has a unique stinger tail that is unlike any other pepper and every pod is different! It gets this insane heat from being a cross between a Ghost Pepper and a Red Habanero. Oddly enough this pepper doesn’t just have heat, but excellent fruity flavor to boot. Well, that is before it melts your face off. More Carolina Reaper Info
Out of stock
Out of stock
Out of stock
NEW
Out of stock
Original price was: $60.00.Current price is: $39.95.
 

Watch these Chicks eat The Carolina Reaper

10 Even more Hilarious Videos of The Carolina Reaper Challenge

 

Test your heat tolerance with the PepperHead ChallengeEat a whole Carolina Reaper Pepper on camera and receive a FREE T-Shirt!

You can now buy the reaper as powder, live plants or seeds so you can grow your own plant and try for yourself.

3. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion 2,009,231 SHU

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper Straight from the depths of hell the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend, AKA Moruga Scorpion, is a rare sought after pepper that was only just recently discovered. Native to the lands of Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago. Once you take a bite of this formidable pepper the heat never stops building. This pepper may be lacking the Reaper’s stinger, but don’t let that fool you. The Moruga Scorpion is every bit as hot as The Carolina Reaper. More Moruga Scorpion Info
Out of stock
Out of stock
 

Watch Rhett & Link from Good Mythical Morning Eat the Moruga Scorpion

4. 7 Pot Douglah 1,853,936 SHU

7 Pot Douglah Pepper Well renown in the pepper community as one of the hottest peppers with the best flavor. The 7 Pot Douglah is the hottest pepper you can find that isn’t red. The hottest “superhot” peppers are traditionally red, but the Douglah defies the odds by being brown AND scortching hot. You can’t go wrong with fresh, dried, or powdered Douglah on any food. Also known as 7 Pod Douglah, Chocolate 7 Pod or the 7 Pot Brown. More Douglah Info
Out of stock
$7.95
Out of stock
$18.95

5. 7 Pot Primo 1,469,000 SHU

7 Pot Primo The 7 Pot Primo is very distinctive with its long skinny “tail”. This pepper was created by horticulturist Troy Primeaux. Some peppers cultivators have tried to replicate the Primo look by breeding their own peppers to have a long stinger. When you just look at this pepper, you know it’s going to be INSANELY hot. It coincidentally looks strikingly similar to The Carolina Reaper… More Primo Info
Out of stock
$8.95

6. Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” 1,463,700 SHU

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T is a previous Guinness World Record Holder (2011) from Australia. No doubt it’s insanely hot, but other peppers have been proven to be hotter. It’s aptly named due to the scorpion stinger found at the tip of the pepper and also the creator, Butch Taylor. The burn from this pepper is unlike any other.
The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper burns like you swallowed a 1,000 suns.
More Butch T Info
Out of stock
Out of stock

7. Naga Viper 1,349,000 SHU

Naga ViperNaga Viper is an extremely rare pepper cultivated in the UK. Hybrid of many different peppers and years of cross pollination created this variety of “Super HOT” pepper. It was never fully stabilized before being released so pod variation is expected. More Naga Viper Info
Out of stock

Seeds

Naga Viper

$7.95

8. Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) 1,041,427 SHU

Ghost Pepper The Ghost Pepper is the most famous “Super Hot” due to the amount of press it has received in the past. It exploded in popularity on YouTube and other social sites where pepperheads ate whole Ghost Peppers as part of a challenge. This is the first pepper to scientifically test over 1 million scovilles.
Many mistakenly believe the Ghost Pepper is still the World’s Hottest pepper, this list shows it is far from it.
This isn’t 2007. If you have friends that still think the Ghost Pepper is the hottest pepper, share this page with them. However, don’t be fooled by how low this is on the list as it can still bring a grown man to his knees. More Ghost Pepper Info
Out of stock
Out of stock
Out of stock
 

Kid swallows ghost pepper, instantly regrets it.

9. 7 Pot Barrackpore ~1,000,000 SHU

7 Pot Barrackpore The 7 Pot Barrackpore is one of the hottest of the 7 Pot peppers. This one is from the Town of Chaguanas in Trinidad and Tobago. Many of these “super hots” come from this region. More Barrackpore Info
Out of stock
$7.95
 

10. Red Savina Habanero 500,000 SHU

Red Savina Habanero Back in the early years of super hots, the Red Savina Habanero was KING! It held the title of the World’s Hottest Pepper from 1994 to 2006. 12 Years! The Red Savina has since been dethroned and many peppers have passed it in heat, but still to this day it is one of my favorite peppers to grow because it has the perfect balance of heat and flavor.. The Red Savina just barely makes the Top 10, but does so in fashion with its great flavor and extreme heat. More Red Savina Info
Out of stock

Are you a PepperHead®?

Try growing these Superhot peppers! PepperHead® seeds grow real peppers with real published SHU ratings.

Order all Top 10 Hottest Pepper Seeds and save 30% over purchasing individually!

We are so excited about our brand new product, the PepperHead Powder Sampler Kit! Its the perfect gift for spicy lovers.

FREE
Shipping
Out of stock
Original price was: $85.00.Current price is: $59.95.
NEW
Out of stock
Original price was: $60.00.Current price is: $39.95.

Honorable Mentions

Lets talk about some upcoming hybrid peppers that show promise. These two hot peppers will be added to the list once their validity has been confirmed.

Dragon’s Breath 2,483,584 SHU

There have been recent reports of a Dragon’s Breath pepper claiming to be hotter than the Carolina Reaper.
Preliminary testing of the Dragon’s Breath pepper pegs it at 2,483,584 SHU which would blow the Carolina Reaper out of the water.
It could be a publicity stunt in which the “news” websites ate up, even claiming Dragon’s Breath could kill you. Technically a pencil can kill you too…

$8.95Read more

 

You might also be interested in...

40 Uses for PepperHead Spices

Pepper powder is so versatile, dare I say MORE versatile than Hot sauce? Powder doesn’t ...

2 Comments

Eating hot peppers may extend your life, says American Heart Association

Hot pepper lovers rejoice! Not only is spicy a tasty addition to any meal, but ...

3 Comments

Capsaicin may help you lose weight

With obesity rates skyrocketing, researchers are turning to hot peppers to treat overweight people

2 Comments

Habanero Pepper: A Complete Guide of Heat and Flavor + 7 Recipes

Join me in taking a journey through the heat, flavor and uses of the Habanero ...

17 Comments

10 Amazing Health Benefits to Eating Hot Peppers [Scientifically Proven]

The documented health benefits from hot peppers continues to grow at a break-neck speed, similar ...

134 Comments

Ultimate Guide to Growing Hot Peppers

This Ultimate Guide to Growing Hot Peppers will guide you from germination to harvest

69 Comments

BREAKING NEWS – New World’s Hottest Pepper

New World’s Hottest Pepper Guinness World Records has released a new World’s Hottest Pepper, beating ...

8 Comments

10 HILARIOUS Carolina Reaper Challenge Videos

While we don’t recommended taking the Carolina Reaper Challenge with a fresh Carolina Reaper Pepper (Official ...

15 Comments

Share this Hottest Pepper List

698 thoughts on “Top 10 World’s Hottest Peppers

  1. Tom says:

    I’m currently growing carolina reaper and Trinidad scorpion peppers and am looking forward to them! I also have habanero red and orange and mild hungarian wax. This was very informative!

  2. Omar D says:

    I minced Carolina reaper with onions and cabbage, ate it with tacos and I was shitting fire for 3 days, my stomach was hot for 3 days too, be careful this is dangerous stuff

  3. Franz Schlappack says:

    My favorite is so far the Trindiad Morugo Scorpion. Love the fruity tast. Mabe the Reaper is hotter but at last i find there tast isnt same good.

    • John Hissom says:

      I have eaten a reaper it hurt for 30 min then my tongue went numb. I find the hotter the pepper the faster my tongue goes numb. Of course a ring of fire followed by a ring of numbness throughout my digestive track followed ending at the end. If you ever eanted an unpleasant way to track the length of your intestines and figure out how long it takes for a pepper to exit your body well take the challenge.

  4. Olivia Bailey says:

    Yeaaaa, I am sufficiently intimidated by my garden this year. I have Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion, 7 Pot Douglah, ghost pepper, and a bunch of other less hot/not hot peppers (couple types of habanero, scotch bonnet, Hungarian hot wax, serrano, cayenne, jalapeño, pepperoncini, black pearl, 4 colors of bell pepper, and poblano.

    Silly thing is, I don’t tend to eat things much hotter than jalapeño, I just like to garden and make fermented hot sauces like a mad scientist. <3

    Have a lovely day y'all!

  5. Ramit Vashistha says:

    This is really interesting facts. I love this and I want to learn more about peeper so plese share more about peepers

  6. Adrian Lozano says:

    I Love Hot Peppers. However I ate the One Chip Challenge and was very disappointed.
    Carolina Riper was very disappointing I have yet to find a pepper that I can not finish. Green Jalapeno Peppers have no heat these days and I am in search of a good pepper. the Serrano was great however hotter than the Carolina in my opinion. Maybe it depends where they grow I don’t know every now and then I get a pepper that gets my attention but non have made me put it down. I need a Good Salsa ………

  7. P3PP3R says:

    I’ve eaten a punch of straight ghost pepper seeds, scorpion pepper sauce, and the famed Caroline Reaper. So, I can say these peppers are HOT! Although the videos of people eating those peppers are a bit over reacted….

  8. Andrea Insch says:

    Never had a chilli hotter than a supermarket chilli and have just been given 6 chillies and told to take them seriously! I don’t want to go red faced and pass out! Any good advice! or Help greatly appreciated

    • Rya says:

      If you tend to eat any sort of chilli or spicy type. Firstly relax and breathe then also eat something like hot chips or peppers . this builds tolerance overtone but mainly have milk and ice cream near you even doughnuts or any other sweet snack to reduce heat if you feel too hot.

    • Solomon Stello says:

      Wait at least fifteen minutes after consuming peppers before ingesting ice cream. You can get appendicitis. I’ve nearly had it before and it’s not good. Better yet wait thirty minutes. Milk should be fine with your peppers.

  9. Rip wilder says:

    Very through and informative enjoyed reading it . I am planting the scorpion pepper in my garden this sounds like I’m in for a big surprise . Thank you .

  10. Olivia says:

    Wow I might taste a ghost pepper but it might be hot cause that one kid he was wow or should I say he was on fire get it ?? On fire hahahaha

  11. Holly says:

    The best way to eat and appreciate the flavor of Carolina Reaper (in my humble opinion) is with popcorn. The trick is to slice it up and let it sit in oil overnight. Then add it to a popcorn maker (I used one of the little carnival/movie theater style ones). So delish!

  12. Michelle says:

    Johnny Scoville is eating several Dragon’s Breath Pods in his latest video and he is only at a 3 maybe a 4 on his heat level.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *