Since October 2023, Pepper X has been the world’s hottest chilli pepper according to Guinness World Records. It was bred by Ed Currie, the American grower behind the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper.
| Species | Capsicum chinense (per encyclopedic sources; not officially stated by the breeder) |
|---|---|
| Heat | average 2,693,000 SHU (Guinness record, 2023) |
| Breeder | Ed Currie, PuckerButt Pepper Company, South Carolina (USA) |
| Parentage | Carolina Reaper × a very hot pepper “a friend sent me from Michigan” (Currie); full ancestry not disclosed |
| Fruit | greenish-yellow, heavily wrinkled and ridged |
| Flavour | “earthy” once the heat arrives, also described as citrusy |
How it was bred
Ed Currie, founder of PuckerButt Pepper Company, has been breeding chillies for more than a decade, making over a hundred crosses a year. According to the Associated Press, Pepper X is a cross of his Carolina Reaper with a “brutally hot” pepper that a friend sent him from Michigan. Guinness only says it came from two parents whose flavour Currie loved but which were not hot enough on their own. The full pedigree has not been published.
AP reports that it took ten years from the first cross to the record, five of them spent testing to prove the plant was stable and distinct.
The record
Heat was measured at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, by Professor Cliff Calloway and his students using HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) on fruit from four seasons. The peppers are freeze-dried, ground and extracted with alcohol before the capsaicinoid content is measured. The average came out at 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units. Guinness announced the record in October 2023, ending the Carolina Reaper’s reign that began in 2013.
As of autumn 2026, Pepper X is still the recognised record holder; we are not aware of any newer Guinness record. In fairness, the measurements come from a single laboratory and no independent verification has been published.
Appearance and flavour
The pods are greenish-yellow with many folds and ridges. Guinness notes this leaves more room inside for the placenta, the tissue where capsaicin is produced. Currie describes the heat as “immediate, brutal”, and the flavour behind it as earthy.
Uses
Neither seeds nor pods are sold; the variety is proprietary. Pepper X first appeared in The Last Dab (2017), the sauce from the show Hot Ones. The later The Last Dab: Apollo uses the Apollo pepper, which Currie bred from Carolina Reaper and Pepper X.
A word of caution
According to AP, after eating a whole pod Currie felt the burn for three and a half hours, then got cramps and lay flat for about an hour. Peppers this hot are not for dares; in the kitchen they are used in tiny amounts, typically in sauces.
Related
Carolina Reaper · Trinidad Moruga Scorpion · Scoville scale
Sources
- Guinness World Records: Pepper X dethrones Carolina Reaper as world’s hottest chilli pepper (2023)
- Associated Press via KTTC: Pepper X marks the spot (2023)
- Winthrop University, Department of Chemistry: News
- Paste Magazine: Pepper X
- Guinness World Records: September 2026 article (Pepper X still the record holder)
- Heatonist: The Last Dab: Apollo