“Everybody else made their money off the Reaper. He said no seeds will be released until he is sure his children, his workers - many of whom are on their second chances like him - and their families can fully earn the rewards of his work.

His lawyers have counted more than 10,000 products that use the Carolina Reaper name, or its other intellectual property, without permission.Ĭurrie is protecting Pepper X. While the Carolina Reaper drew much attention, much of it was not proper - or profitable.Ĭurrie allowed people to grow the peppers without protecting his ideas.

“We covered the genetics, we covered the chemistry, we covered the botany,” he said.Ĭurrie, who is trying to build an empire of hot pepper sauces through his PuckerButt company, said he also learned plenty of business lessons during the past decade. It took 10 years to get Pepper X from the first crossbreed experiment to the record, including five years of testing to prove it was a different plant with a different fruit and documenting its average heat over different plants and generations. He shares his peppers with medical researchers, hoping they can use them to cure disease and help people who suffer chronic pain or discomfort.įor Currie, having the hottest pepper in the world has been a two-decade obsession. Currie, who went all in to growing peppers after kicking drug and alcohol addictions, considers that kick a natural high. The burning sensation spurred in humans also releases endorphins and dopamine into the body. Because birds don’t have the same reaction, they are able spread pepper seeds while sparing the plant. Even so, the minds of humans and other mammals perceive capsaicin as a threat and send a strong burning signal to the body. The chemical in peppers that causes the burn is called capsaicin and not dangerous unless pounds of it are consumed. It’s a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and what Currie mysteriously classifies as a “pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot.” Pepper X is greenish-yellow, doesn’t have the same shelf appeal and carries an earthy flavor once its heat is delivered. The goal was to offer an extremely hot pepper flavored with sweetness. Pepper X has been in the works since Currie last set the hottest pepper record in 2013 with the Carolina Reaper, a bright red knobby fruit with what aficionados call a scorpion tail. Bear spray advertises at 2.2 million units. By comparison, pepper spray commonly holstered by police is around 1.6 million units. Pepper X’s record is an average of 2.69 million units. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Carolina Reaper at 1.64 million units. A habanero, the record-holder about 25 years ago, typically tops 100,000. Zero is bland, and a regular jalapeno pepper registers about 5,000 units. Heat in peppers is measured in Scoville Heat Units. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.” Then the cramps came,” said Currie, one of only five people so far to eat a entire Pepper X. “I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours.

Pepper x scoville vs carolina reaper