Some like it hot, but this is where hedonism and masochism intersect. The Associated Press reports that “Ed Currie, the South Carolina hot pepper expert who crossbred and grew the Carolina Reaper that’s hotter than most pepper sprays police use to subdue unruly criminals, has broken his own world record with a pepper that’s three times hotter.”
Pepper X, as Currie has dubbed his latest creation from hell, was recently declared the “hottest pepper in the world” by the Guinness World Records. If you prefer to play by the numbers, Pepper X delivers a punishing 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units. The Carolina Reaper, by contrast, packs a relatively meager 1.64 million SHU.
The greenish-yellow Pepper X reportedly has an earthy flavor, but to experience it you have to bite into it. So far, only five people have eaten an entire Pepper X, including Currie, who describes the experience thus:
I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. 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.
Yum, right?
