# Taste testing hot peppers



## taxlady (Oct 10, 2019)

Another question for the forum: I have several chili peppers that I have never tried before. I would like to taste test them. I was thinking chop up some of each kind and mix each kind, separately, into a bit of cream cheese or sour cream, so the capsaicin doesn't overwhelm the flavour. 

How do you taste test chili peppers?


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## pepperhead212 (Oct 10, 2019)

I just pop them whole, unless they are large, in which case I'll cut them in half.  I chew them for 30 sec, spit them out, then see how hot they end up, then make notes on other flavors.


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## larry_stewart (Oct 10, 2019)

I was going to start a new thread a few weeks ago on the taste of peppers, but looks like Ill just add to this on.  Other than the heat factor and the sweetness  and occasional bitterness, does the actual taste of the pepper cary much from variety to variety ?  And when it reaches a certain 'hotness'. can that  taste difference even be perceived  or does the heat element completely take over ?

When eating a pepper, I focus on heat, sweeteness and the thickness/ or meatiness of the pepper.  Ive only worked with a half dozen peppers over the years, so I have little experience in many of the varieties.


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## taxlady (Oct 10, 2019)

pepperhead212 said:


> I just pop them whole, unless they are large, in which case I'll cut them in half.  I chew them for 30 sec, spit them out, then see how hot they end up, then make notes on other flavors.


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## caseydog (Oct 10, 2019)

Taxlady, I tend to think that tasting them the way you plan to eat them is best. I don't eat whole peppers by themselves. 

So, I think your idea of mixing with some kind of cheese would be a good idea. 

CD


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Oct 10, 2019)

Depending on the scoville rating, I nibble the tip first, making sure to avoid the membrane and seefd
 I chew the pepper flesh and roll it around on my tongue to get the pepper's flavor.  Then I'll take a bite with seedd and membrane to detrmine the heat.  This allows me to jnow different ways I can use the pepper, whether the heat is manageable, or even desired, or iuse it with seefd and membtanes removed
I eat the hottest pepper on the planet, and I still taste the inique flavor of that pepper.  Have a good time testing peppers.  Work up fro jalepios, knowing that as you rat pepprts regularly, your heat tollerance will grow.

Seeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## pepperhead212 (Oct 11, 2019)

larry_stewart said:


> I was going to start a new thread a few weeks ago on the taste of peppers, but looks like Ill just add to this on.  Other than the heat factor and the sweetness  and occasional bitterness, does the actual taste of the pepper vary much from variety to variety ?  And when it reaches a certain 'hotness'. can that  taste difference even be perceived  or does the heat element completely take over ?
> 
> When eating a pepper, I focus on heat, sweeteness and the thickness/ or meatiness of the pepper.  Ive only worked with a half dozen peppers over the years, so I have little experience in many of the varieties.


I've probably grown over 200 varieties of peppers through the years,  though this year I only had one new variety, out of 16 varieties.  I used to grow around 25 every year,  with more new, than old, but eventually, I ended up with 14 or 15 keepers, that I had to have every year!  Still, I have to reduce them more, or find more people to help me eat them!   

It's amazing how different some peppers can taste!  _Capsicum anuum_ is the species with the most varieties, and has the most non-hot peppers, but there are some with different flavors, as well.  Think of how different jalapeño peppers taste, from most peppers.  And has anybody ever grown _Bulgarian Carrots_?  They have a totally unique flavor, and I searched and searched for any other orange variety, and most tasted like any other pepper, some with little flavor (something that occurs in many varieties - all heat, and almost no flavor).  I finally found one - source in Australia, on ebay!  It's called _Hanoi Market_, and it's only 30-40,000 SUs, vs 60k, for Bulgarian Carrots, but the same flavor.  These are fresh those orange chiles you see piled in Asian markets, in those shows like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern.  They make some of those Asian dip sauces really great, like nuoc cham.

_Capsicum chinense_ have a totally different flavor from other peppers, though some stronger than others.  This species has the hottest peppers in it - the superhots, like the Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion, and ghost peppers - but they don't have as much flavor as the habaneros, that are way down on the list.  I only grew them out of curiosity - tried them, then gave the rest to a guy at work!  But you can't use enough to give flavor, without getting the dish too hot (even for me!), so why bother?  But the hotter habaneros (red savina, chocolate, gold bullet, fatalii) always seemed to have the best flavor - milder varieties seemed lacking in flavor, and more had to be used in a dish, to get the "habanero flavor".  However, Aji Dulce is a _chinense_ variety that has almost no heat - only around 500 SUs - but intense flavor!  I like being able to share some of those dishes with people, who never could eat those habaneros, and missed out on some of the best dishes!

_C. frutescens_ is another pepper species with a unique flavor - a sweet, but sort of smoky flavor.  Tabasco peppers are in this species, as well as the African Birds Eye.  I have tried a few varieties, but they all have  very long seasons - one so long that I have to bring it in before it flowered at all.  So I don't bother with them.

_C. baccatum_ is another species with a slightly different flavor in many of the varieties.  This is the species that most of the S American _Aji_ peppers belong to, though there are Ajis in other species, as well (such as Aji Dulce). _ C. pubescens_ is another unique species - if you've even gotten black seeded peppers, you've had this!  It has slightly different flavor, but I only grew it once - nothing impressed me that much.   Amazingly, you can find some of these unusual peppers in supermarkets these days.


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## salt and pepper (Oct 12, 2019)

Made some HOT sauce today, Carolina Reapers, (Ghost Pepper) The hottest pepper in the world!







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## caseydog (Oct 12, 2019)

salt and pepper said:


> Made some HOT sauce today, Carolina Reapers, (Ghost Pepper) *The hottest pepper in the world!*



_Not anymore_. The developer of the Carolina Reaper, Smokin' Ed Currie, has developed a pepper, currently called Pepper X. Rated at 3.18 Scoville Units (awaiting confirmation by _Guinness Book of World Records_). The Reaper is 1.9 million. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zCYX0esYlo

CD


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