Carolina Reaper vs Trinidad Scorpion

The Trinidad Scorpion is a landrace and the Carolina Reaper is a product, and that is the whole comparison in one line. Bosland, Coon and Reeves (HortTechnology, 2012) got their Trinidad Scorpion seed from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Trinidad and Tobago in 2008. Their DNA work placed Trinidad Scorpion, 7-pot Jonah and Douglah at a similarity index of 0.94, which they read as open-pollinated landraces from one island crossing freely for generations. The Reaper came out of Ed Currie's PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The company lists Guinness records for 2013 and 2017. The parentage, a very hot habanero from Saint Vincent crossed with a Naga type, rests on the breeder's own account.

The published testing tells a story of averages against single fruits. In the 2011 Las Cruces trial the Trinidad Scorpion averaged 1,029,271 SHU across four replicated blocks, with individual plants from 801,180 to 1,392,452, and it did not differ significantly from Bhut Jolokia. The Moruga Scorpion, a separate Trinidad landrace, averaged 1,207,764 and two plants passed two million. At the time Guinness recognized an Australian-grown selection, Butch T Scorpion, at 1,463,700 SHU. Guinness then verified the Reaper in 2013 at an average of 1,569,300 SHU from Winthrop University tests, and when it announced Pepper X at 2,693,000 SHU in October 2023 it cited the Reaper at 1.64 million. Those figures bracket the top of the WikiPepper range.

Bosland's group added a caution that applies to both. Heat varied significantly between field blocks of the same variety, and earlier NMSU work found single plants running 78 percent above the field average. Guinness will accept a single fruit for some records. The spice trade wants a mean. So a Scorpion from a hot corner of a field can outrun a Reaper from a cool one, and neither number on a seed packet is a promise.

As food they behave alike, which is to say barely. Both are Capsicum chinense with a fruity opening second, the Reaper often described as sweet and faintly cinnamon, before a burn that lasts. Both have the tail. Neither is a kitchen pepper in any ordinary sense. The Scorpion is the pepper of Trinidad's pepper-sauce tradition and a genetic reservoir that breeders keep returning to. The Reaper is a branded cultivar for the superhot trade, sold into extract-style sauces, powders and eating contests. What each is for is written on the label.

Sources

• Bosland, Coon & Reeves, 'Trinidad Moruga Scorpion' Pepper is the World's Hottest Measured Chile Pepper at More Than Two Million Scoville Heat Units, HortTechnology 22(4):534-538, 2012
• Guinness World Records: New fiery record achieved for eating the most Carolina Reaper chilis in a minute (2016)
• Guinness World Records: Pepper X dethrones Carolina Reaper as world's hottest chilli pepper (2023)
• PuckerButt Pepper Company: Our Roots