Tabasco vs Cayenne
Tabasco and Cayenne top out at the same 50,000 SHU.
Tabasco is C. frutescens; Cayenne is C. annuum.
| Tabasco | Cayenne | |
|---|---|---|
| Scoville heat | 30,000 to 50,000 SHU | 30,000 to 50,000 SHU |
| Heat level | Hot (15,001–100,000 SHU) | Hot (15,001–100,000 SHU) |
| Species | C. frutescens | C. annuum |
| Ripe pod color | Red | Red |
| Immature color | Green/Mustard | Green/Mustard |
| Pod shape | Pequin/small bullet | Long/tapered |
| Pod length | 0.5 to 1 inches | 3 to 4 inches |
| Flesh | Thin flesh | Thin flesh |
| Pod orientation | Upright pods | Pendant pods |
| Plant height | 36 to 42 inches | 24 to 30 inches |
| Days to harvest | Late 80-90 | Mid 70-80 |
| Flowers | Solid white/cream | Solid white/cream |
| Region of origin | USA | French Guiana |
| Credited to | McIlhenny family (Avery Island, Louisiana, 1868) | Landrace - Cayenne, French Guiana |
| Also known as | Chile Tabasco; McIlhenny Tabasco; PI 586675; Tabasco Red; Red Tabasco | Cayenna; Cayenne Long Red; Cayenne Red; Chile de Cayena; Red Cayenne; Long Cayenne; Cayenne Sweet |
These two are different species, and telling them apart has confused better botanists than most of us. Tabasco is Capsicum frutescens. Cayenne is Capsicum annuum. The USDA genebank accession PI 586675, a Tabasco donated by the Reuter Seed Company of Louisiana in 1964, was filed as C. annuum and stayed that way until a taxonomic re-identification moved it to C. frutescens on May 11, 1995. The genebank's own descriptors record the traits that give the frutescens type away: small, elongated red fruit held erect on the plant. Cayenne pods hang.
The Tabasco's history is a company history. Edmund McIlhenny grew his first commercial pepper crop on Avery Island, Louisiana, in 1868, sent out 658 bottles of sauce at one dollar apiece wholesale in 1869, and took a patent in 1870. McIlhenny Company still ages the pepper mash in white oak barrels, today for up to three years, before blending it with distilled vinegar. The name traces to the Mexican state of Tabasco, itself from a word the company says means a place of humid soil. Cayenne's name is older and borrowed. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates the English word to 1756, from the Tupi kyynha, with the tie to Cayenne in French Guiana a later folk association.
On heat they are close to a wash. UF/IFAS gives Tabasco 30,000 to 50,000 SHU and cayenne 25,000 to 50,000. The difference is in the pod. A Tabasco is a short, juicy, thin-skinned fruit that mashes and ferments well, and UF/IFAS notes it is also used for peppered vinegar. A cayenne is long, thin-walled and dries cleanly, which is why most of the world meets it as a red powder. Fresh Tabasco heat reads bright, watery and acidic. Cayenne reads as plain warmth.
Substitution depends on what the recipe is really asking for. If it wants dried red heat, cayenne powder does the job and a Tabasco will not dry as conveniently. If it wants the tang of a fermented Louisiana-style sauce, cayenne powder cannot supply that, though plenty of Louisiana sauces are in fact built on cayenne mash rather than Tabasco peppers. The pepper and the trademarked sauce are not the same thing, and only one of them is a species question.
Which is hotter, Tabasco or Cayenne?
Tabasco and Cayenne top out at the same 50,000 SHU.
Are Tabasco and Cayenne the same species?
Tabasco is C. frutescens; Cayenne is C. annuum.
Where do Tabasco and Cayenne come from?
Tabasco is recorded as originating in USA. Cayenne is recorded as originating in French Guiana.
All Capsicum frutescens varieties · All hot peppers
All Capsicum annuum varieties · All hot peppers
Sources
Figures come from each variety's WikiPepper record. Last updated Sep 27, 2026.