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sampling seriously hot peppers every Monday in Lakeland
- Thread starter cycadjungle
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.great news on this latest report
The bar area is separate from the rest of the restaurant. By about 10pm the restaurant might have 2 tables with people, where most of the bar and the 12 tables in the bar area are still pretty full. People come for the "spicy Monday" and also for the bartender that always works that night. He offers people pepper material for those who are interested, so by now, everyone in that area knows what to expect. There are always new people who think they can eat hot peppers but they have never seen anything hotter than a habanero. For those who try some, they are in for a surprise. Sometimes you get someone who can just handle the heat and love what we are doing. Those people end up coming up to the bar the next week. We have been doing the spicy monday for about a year and a half now. The restaurant is making out well because of this because the spicy people are filling the bar and spending lots of money on drinks and food. I know someone who owns a restaurant a few miles away that has already heard of the success and wnats to have a spicy night at his place once his full bar setup is complete. I'm not sure if I can handle multiple hot pepper nights each week, but maybe this is just the start and I might be doing this even more as more restaurants want to do this and people want to use my peppers.MisterBigglesworth said:Tom, thanks for the continuing reviews and updates.
The patrons of your local pub must think y'all are crazy.
Just can't get enough, can you?
Well, nothing new to test out, but we did compare a few reapers and a couple of primos just to see if the results would change when dealing with others pods from other plants. For the seond time in 2 weeks,everyone who tried both said that the primos were OBVIOUSLY hotter than any of the three reapers I brought. One of the regulars who takes the heat fairly well was ruined last night after trying a decent sized primo piece. After that, he wouldn't even try any more for testing. A couple of new guys that were in a back table last week came back and sat at the bar just waiting to get heated up. One guy tried one of the red Brain Strains, wimped out and quit, while the other guy tried them all. The second guy showed the stress with a red face, profuse sweating and the rest of the symptoms we are used to seeing. He was a trooper, but at the same time, he was at his limit. I don't have anything new coming up, but it appears as if I have a bit of a fan base growing and have had 2 people this week offer to send me pods just for our group to try and send back some input. I'm happy to do so and at least I will have more to report if enough people want me to continue with these weekly reports. Tom
These are some great reviews cycad 
Thanks guys. We have fun being a bit scientific and comparing the different types of peppers, or just comparing the attributes from specific plants of the same batch. This really helps me with my genetics for the future as I try to improve my pepper plants each year if I can. I'm really very new at selling peppers as a living even though I have been growing them more for fun in the last few years. Just like with Cappy making the Brain Strain, I can take the plants that I think are the best for whatever group of reasons and make them better and more stablized. Like with these Reapers. It looks like about 1 in 6 to 1 in 8 are looking like what was shown in the original pictures. You just take those and keep them for your future breeding. BUT are the pods that look the best in form, the best tasting and hotter peppers? Maybe not We might find one of these with the best taste ever and heat that just takes you out. All of these things are best tested with a group of people that are all kinds of ages, and have different heat tolerances. We have people coming in from 21 to 72 and everything in between.
You know I may have used the word limit, but after you pointed it out, it made me think. That guy may have thought he was at his limit, but many of us know that you always have to try that next thing or more of the same kind of pepper just to go to that next level, just to see, and then you look like the guys you like to laugh about when it happens to them. I have a feeling that boy will be back and will find that he has a higher limit, he just looks like the type. You complain when it is happening, but it always goes away and its like you forget what it was like again and again. Can't miss that Monday night! Hea, at least football starts in a month!
We really didn't do anything special last night that was worthy of a big report. I expanded the use of the 7 pod primos and added some to some salsa I put together and also used some material for the water moccasin with qa bit drink. I used about half the amount of pepper using the primo as opposed to what we usually use with the Brain Strain and the drinks seemed to be hotter with worse of a burn going down. The salsa was very good too, and had a good long burn, but very tasty.
I don't know if anyone reading this saw my post showing the Calico pepper plant, but what I read on the internet, said that these peppers are too hot to eat. Well we had to try them anyway. They really weren't hot at all, probably less than a Serrano and more than a Jalapeno. The pepper had stripes on it though, that was cool.
One guy brought in some fresh caught bass, so they fried them up for us. The bartender makes a yellow sauce himself with yellow 7 pods as his hot pepper base and it was very good with the fish.
I'm probably not going to have anything new and interesting any time in the next few weeks, but I WAS contacted by a couple of the forum members here who want to send me some pods for us to try at hot pepper night.I am all for that, so if someone sends me something to try out, I'll have something new.
Tom
I don't know if anyone reading this saw my post showing the Calico pepper plant, but what I read on the internet, said that these peppers are too hot to eat. Well we had to try them anyway. They really weren't hot at all, probably less than a Serrano and more than a Jalapeno. The pepper had stripes on it though, that was cool.
One guy brought in some fresh caught bass, so they fried them up for us. The bartender makes a yellow sauce himself with yellow 7 pods as his hot pepper base and it was very good with the fish.
I'm probably not going to have anything new and interesting any time in the next few weeks, but I WAS contacted by a couple of the forum members here who want to send me some pods for us to try at hot pepper night.I am all for that, so if someone sends me something to try out, I'll have something new.
Tom
Yea, I had to laugh at once when I saw that, but you never know. I got some free seeds with an order from Pepperlover of what she called "Most prolific Chacoense" and you know, those little things are pretty hot! They are real juicy and when you pop one in your mouth, it keeps you heated up for quite a few minutes. I was hoping the Calico would at least be something like that at least, but it was nowhere close. On a side note, that Chacoense is like what she said, it IS very prolific and has at least 300 of those little things on it right now and it is in a 3 gallon pot. They are nothing to sneeze at as far as heat goes, but it ain't no Brain Strain. If you don't have one of those, its worth playing with. It's sort of dwarf like as far as form goes and takes some time to get good sized, but I've been very pleased with what it has produced. It would be nice in a decorative pot in front of the house or something.Tom, that sounds like a really great time!!! Next time you are in San Diego we have to hang out and eat some hot stuff.
I really could have used a good hot pepper friend when I was in San Diego last August. I found a couple of pretty good restaurants on the coastal highway near Encinitas, but I'm sure there were some killer Mexican restaurants that might have looked like a dive, but had some of the best food in the world. I hope I do get over there sometime soon, but the society won't have another event in California for another few years. Sometimes, people pay my way to come out and do talks on cycads, and I never know where that will be, so you never know. Certainly, if you ever get to central Florida, let me know. (make sure your here on a Monday
I saw your post on the Calicos - too hot to eat. That is priceless!!!
I LOVE wild peppers, Tom. I`ve grow a lot of types of Tepins and they are really great. Wild Brazil C.chinense are tasty and pretty hot, too. I have those again this year. I``ve never eaten C.chacoense, but it sounds like one I need to grow! I know that Pepperlover has a ton of wilds and I think next year will be my year of the wild peppers.
I used to live in Encinitas by the 101, but now I`m around 12 miles away. There are some decent Mexican places, but only one or two standouts. That`s typical of San DIego unless you go down near the border.
I used to live in Encinitas by the 101, but now I`m around 12 miles away. There are some decent Mexican places, but only one or two standouts. That`s typical of San DIego unless you go down near the border.
Thats pretty much where I stayed while I was there. I'll send you some of these fresh chacoense if you want and you will have plenty of seeds for next year as well. You need a good start because they stay pretty small the first season.
Nigel I am growing close to 25 wild varieties in the late summer/fall/ winter. I have found that mostly the only wilds with heat are chacoense, praetermissum, and a few others. Eximium, rhomboideum, flexousum, etc. Have no heat but they are very beautiful and exotic in growth. I think I may have a couple varieties with heat I can send you in a week or so. Just remind me via pm
We had a great time at hot pepper night, last night. We had 16 people eating out of the fried hot pepper basket and 10 people, both men and women, participated in last night's new test. Didn't get to burn up any new people, just old hands going at it. A good mix of people though. Just thinking, there were 3 people who make sauce, half of the group are growing their own hot peppers, two people make hot salsa, and two were retired restaurant owners or managers.
Over all, I guess the main test was comparing the Carolina Reaper powder to the 7 pod Primo powder that I had just finished that morning. These two fresh peppers had the same kind of burn to them but had different qualities of taste, heat levels, and length of heat. We were wondering how that would work when made into powders.
Last year when we compared the Butch T pods to the Moruga pods, we found that the Butch T pods were hot, but dropped off faster than the Moruga pods. The Morugas also had a bit of a stronger good taste, where the Ts were just a bit watered down compared to the Morugas. I guess I should note on this, that I have never received material from Butch himself, which I hear his pods are better than the ones I got a hold of. Mine come from plants purchased from Refining Chilis. Anyway, when we compared the powders of these two scorpions, there was no real discernable difference between the two. That is why I sell "Scorpion Mix" powder instead of these two separately.
We were thinking it might be the same with these two new peppers, but you never know and that is why you do the tests, right? Everyone tried the Reaper Dust first. We gave everyone about 5 minutes and then everyone tried the primo powder. I made little piles on a plate that were as equal as I could do by eye. The result was almost unanimous. One person thought the Reaper was hotter and he liked the taste better. But, 9 out of 10 people said the same thing. From my own opinion, The Reaper had a pretty decent taste to it, but it is somewhat flat tasting. It is there, but it doesn't jump right out at you. The Primo powder has a taste that seems about 50% richer, or stronger. It is also a really good taste that jumps out at you. The reaper had heat that hit you at once and stayed at that same level for a while, where the Primo, even in powder form, took about 30 seconds to reach a peak. People would try it and say wow, thats good, but then you would see it on their face about 30 seconds later. Like holy crap, man thats really hot, and then they would grab their beers and suck some down quickly. It was funny to watch what I already knew was going to come because I always try to test these things first just in case there is anyone who says, hea, I didn't see you try that! The heat on the Primo powder was also hotter. Hard to say how much hotter. It wasn't like twice as hot, maybe something like 30% hotter.
Well, I think the group is, for the most part, in agreement. For both fresh peppers AND with the powders, the Primos beat the Reapers in both quality of taste AND for amount of heat. The Primos, as a pepper, seem to be way more stable in pod form and consistantcy of heat and taste. If I had to vote, Primos win hands down. Both came from the original sources, so that is not an issue. I thought the Brain Strain was my favorite hot pepper, but I am really liking these Primos. I usually use Bhut Jolokia powder as my little carry around powder container that I bring in to Mexican restaurants and that kind of thing. I'm going to carry Primo powder for now on. Just for kicks, I layed out some of my Bhut powder along side of the Primo powder to compare and my Bhut powder just tastes flat and weak compared to the Primos It was like 1/3 the heat and strength of taste.
I hope Primo gets all the recognition he can get on his pepper. From what I got out of my 55 Reaper seeds, I got about 18 plants that almost all have different looking pods ranging from what they are supposed to look like down to small, long, very smooth pods that look like half length, smooth, Bhut pods. The heat ranges like the pods and the taste just doesn't measure up. Sure, they are hotter than Bhuts, but for all the hype we were hit with, along with the pricing we had to pay, they were not worth all that. The majority of the Primo pods look about what you would expect to see. They have a thinner wall to them cpmared to many of the peppers I'm growing, which will make them even better than most for making powder out of them. They can really tear you up fresh if you eat too much of it, so the powder is a much safer way to go. Tom
Over all, I guess the main test was comparing the Carolina Reaper powder to the 7 pod Primo powder that I had just finished that morning. These two fresh peppers had the same kind of burn to them but had different qualities of taste, heat levels, and length of heat. We were wondering how that would work when made into powders.
Last year when we compared the Butch T pods to the Moruga pods, we found that the Butch T pods were hot, but dropped off faster than the Moruga pods. The Morugas also had a bit of a stronger good taste, where the Ts were just a bit watered down compared to the Morugas. I guess I should note on this, that I have never received material from Butch himself, which I hear his pods are better than the ones I got a hold of. Mine come from plants purchased from Refining Chilis. Anyway, when we compared the powders of these two scorpions, there was no real discernable difference between the two. That is why I sell "Scorpion Mix" powder instead of these two separately.
We were thinking it might be the same with these two new peppers, but you never know and that is why you do the tests, right? Everyone tried the Reaper Dust first. We gave everyone about 5 minutes and then everyone tried the primo powder. I made little piles on a plate that were as equal as I could do by eye. The result was almost unanimous. One person thought the Reaper was hotter and he liked the taste better. But, 9 out of 10 people said the same thing. From my own opinion, The Reaper had a pretty decent taste to it, but it is somewhat flat tasting. It is there, but it doesn't jump right out at you. The Primo powder has a taste that seems about 50% richer, or stronger. It is also a really good taste that jumps out at you. The reaper had heat that hit you at once and stayed at that same level for a while, where the Primo, even in powder form, took about 30 seconds to reach a peak. People would try it and say wow, thats good, but then you would see it on their face about 30 seconds later. Like holy crap, man thats really hot, and then they would grab their beers and suck some down quickly. It was funny to watch what I already knew was going to come because I always try to test these things first just in case there is anyone who says, hea, I didn't see you try that! The heat on the Primo powder was also hotter. Hard to say how much hotter. It wasn't like twice as hot, maybe something like 30% hotter.
Well, I think the group is, for the most part, in agreement. For both fresh peppers AND with the powders, the Primos beat the Reapers in both quality of taste AND for amount of heat. The Primos, as a pepper, seem to be way more stable in pod form and consistantcy of heat and taste. If I had to vote, Primos win hands down. Both came from the original sources, so that is not an issue. I thought the Brain Strain was my favorite hot pepper, but I am really liking these Primos. I usually use Bhut Jolokia powder as my little carry around powder container that I bring in to Mexican restaurants and that kind of thing. I'm going to carry Primo powder for now on. Just for kicks, I layed out some of my Bhut powder along side of the Primo powder to compare and my Bhut powder just tastes flat and weak compared to the Primos It was like 1/3 the heat and strength of taste.
I hope Primo gets all the recognition he can get on his pepper. From what I got out of my 55 Reaper seeds, I got about 18 plants that almost all have different looking pods ranging from what they are supposed to look like down to small, long, very smooth pods that look like half length, smooth, Bhut pods. The heat ranges like the pods and the taste just doesn't measure up. Sure, they are hotter than Bhuts, but for all the hype we were hit with, along with the pricing we had to pay, they were not worth all that. The majority of the Primo pods look about what you would expect to see. They have a thinner wall to them cpmared to many of the peppers I'm growing, which will make them even better than most for making powder out of them. They can really tear you up fresh if you eat too much of it, so the powder is a much safer way to go. Tom
this journey you are taking us on, reminds me of when I got heavy into cigar smoking in the mid 80's. I keep a written record of look, taste, after taste, ash etc. . It was a very exciting time and loads of guys would ask did u try such and such what did u think. P.S. even with cigars they did vary from time to time
this sounds like a fun time if im ever out that way i will come to this thing
I used to do that too! There was a Saturday morning radio show out of Tampa that the guys used to sit around and talk about cigars and take questions. Me and the next door neighbor guy I mention on the main page of my pepper site used to sit out in the nusery and listen to the show and try out cigars. It was around the 88' to 90' time range. Maya Maduro ended up being my favorite with the best rich taste. They came in either 3 or 4 lengths and the next to the longest would last a good 45 minutes. The longest one was well over an hour and for either of us, that one was just too much richness for a bit too long. We could find all kinds of decent cigars in Tampa and a ccouple of the local shops had a nice supply of many different cigars to choose from.
I don't know, I like to do this kind of thing with many different things over the years. I'm always comparing fertilizers, or soils for growing the peppers. Not tasting that is, but just comparing. Didn't have anything new to talk about from the other day. Have a new pepper to try this Monday though, so that will be fun. Tom
You are always welcome. Its an hour drive if you take the new pay road down to I-4. The location is 1 minute off an I-4 Lakeland exit. There are quite a few people who look at this forum who are within 30 minutes from here. It would be fun to have a few of you guys show up some day.