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scovilles Dragon's breath...2.48m scovilles?

If I have the right web site, he seems like a nice guy who stumbled into the whole hottest pepper wars that go on.  Love the pictures and how he has been growing vegetables and started showing.  Sounds very county fair.  We are starting to do that, more for fun than anything else.  Seems like our version of tractor pulls.

http://tomsmithplants.com/about/
 
Unlike IFLScience, Daily Mail, and The Telegraph, other news sources appear to have at least put in -some- effort with this story:
 
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-39946962
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/05/prweb14356191.htm
 
This Tom Smith appears to be happy to let news sources give him credit for work that isn't wholly his, rather than taking the time to give credit where it's due.
 
I started following the IFLScience page on FB around the time it first got started and I had thought they put some actual effort into verifying the facts of what they post, but on this topic they not only fell short but they even jumped the gun. They referenced both the Daily Mail & Telegraph articles in the post on their website, but they made no effort to dig deeper -and- they jumped to claim that this pepper is "officially" the hottest in the world, even though the articles they referenced indicate it's currently only applied to Guinness World Records.
 
I think the biggest tell that these news sources didn't do their due diligence is the fact that they claim this Tom Smith created it "by accident", while at the same time pointing out that it was purposely developed in cooperation with a university.. That's very contradictory... but thankfully, once you dig a bit deeper and find the BBC and PRWeb articles and discover the backstory from the actual creators then it doesn't sound quite so far-fetched overall.
 
What really stands out to me is that none of these articles seem to provide any reference to the average heat of this pepper - they focus on the claim that its' peak is higher than that of the Carolina Reaper. Guinness World Records, though, seems to determine the record based on the highest average - which makes sense. After all, the heat level can easily vary from one pod to the next on a plant, so a few pods on a plant could hit a really high mark while the majority could be hitting much lower - but the average will paint a clearer picture of what to expect of the pepper. So it'd be interesting to find out the average on this one and -then- maybe it might be worth some hype.
 
Even if it were somehow to get the record with a peak level of 2.4 million, it already seems like that record won't last long since Ed Currie was already stating months ago that his HP56 pepper peaks at around 2.89 million (bit curious what the average would be on that one, too).
 
Some of these news sources really need to work on their journalism skills, considering how incredibly vague & short on facts they've been on reporting about this pepper. *shakes his head*
 
I am even more sceptical about Ed's Death Strain and Gator than I am about this but it makes sense to me to use peak values. This is marketing, not science, and marketing favours the shock value of big numbers.
Guinness will use the average, assuming they even take it seriously, but the media rarely do. Or rarely fact check for that matter. I know from some of my contacts that they will actively seak out any way possible to squeeze death into a chilli piece for a more sellable story.
 
Wow very interesting some of the pod eaters I seen 50 ghost peppers eat or it was a big number more likely 250gr I believe

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I'm in highly dubious mode until I have more info, just thought it would be interesting to share some titbits I'm plugged into from the creators. Here's a pic chillibob posted of one of the plant on display at Chelsea flower show this week.
97b6998398504c5d59d88249673d72a9.jpg


I have asked what generation the plants are and am waiting for an answer. As said above the pods on the plants now are reportedly early season runts.
 
Can someone more knowledgeable inform what the rules are around the Guinness Record?  Lots of stuff being banded around, is this written down anywhere?  
 
PS: Just ordered myself a Dragon's Breath plug plant from chillibobs, will get to see first hand what all the fuss is about.  
 
 
dennish said:
Can someone more knowledgeable inform what the rules are around the Guinness Record?  Lots of stuff being banded around, is this written down anywhere?
I spent some time lookin' round when this thread started but came up blank. Couldn't find anything online that I'd trust as fact, saw same as you, bits and pieces here and there and mostly secondhand hearsay. Guinness site no help whatsoever, unless of course you want buy the book which has no information about what it takes to set the record!
 
dennish said:
PS: Just ordered myself a Dragon's Breath plug plant from chillibobs, will get to see first hand what all the fuss is about.
Ya, so how much is the new record holder plant plug worth, delivered??

`
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
I spent some time lookin' round when this thread started but came up blank. Couldn't find anything online that I'd trust as fact, saw same as you, bits and pieces here and there and mostly secondhand hearsay. Guinness site no help whatsoever, unless of course you want buy the book which has no information about what it takes to set the record!
 
I swear I read something about rules changes on a Guinness press release a year or so ago. Can't find it for the life of me now.
Somebody should write an email.
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
I spent some time lookin' round when this thread started but came up blank. Couldn't find anything online that I'd trust as fact, saw same as you, bits and pieces here and there and mostly secondhand hearsay. Guinness site no help whatsoever, unless of course you want buy the book which has no information about what it takes to set the record!
 

Ya, so how much is the new record holder plant plug worth, delivered??

`
£10 (about 3 times the going rate for a chilli plug in the U.K.). Still sceptical, but the cost is similar to the $10 I paid for reaper seeds when they were first released... and small in the grand scheme of things.

Would be really interested if anyone could cite some proper rules / guidelines for the Guinness record... there must be some? All sorts of contradictory stuff being spoken like it's fact.
 
The marketing is fun to read about.  Someone mentioned Death Strain.  I noticed that hit the media some time ago too.  The thing is not out.  You cant buy the peppers.  You cant buy the seeds.  But the media has already published much on the thing.  Amazing.  Think on Pepper Joe and the Carolina Reaper.  Bunches of peppers had the Guinness crown after Ghost but before Reaper.  Without the marketing, there wasn't nearly the talk or anticipation.
 
But the part of a new pepper I really love is the growing, the appearance, and the taste.  This Dragon's Breath pepper really does have a very neat look about it.  Love how tiny it is.  Really think it is perfect for a stir fry surprise.  If it doesnt turn out to be the next hottest pepper in the world, I still want to grow it. 
 
PS - Think on how the Carolina Reaper looks.  If you saw that in your stir fry you would be frightened.  Dragon's Breath, it is so nice and cute you might think it a tomato.
 
dennish said:
Would be really interested if anyone could cite some proper rules / guidelines for the Guinness record... there must be some? All sorts of contradictory stuff being spoken like it's fact.
`
Found this at Guinness World Records Hottest chili:

This record is based on the heat of a chili pepper.
This record is to be attempted by an individual, team or company.
This record is measured both in Scoville heat units (SHU) and in American Spice Trade Association pungency units, using high performance liquid chromatography. These units measure the concentration of capsaicin in the pepper.

 
As I've been chasing SHU's I tried  American Spice Trade Association pungency units or ASTA and found this, Popular Science/FYI: What is the Hottest Pepper in the World?.

I'll let you get bored rereading what we already know and learning some things new but IMO when reading between the lines I think peppers are going to be scrutinized much closer, but other than that no new information, sorry!

`
 
ASTA pungency units convert directly to SHU with multiplication, odd they would require both.
 
Margaret D. Collins, L.M.W., Paul W. Bosland. 1995. Improved Method for Quantifying Capsaicinoids in Capsicum Usin High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. Hort Science 30: 137-139.
 
dennish said:
Can someone more knowledgeable inform what the rules are around the Guinness Record?  Lots of stuff being banded around, is this written down anywhere?  
 
PS: Just ordered myself a Dragon's Breath plug plant from chillibobs, will get to see first hand what all the fuss is about.  
 
What Web site you order a plug plant ???
I need to order me a few

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dennish said:
I'm in highly dubious mode until I have more info, just thought it would be interesting to share some titbits I'm plugged into from the creators. Here's a pic chillibob posted of one of the plant on display at Chelsea flower show this week.
97b6998398504c5d59d88249673d72a9.jpg
That label says that it is claimed to be the world record holder, but all the other info up to now has said that he is applying for it..., wouldn't there be some sort of news story if it was confirmed? Any one can make a claim with anything, doesn't make it true....
 
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