Naming convention: Vanilla

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

I think my daughter was 9 when she asked this question.  I was kind of blown away that I had no answer.  So we call our brown ghost peppers "chocolate ghost" but we call our white ghost peppers white.  Why not vanilla?  Sounds like a silly question, but she is right.  Not so much ghost pepper because our variety go threw the French / creamy vanilla look but end paper white.  But others like white fatalli have that creamy French vanilla look.  Like white with a dash of yellow.

I know, silly question but I honestly had no answer for her other than its just what people decided to call them.
 
     I figured it was because a lot of brown chinense varieties have a slightly bitter dark chocolate kind of flavor/aroma. All the white chinense varieties I've tried have mostly a subdued citrusy flavor. I think JPGSs have a slightly vanilla flavor, but they don't have that creamy-white color that people associate with vanilla though. 
     In short, I have no idea.
 
Just talking about my somewhat limited personal experience, none of the chocolates i've tried had any "chocolately" characteristics to them, aside from the color.  Maybe it's just me and my palate, but it definitely wasn't any kind of psychosomatic thing, b/c i fully expected the first couple pods to taste like chocolate to some extent.  For me, they just don't read as "chocolate."  Similarly, most white pods i've tried don't have a lot of vanilla to them.  (Sometimes, i detect vanilla notes in chiles-- but not with any of the whites i've tried thus far.)  They typically have a citrus vibe going on...  I think that we run the risk of misleading ppl if we use flavor terminology to describe the color of a pod.  If it's brown but doesn't taste like chocolate, call it "Brown."  If it's white but doesn't taste like vanilla, call it "White."
 
But, I'd reserve the term "Black" for just the darkest pods.  Almost all the ones we call chocolate these days, they're really more brown than black.
 
The Chocolate Bhutlahs I've tried recently have definitely had cocoa notes to them but the similarly coloured Habaneros barely do even when paired with actual cocoa in sauce.
In most cases, it would probably be smarter to ditch the "chocolate" moniker than to add "vanilla" into the mix, though I do, purely conceptually, appreciate the idea.
 
I think it was probably a marketing thing...brown can sound kind of dull and boring. But, CHOCOLATE, that's got some pizzazz to it!

I think chocolate is a fitting term, especially when they have that tinge of red to them.

Mustard colored peppers don't need to taste like mustard, or peach, or orange.
 
AJ Drew said:
You guys are absolutely ruining my Halloween plans.  Here kiddie, tastes just like chocolate.
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Kinda unrelated, but....

I brought a bunch of pods to my buddy's cookout last weekend. Everybody talked some idiot into eating like 1/4 of a Chocolate Bhutlah. Obviously, yelling, screaming, choking, salivating, sweating ensued. Then, my buddy (I swear it wasn't me!) gives him 1/2 a 7 Pot Lava and tells him it's a "neutralizer" pepper that's going to "counteract" the burning! Hahaha! Awww God, I wish I took a video of that :rofl:
 
AJ Drew said:
You guys who want to ditch the term chocolate because it is misleading are absolutely ruining my Halloween plans.  Here kiddie, tastes just like chocolate.  Its a chocolate shaped just like a pepper.  Mmmm good.
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Lol oh what it burns ...oh here some ice water for the burn


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MikeUSMC said:
Kinda unrelated, but....

I brought a bunch of pods to my buddy's cookout last weekend. Everybody talked some idiot into eating like 1/4 of a Chocolate Bhutlah. Obviously, yelling, screaming, choking, salivating, sweating ensued. Then, my buddy (I swear it wasn't me!) gives him 1/2 a 7 Pot Lava and tells him it's a "neutralizer" pepper that's going to "counteract" the burning! Hahaha! Awww God, I wish I took a video of that :rofl:
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LOL a neutralizer pepper   :rofl:  That must be a very gullible person. How 'awful' of you guys to take advantage of that  :party:
 
:rofl:

Yeah, my buddy came up with that on the spot. "The Neutralizer." I literally had to turn my head and walk away so I didn't burst out laughing, haha

Dipshit did it though :) To tell you the truth, it was his own brother that he did it to, haha!
 
Seeing as red peppers aren't called strawberry let's just stop this nonsense before it gets out of hand!

neapolitan_ice_cream.jpg
 
Now you got me thinking about all the flavors that we have named after their color.  Like purple cool aid.  It doesnt actually taste like grape, so people call it purple drink.  Come to think of it, orange cool aid doesnt taste like orange.  Isnt the fruit colored?
 
Just like shapes too, cherry peppers(they sure don't taste like cherries), or especially tomatoes: cherry, grape, pear, plum, beefsteak, oxheart, ashy larry...
 
Jubnat said:
Just like shapes too, cherry peppers(they sure don't taste like cherries), or especially tomatoes: cherry, grape, pear, plum, beefsteak, oxheart, ashy larry...
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Shapes indeed. Peter Pepper. I mean, hope it's the shape! ;)
 
Speaking of naming peppers, is there much point in coming up with new names? Crossing peppers is getting quite popular so before you know it, there'll be crosses with multiple names and it'll cause a lot of confusion.
 
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