So what are people's thoughts on growing superhots to experience unique flavor profiles? All the shops and blogs I come across seem pretty cut-and-dried with "smoky" for all the chocolates and "fruity" for all the reds, almost like I'm not missing out on anything just growing my choc. bhutlahs and red reapers.
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Superhot Flavor Profiles
- Thread starter pawpsicles87
- Start date
People diagree with me on this, and that's cool.
Personally, unless it's dried and ground to a powder, above Bhut level it all tastes the same to me. Fiery hot lava capsaicin. I love mild to medium to hot to just around Bhut level myself. After that I literally taste the taste of a pepper for less than a half a second before it's pain.
Powdered I can tolerate it a little more and discern flavors better. Especially chinense. I think that drying and powdering cuts down a the floral taste I experience with most chinense.
I don't want to "train" myself or my brain to "get used" to the pain.
As far as growing them. I still do. Doesn't mean I don't use super hots for sauces or meals. I just don't use them as much as milder peppers.
Personally, unless it's dried and ground to a powder, above Bhut level it all tastes the same to me. Fiery hot lava capsaicin. I love mild to medium to hot to just around Bhut level myself. After that I literally taste the taste of a pepper for less than a half a second before it's pain.
Powdered I can tolerate it a little more and discern flavors better. Especially chinense. I think that drying and powdering cuts down a the floral taste I experience with most chinense.
I don't want to "train" myself or my brain to "get used" to the pain.
As far as growing them. I still do. Doesn't mean I don't use super hots for sauces or meals. I just don't use them as much as milder peppers.
skullbiker
Extreme Member
What he said!sirex said:
.pawpsicles87 said:
I've also seen "soapy" used many times:
Just to be clear, I'm fine with the flowery/semi-soapy flavor of the orange hab, but I know a lot of others don't like it.
[background=#fff4e4]-- [/background]intensely[background=#fff4e4] hot, but kind of a weird, soapy flavor. (Haven't used any dishsoap on the leaves.)[/background]
sirex said:
Yea I've seen that too....
Forgot about "grassy"....
thegreenman said:
TRM said:
J.H.Skarby said:
Of course I've never eaten grass so I can't comment on that!
I can taste some differences such as...to me i get more bitterness from JPGS than red bhut. Both are pretty close in heat but im pretty sure my JPGS this year are hotter. My CARDI Scorpion even though its quite a bit hotter its not nearly as bitter. All these i sample first from just the tip of the pod. If the tip is bitter you can be pretty sure the middle is gunna be even worse.
I get "that smell" from all hot chinenses. Some more than others. Some more citrus than others (yellows) and some more fruity (reds). Some like the Naglah Brown i find much harder to describe. Pretty much all of them when they get that hot i dont taste much sweetness. I can taste it much more in things like bonnets.
ATM im liking the CARDI the most for a super. Scorching hot without any off flavors or an overpowering aroma. I dont know if mine are freaks or what but they have all been brutal.
I get "that smell" from all hot chinenses. Some more than others. Some more citrus than others (yellows) and some more fruity (reds). Some like the Naglah Brown i find much harder to describe. Pretty much all of them when they get that hot i dont taste much sweetness. I can taste it much more in things like bonnets.
ATM im liking the CARDI the most for a super. Scorching hot without any off flavors or an overpowering aroma. I dont know if mine are freaks or what but they have all been brutal.
When I was a kid, I thought that cilantro tasted like soap, and I hated it. I avoided it for years but, by my late twenties, I found that it no longer tastes soapy to me, and I've been in love with it ever since.
I never picked up soapy notes from even the situation supermarket Habs, but I have gotten some wet cardboard flavors on the tail end of the experience.
Still like'm anyway.
Fwiw, my JPGS have always been hotter than the usual red Ghost. Bitterness and heat seen to go hand in hand, as Cap itself is plenty bitter, I guess. I think sweeter flavors counteract the bitterness, which is why a yellow will be less bitter than a comparably hot red or chocolate.
SMDS, are you growing the red Scorpions from CARDI's catalog? Or the yellow ones that everyone refers to as CARDI, even though they've not been in the catalog for the past few years? (Maybe they used to be, BITD?)
Bc the Yellow CARDI Scorpions I grew in 2016 were deliciously not bitter... But, OTOH, they were also a few hundred thousand SHU south of SuperHot, too...
I never picked up soapy notes from even the situation supermarket Habs, but I have gotten some wet cardboard flavors on the tail end of the experience.
Still like'm anyway.
Fwiw, my JPGS have always been hotter than the usual red Ghost. Bitterness and heat seen to go hand in hand, as Cap itself is plenty bitter, I guess. I think sweeter flavors counteract the bitterness, which is why a yellow will be less bitter than a comparably hot red or chocolate.
SMDS, are you growing the red Scorpions from CARDI's catalog? Or the yellow ones that everyone refers to as CARDI, even though they've not been in the catalog for the past few years? (Maybe they used to be, BITD?)
Bc the Yellow CARDI Scorpions I grew in 2016 were deliciously not bitter... But, OTOH, they were also a few hundred thousand SHU south of SuperHot, too...
Flamecycle
Extreme Member
I rarely agree with people's descriptions of pepper flavors.
I read a great article or post some time ago, which interestingly claimed the majority of the "flavor" of peppers (and other foods) actually comes from scented chemicals that are given off as we chew, and that the mouth's flavor sensitivity is too rudimentary to account for the nuance and variety of "flavors" we perceive. I couldn't locate it with a quick search but it referenced some of the information here: https://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/6108461/The_Biochemistry_of_Peppers.html
I suspect there's at least some truth to the idea that your sense of smell plays a role in how you experience peppers, and there's a lot of evidence that peoples "olfactory fingerprints" differ wildly. Scent compounds associated with berries may be detectable to me at much lower concentration than to most people, while others associated with smoke may take higher concentrations to meet my threshold.
Long winded way to say, ymmv. I would agree that many of the so called "varieties" taste remarkably similar to others, but imo there's sufficient flavor difference among some of the superhots to branch out. Some of my absolute favorites are still out there
I read a great article or post some time ago, which interestingly claimed the majority of the "flavor" of peppers (and other foods) actually comes from scented chemicals that are given off as we chew, and that the mouth's flavor sensitivity is too rudimentary to account for the nuance and variety of "flavors" we perceive. I couldn't locate it with a quick search but it referenced some of the information here: https://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/6108461/The_Biochemistry_of_Peppers.html
I suspect there's at least some truth to the idea that your sense of smell plays a role in how you experience peppers, and there's a lot of evidence that peoples "olfactory fingerprints" differ wildly. Scent compounds associated with berries may be detectable to me at much lower concentration than to most people, while others associated with smoke may take higher concentrations to meet my threshold.
Long winded way to say, ymmv. I would agree that many of the so called "varieties" taste remarkably similar to others, but imo there's sufficient flavor difference among some of the superhots to branch out. Some of my absolute favorites are still out there
Terpenes?
Nope they are red and really freaking hot. Right up there with my Reapers and way less bitter than my JPGS. Seedlings came from Juanitos and he showed me a pic of the CARDI package of the seeds he used.
That's awesome. I've always wanted to grow those red ones
Sofar they are my favorite super and very happy with production too. Unfortunately i did not isolate this plant. Its right next to a Scotch Brain. Seeds are a bit of a PITA to harvest too because they stick to the puddles of oil inside these beasts. I do have some saved and will save some more.
On a side note the Naglah Browns i grew have a pretty pleasant flavor but borderline "ordinary". Flavors other than spicy are somewhat subtle. Around ghost heat level but i didnt dive into a placenta bite yet. Im actually rather happy with it for my first chocolate. Seeds came from MWCH.
On a side note the Naglah Browns i grew have a pretty pleasant flavor but borderline "ordinary". Flavors other than spicy are somewhat subtle. Around ghost heat level but i didnt dive into a placenta bite yet. Im actually rather happy with it for my first chocolate. Seeds came from MWCH.
I grew Naglah Brown this year. I've only had a few ripe pods yet, most of which got smoked or sauced. I ate one raw and straight up, to get a sense of it. I was expecting a real killer burn, but it was definitely on the lower end of SuperHot. Of course, that was an early pod; maybe later season pods will be different?
But yeah, the flavor was fine, no real gripes. Just kinda underwhelming...
But yeah, the flavor was fine, no real gripes. Just kinda underwhelming...
Thats what i got too. Not as hot as i imagined and nothing really stands out.
Just wanted to take a second and read through my old post once more.The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
Yea I've seen that too....
Forgot about "grassy"....
Of course I've never eaten grass so I can't comment on that!
You know, since you quoted it
My Jobito plant really did produce pods with a taste that made me think of grass. Later, during the season the flavour was a lot more like a heatless hab - which was a huge improvement IMO..
I stand corrected for my flawed statement. Engwish is not my native language.
Floral is exactly what I meant
Grassy Floral 