glog NJChilehead's 2025 GLOG

NJChilehead said:

...apparently Aji Guyana heard about my last message and said "oh no he didn't!" because I went outside today and saw this! I'm thinking I might just wait until Monday and do a side-by-side comparison. Sugar Rush Amarillo is still taking the slow and steady route, but maybe the paradigm there is that good things take time

Click to expand...

Are those peppers hot?

hotmanPete said:

Are those peppers hot?

Click to expand...

Hey Pete, the ones mentioned in the cluster of Aji Chinchi Amarillo, Sugar Rush Amarillo, Aji Guyana and Aji Mango are all Capsicum baccatum species. They tend to be thinner-skinned and taste fruitier than some other species. The heat level on Capsicum baccatum can vary. I grew a C. baccatum called Aji Habanero many years ago and it was absolutely delicious but almost heatless, but I understand that some get very hot, near 100K SHU (close to habanero level).

I'm not sure what the heat level is on these in particular, but I'm going to do a comparative review of these as I taste them.

Another little update from today!

Apparently the C. pubescens were feeling a little jealous of all the attention that the baccatums were getting, because after lollygagging along for what seemed like an eternity, Aji Oro decided to throw me a ripe fruit almost overnight.



The de Seda, not to be outdone by the Aji Oro, stepped right up to the challenge and ripened this one also seemingly overnight. Wow.



Looks like one of the Aji Mangoes is starting to blush too, which means that all 4 baccatums that I'm growing this year might actually ripen within a short time frame. Time will tell!

I harvested the first Aji Chinchi Amarillo today. I will harvest the Aji Guyana tomorrow and do a side-by-side comparison and report back.

First ripened Aji Chinchi Amarillo:

NJChilehead said:

Hey Pete, the ones mentioned in the cluster of Aji Chinchi Amarillo, Sugar Rush Amarillo, Aji Guyana and Aji Mango are all Capsicum baccatum species. They tend to be thinner-skinned and taste fruitier than some other species. The heat level on Capsicum baccatum can vary. I grew a C. baccatum called Aji Habanero many years ago and it was absolutely delicious but almost heatless, but I understand that some get very hot, near 100K SHU (close to habanero level).

I'm not sure what the heat level is on these in particular, but I'm going to do a comparative review of these as I taste them.

Click to expand...

Thynnyr-Skynnyd

MarcV said:

Thynnyr-Skynnyd

Click to expand...

Only if you're in Sweet Home Alabama!

Okay, after the anticipation, the seed starting, choosing the best looking plants, nurturing, worrying, fertilizing, praying, and occasionally cursing at them, the time comes to actually try a few. Here are a few reviews of the season's first, and also some of the most anticipated, fruit.

First off, Aji Guyana (L) vs. Aji Chinchi Amarillo (R).



I've heard/read very good things about both of these, so I was really looking forward to them. Transcribing my notes from the trials:

First up, Aji Chinchi Amarillo: Wow! Sweet, and some heat. Probably 20-30K SHU at the placenta. Very fruity, sweet and delicious. A very nice tasting C. baccatum! I'm not sure where the line is as far as which fruit I would equate it to (tangerine comes to mind), I am going to have to report back on that, but this pepper is absolutely delicious.

Second, Aji Guyana: Also excellent. As good in every way as Aji Chinchi Amarillo, but also a little different in flavor. Less heat, maybe 5K -10K SHU at the placenta. The fruity flavor might not be -as- strong as A.C.A. and is counterbalanced by some vegetal flavor, but this pepper was grown in a grow bag with lots of watering, and A.C.A. was in ground, so that could factor in. Regardless, also a winner!

Two absolutely solid baccatums (I could just pluck one off of the plant and eat it in the garden!), and ripening within 75-80 days? Wow.

Now on to the Rocotos:

Rocoto Aji Oro (L) vs. Rocoto de Seda (R):



Last year I grew Ecuadorian RPFH, Rocoto de Seda and Rocoto Turbo. Since de Seda and Turbo were the only yellow/orange Rocotos I've ever grown, I didn't have anything to compare them to. The Turbo was a little sweeter and fruitier, with the de Seda being more vegetal. I overwintered the de Seda and am going to use it as a comparison against the Aji Oro.

First up, Rocoto de Seda: Exactly as I remembered it. This pepper has a strong vegetal flavor reminscent of (believe it or not) celery. It's not very sweet, but loaded with flavor, and it's hot! It also has a moderate bitterness to it that complements the eating experience. Of the three I grew last year, this would be third in line for fresh eating, but it does taste good fresh (really nice in salads), and it's dynamite pickled or used as a popper.

Second, Aji Oro: I really wish I had my reaction on video. My wife was in the room, and when I took the first bite of the fresh Aji Oro, my eyes got really big and I looked at her and said WOW! My first impression was that it is sweet, definitely sweeter than de Seda or Turbo, in fact it's sweeter than any of the pubescens I've had so far. It has a nice fruity flavor with little to no bitterness (I think I got a little of the placenta and might have gotten a hint of bitterness from it, but nothing anywhere near what de Seda offers). A little less hot than de Seda but still packs a hit, especially around the placenta. This pepper would be dynamite in jellies or pickled. Holy cow. I'm not kidding when I say that the sweetness/fruitiness reminded me a little of the baccatums. Also, if you've been following my GLOG, you'll see that this pepper is also pretty heat tolerant. A real winner!

Stay tuned, more to come!

Sounds like great results. I've never grown the Aji Chinchi Amarillo, but given your glowing review and how quickly it produced, it's going to find it's way into my grow list soon.

I decided to get a little creative. I took another ripe Aji Guyana, plus some Sungold cherry tomatoes, plus a little garlic and sea salt, sauteed the Aji Guyana and garlic in olive oil, added the Sungolds and sea salt, sauteed them together, and put that little makeshift salsa over chicken. Man was that good!!


My sons tore into the salsa before I got to take a photo of the whole batch. The photo doesn't do it justice. It was goood!

CaneDog said:

Sounds like great results. I've never grown the Aji Chinchi Amarillo, but given your glowing review and how quickly it produced, it's going to find it's way into my grow list soon.

Click to expand...

Yup, it's a winner, thanks again to @JAB Farms for recommending it! I'll be sure to put some seed aside for you!

More first harvests of the season today!

First up: I got a few nice Bahamian Goat peppers off the plant today, and there are a few still on the plant that are about at the halfway mark. There are also Orange Habaneros, Aji Chombos, and a Congo Black Habanero that are all in various stages of ripening. I've never tried Bahamian Goats before, and will report back when I finally do!



Next up, we have Aji Mango (L) and Sugar Rush Amarillo (R):



Aji Mango (L) and Sugar Rush Amarillo (R), notice the thickness of the walls, and how much more seedy Aji Mango is than SRA (at least in these particular two fruit):



...and now for the good part, here are the tasting notes! Keep in mind that this is only the first fruit and may not be representative of later harvests (which tend to be tastier, I have found).

Note that both of these baccatums start cranking out ripe peppers in a pretty good time frame. By my count, these were harvested 84 days from transplant. Not bad at all!

First up, Aji Mango (source was Baker Creek Seeds):

First bite was of wall only, no seeds or placenta. Sweet, a little grassy, sightly less fruity and more vegetal than the other two Ajis that were reviewed upthread, with no hints of mango detected. Slightly more watered down flavor vs. SRA. Not bad at all, probably a little better processed vs. fresh, or even mixed into a salad. It wouldn't be my favorite pepper to stand and eat in the garden, but if it were the only baccatum out there, I wouldn't throw it away. No detected heat from wall, no soap. Next bites included walls plus seeds and placenta. I'd estimate 25K-40K SHU at placenta, with soap and perfume detected.

Second, Sugar Rush Amarillo:

First bite of wall only, no seeds or placenta. Sweeter, juicier (notably juicy, very nice!), stronger flavor and more tropical flavor than Aji Mango. Almost a hint of fruit juice. No grass, soap or perfume detected. Very nice garden snack! 1st bite was reminiscent of Sugar Rush Peach, but stronger, more definite tropical fruit flavor. Little to no heat detected with bite of wall. Next bites included walls plus seeds and placenta. I'd estimate initial burn of 10K (+/- 5K) with placenta and seeds included, but it had a weird afterburn spike afterwards that put it over 10K for a short time. Light perfume detected at placenta, but no soap. Better than Sugar Rush Peach, in my opinion. @Marturo @The Hot Pepper and one or two others have asked about this pepper as far as flavor compared to SRP, so far I think this one is a winner over SRP, if not only for the better flavor, but also for the shorter ripening time! Thank you @Bou !

More to come!

NJChilehead said:

First bite of wall only, no seeds or placenta. Sweeter, juicier (notably juicy, very nice!), stronger flavor and more tropical flavor than Aji Mango. Almost a hint of fruit juice. No grass, soap or perfume detected. Very nice garden snack! 1st bite was reminiscent of Sugar Rush Peach, but stronger, more definite tropical fruit flavor. Little to no heat detected with bite of wall. Next bites included walls plus seeds and placenta. I'd estimate initial burn of 10K (+/- 5K) with placenta and seeds included, but it had a weird afterburn spike afterwards that put it over 10K for a short time. Light perfume detected at placenta, but no soap. Better than Sugar Rush peach, in my opinion.

Click to expand...

Those Goats look delicious. The goats have an intoxicating aroma & full Bonnet heat. We had a Lesya with a salad for dinner, !/2 each
Goat & Lesya stored together & that sweet Lesya was spicy LOL.

I like the taste profile of the Sugar Rush Amarillo I'll need a spicy Birthday card this Fall.

Those all look delicious especially that makeshift salsa! Thanks for sharing your tasting observations!!

I like your reviews, NJC. Not just the learning about varieties I haven't tried but it's cool to hear your take on ones I have.

Thanks for the extended and detailed reviews @NJChilehead ! I think I will do a baccatum trial next year, so many varieties that look delicious!

Marturo said:

I like the taste profile of the Sugar Rush Amarillo I'll need a spicy Birthday card this Fall.

Click to expand...

I think we can swing that!

@nickde @CaneDog @Harmonic_Heat thanks!

Tasting notes from the Bahamian Goat. Note again that this is only the first flush and might not be representative of later fruit:

Very aromatic when cut, fragrance reminiscent of yellow scotch bonnet types. Light chinense skunk but not much. Placenta is very thick and most of walls have placenta attached. Some sweetness, no grassy notes. Not as strongly fruity and citrusy as scotch bonnet types but some fruitiness and nuttiness detected. Overall not as strongly flavored as scotch bonnet. Perhaps reminiscent of a scotch bonnet + an orange habanero, but all of the flavors come together nicely into one. No real smokiness present. Definite scotch bonnet-level heat. A very nice chinense, but I'm not yet ready to put it in the league of the best scotch bonnet types that I've tried. I'll try this one again in a week or two.

Also, I don't like to announce that I'm trying something if I have no idea if it'll work at all, but I got pretty excited about the flavor, heat tolerance, and productivity of my Rocoto Aji Oro, and am attempting to make some crosses with it and some other pubescens that I'm growing. I'll keep everyone posted!

I got a nice harvest of Aji Oros yesterday. What a gorgeous pepper this is! Now I need to do something with the harvest...



I love the blocky, collar-and-shoulders morphology that many of these C. pubescens have:



I'm trying out my new dehydrator today! I'll be dehydrating Aji Guyana, Aji Largo, Aji Oro, and Bahamian Goat. Going to do 12 hours at 125 degrees F and see how it goes. If @MarcV didn't send me the Jeromin seeds, I probably wouldn't have gone ahead and gotten the dehydrator. Those Jeromins, BTW, are starting to ripen. I can't wait to try some homemade chicken paprikash with some homemade/homegrown paprika.

On the dehydrator, waiting to go in:



Sometimes, instead of looking up standardized recipes, I'll get some flavor combinations in my head and I'll just go for it. After making a cherry and Rocoto Aji Largo jam earlier this summer (described upthread), which came out fantastic, I started thinking about what fruit I could pair with Aji Oro and create another type of fruit jam with. I decided on a pairing of Aji Oro and apricot.



I started by taking some ghee, which is clarified butter and has a high smoke point because of the lack of milk solids, and sauteeing the minced Aji Oro in the ghee with a little sea salt. The ghee has a nice, nutty flavor and the salted pepper strips will absorb those flavors and offer some nice contrast to the fruit. I decided to utilize a little Middle Eastern/Persian influence and add some cardamom and cinnamon to the ghee for the last few seconds, to extract the oils and bring out the flavors of the spices before adding the apricots and a little water.

Since apricots are low in pectin and I had less than 2 cups of apricot, I decided to go old school and use a Granny Smith apple for the pectin. Most of the pectin is in the core and skin, so I just dropped the core in, and wrapped the apple skin in a coffee filter tied with some kitchen string.



Some lemon juice and honey was added, and it was simmered down for quite some time until it had the right consistency. It was then canned in a boiling water bath. Since this is not a canning-approved recipe, I am going to refrigerate it anyway and use it within a few weeks.



As far as taste, it was very good, but in retrospect, I think an Orange Habanero or Scotch Bonnet-type would have been a better pairing with apricot than Aji Oro. I'm still testing and trying to figure out the versatility of C. pubescens, and learning the limitations here and there. Still, this will be a winner on ice cream or some of the other potential applications of a fruit jam like this!

Hi NJC! The aji oro looks very inspiring based on your review!

Here, too, several C. pubescens are starting to turn color. I noticed that my RPFH is currently solid brown... does yours also have this intermediate color before turning red? The seeds are from Semillas

NJChilehead said:

Aji Mango (source was Baker Creek Seeds):

Click to expand...

I bought aji mango stumpy seeds from THSC. As you can see from their link, the version in their photos produces wrinkly round fruits pointing upward. Mine, on the other hand, start out like that when immature, and then become downward, lamp-shaped (like bishop's crown or aji white fantasy), and above all, they're particularly gnarly... they're still green, but I can't wait to try them when they're ripe. Anyway, it's yet another non-compliant variant this year, lol

SatanicFlatIron said:

Hi NJC! The aji oro looks very inspiring based on your review!

Here, too, several C. pubescens are starting to turn color. I noticed that my RPFH is currently solid brown... does yours also have this intermediate color before turning red? The seeds are from Semillas

I bought aji mango stumpy seeds from THSC. As you can see from their link, the version in their photos produces wrinkly round fruits pointing upward. Mine, on the other hand, start out like that when immature, and then become downward, lamp-shaped (like bishop's crown or aji white fantasy), and above all, they're particularly gnarly... they're still green, but I can't wait to try them when they're ripe. Anyway, it's yet another non-compliant variant this year, lol

Click to expand...

Hey @SatanicFlatIron , no, my ERPFH ripens straight to red. You've got a neat little variant there! Definitely isolate and save seeds! I'd like to try growing it out someday if it's stable brown. Just a note, IIRC the brown color is because of lack of chlorophyll dieback. I've never personally tasted a brown rocoto, but they are sometimes said to not taste so good (one notable exception is the Chocolate x PS, which gets rave reviews). It'll be interesting to see how this one tastes! I look forward to hearing your reviews on it.