The Trinidad Scorpion. This is the chile that started it all for me. It sent me exploring down the path this spring to chile nirvana. For the last 30 years I had been happy just eating my Hatch XXX green chiles every year. Then a few years ago, living so close to Las Cruces and the Chile Pepper Institute, the name Bhut Jolokia was in the local paper all the time. Sill I never was that interested in it. Then, this spring, I was trying to find a scorpion bolla for my son.(Those necklaces that have a real scorpion encased in plastic). I Googled scorpion and as I was going through results I noticed one that said Trinidad Scorpion chile. I clicked on it and read in amazement about it. That led me to a link to THSC where Neil was eating all these incredible peppers I had never heard of. I remember I stayed up till like 4 AM that night watching in exhausted amazement. (I had to go to work the next day) I really thought the only hot varieties out there were the ones on the Great Chile Poster + the Bhut Jolokia. I was officially hooked. How nice it is to finally be able to try my Excalibur of chiles. Ok so Judy sent me a huge Trinidad Scorpion. This thing is like 4 butch T’s big. I was convinced that given its size and reputation it had to be hotter. Needless to say, I had been worried all week that tonight would come. The pod is a nice deep red with an almost bonnet looking shape. This one did not have a fully defined stinger but looked just like some of the other scorpions I have seen people post images of. It appeared very juicy and had smooth thick looking skin. Slicing it open I got a delayed whoosh of fruity aroma. Bringing up close yielded a very fresh smelling chile like wet washed lettuce. It had just a tiny hint of sweet fruit and no overpowering capsicum odor. Seed count was high. They are pretty small seeds but man there was at least 50-60 of them in the pod. Seed placenta is medium with a nice spongy sack surrounding the seeds. The interior skin also has a nice thick layer of placenta and contains several placenta walls. Flavor was again unique. I am really liking these red scorpion varieties. The first bite, what I noticed most, was a huge rush of juice. It was slightly fruity but actually tasted more like water. It was strange in a really nice way. No habanero flavor…. not really a lot of any flavor or even capsicum. Just a mild fruity taste and lots of neutral watery juice. Reading my description it does not sound that good but it was. I keep using the word balanced but man it was just so easy to eat. The taste, flavor and texture kept me wanting more. There was absolutely no heavy vapors of capsicum choking you when you inhaled. I actually kept nibbling and finished the other quarter after I turned off the video. Heat wise, It was not as hot as the Butch T or a 7 Pot. It was somewhere between a Naga and the 7’s. (Closer to Naga but hotter) It was a great overall mouth burn with just a medium upper throat burn. Maybe a half blow torch in the throat. It hit the tongue the hardest with a good stinging burn. Best part was no stomach discomfort. (although I did eat more stuff this time to help shied my stomach) It was really that nice. I can actually see using these fresh, cut up in a Pico de Gallo type salsa or as poppers. Like the Butch T, this one is a must grow for me next year. I never thought I would be looking forward to growing and eating scorpions. 1 week ago, I honestly had no red scorpions on my long grow list for next year. Thanks Judy for including them in the box, I was not expecting them, and it has been a wonderful surprise.
I also re-reviewed Judy's Yellow Trinidad Scorpion yesterday to see if it would be hotter than the last time. It came out about the same, not SuperHot.... so I was not planning on posting it again. If someone wants me to post it here on THP, let me know.... or you can just visit my Youtube channel and see it and the review there.
