flavor Can you honestly taste the difference??

[huntsman]

Can you honestly taste the difference between the various (similar) chilli pepper species?

Sure, you'll know that a C. jalapeno is milder than a C. serrano, but would you be able to ID - by taste only - one pepper from five similar ones?

If you were given C. scotch bonnet (any one!), Trinidad Scorpion, Trinidad Congo, Naga Morich and say, 7 Pot, and they were cut up into similar sized pieces and you were blindfolded, would you get any / many of them right at a tasting?

 

[fineexampl]

SHort answer? yes. Long answer? Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss.

Seriously though, eat a jalapeno, than a habanero, than a fatalii, and than any naga variety and you tell me if they all taste the same. They hands down absolutely taste differently. Sometimes the heat can throw you off, but experienced chileheads will be able to detect different varieties by taste. It's like saying a green bell pepper tastes the same as a red bell pepper and they just don't.

 

[POTAWIE]

Peppers have many different flavors. I could definitely tell the difference between a Scotch bonnet and the others but nagas, T. scorpions, and 7 pot/pod are quite similar in flavor and heat in my opinion, so I would have a bit of a hard time unless I was eating them all often

 

[Sickmont]

I have found that once i got acclimated to the higher heat levels, i then could easily tell the difference between various peppers by the unique tastes they have.

 

[imaguitargod]

Yep, in fact, that's what makes me such a good (IMO) hot sauce reviewer.

 

[fineexampl]

Yep, in fact, that's what makes me such a good (IMO) hot sauce reviewer.

What happened to you having to no sense of taste?? (or was it smell?)

 

[POTAWIE]

No sense of taste, what a crappy life that would be. Good thing its just IGGy's sence of smell that's broke

 

[imaguitargod]

What happened to you having to no sense of taste?? (or was it smell?)

I don't have a sense of smell, which bumps my sense of taste down to about 20% of what everyone else has. But there's something about peppers that when I eat them I get the full range of taste again. Hence why I eat peppers on EVERYTHING.

 

[UnNatural]

I'd be able tell they are different but can't identify which is which except for the peppers i eat regulary, o hab, jal, limon hungarian, hot wax. Similar to how i can tell a merlot is different than a chianti but i probably wouldn't be able to tell which is which.

Now that i think about it i guess i'm just assuming, i have yet to taste a fresh 7pot, scorpion, naga, bhut...

 

[millworkman]

I am still considering myself a heat newb but I can tell when they are mixed into different sauces as long as the heat is dialed down. I can tell the different between most of them in my salsa.

 

[MrArboc]

+1 on what Sickmont said.

If you're not used to the heat that is all your senses will focus on, but once you get past that different chiles are about as similar as different wines or fish or meats.

There is a reason most of us grow 10, 20 or more different varieties. (Not species, there are only 5 species commonly grown and a few more that is becoming more available).

 

[POTAWIE]

Nobody's really answering the question "If you were given C. scotch bonnet (any one!), Trinidad Scorpion, Trinidad Congo, Naga Morich and say, 7 Pot, and they were cut up into similar sized pieces and you were blindfolded, would you get any / many of them right at a tasting?

I can seperate heat and flavor quite well. I'd probably identify Scotch bonnet and Trinidad congo, but I'd likely get the others mixed up

 

[MrArboc]

On that specific question which I suppose is a followup to the question in the poll I'd have to say no. The only one I've tasted fresh of those alternatives is scotch bonnet and I'm not even sure that it was in fact a SB...

 

[imaguitargod]

I'm going out on a limb and saying I would be able to Potawie, but I'd have to try some of those b/c I have yet to have some. Once I did, then I'd be able to tell them apart.

 

[POTAWIE]

On that specific question which I suppose is a followup to the question in the poll I'd have to say no.

Actually the poll is usually added afterwards, so I'd say the poll is a followup, but I'm really not here to play silly word games with you

 

[MrArboc]

Actually the poll is usually added afterwards, so I'd say the poll is a followup, but I'm really not here to play silly word games with you

I don't know how it works, I honestly didn't pay much attention to that question because I thought that was just en explanation, I just elaborated on the answer I gave in the poll

 

[huntsman]

That's already very informative, guys - thank you!

OK, so clearly there is a definite point of destination, and if we use the wine analogy that was alluded to, it's easy to tell the difference between the obviously different varieties, )sic sweet vs dry white wine) but takes a little more practise once the varieties converge in terms of heat (like a group of Sauvignon blancs, perhaps)?

Is that a decent synopsis?

If so, this means that as you would choose a specific wine to go with a certain dish, so too you'll carefully select the chilli/pepper to go with a certain meal, once you become educated in the fiery arts!

This can be a really - intellectually - rewarding hobby...

 

[AlabamaJack]

and it ain't bad for the stomach either

I was going to say, not only the taste is different but the smell is different too...

 

[MrArboc]

OK, I understand how it looks, but i wasn't trying to be a smarta$$ this time. I just wanted to explain that I didn't ingnore the q on purpose.

Anyway - back on track! Let's see som lurkers answer!

And yes. I choose the chiles according to which dish I'm cooking. I think that habaneros (prefferably orange but red is OK) is a must in my cream-based pastasauce with salami and pork. The only thing I can eat green jalapenos with is Tacos, with that combination of spices it's not half bad actually.

 

[Smokenstein]

I'm not experienced enough yet to say that I'd be able to tell certain peppers apart. I'm hoping to be able to tell between the peppers I'm growing this year and then maybe I'll be able to expand on that next year.