Can we question the sales literature and urban legend for a moment? No insult to the folk at Puckerbutt, they came up with something fine. But there seems to be a great deal of information that just doesn't make sense about how they came up with it. I am NOT saying that false information comes from them. I am wondering if there is not some insane degree of urban legend and internet experts contributing to the missinformation.
Is it a cross breed of two different pappers or a refinement / selective breeding of a single type of pepper. Maybe the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion or one in its line. Maybe a further refinement of Butch T?
Lets look at some of the claims... Again, not from Puckerbutt.
Its dna can be traced back to China? - Virtually every reference agrees the thing is a cultivar of Capsicum chinese. What most people do not know is that the term has nothing to do with China. Capsicum chinese is an entirely New World variety of plant. It was MISTAKENLY called chinese when initially classified by people who could barely agree the world was round.
Naga x Red Savina - The Wikipedia page for the Carolina Reaper says it was initially created by crossing a red naga pepper with a Red Savina. Various other sources say it was a Pakistan Naga and Red Savina. The Wikipedia page gives reference to Puckerbutt, but the information does not seem to be at the Puckerbutt site.
What is a Red Naga? - Usually we are talking Naga Morich, Dorset Naga, and even some of the hybrids. Genitically different than Ghost Pepper, but in that same 1,000,000 shu range. Some have shown much higher peaks, but the average is mostly around a million SHU. They tend to have the look of a Ghost Pepper.
What is Red Savina? - It is a selectively bred cultivar of Habanero which peaks around 600,000 shu.
So lets sum up
According to Internet lore, the Carolina Reaper is so pure that its DNA can be traced all the way back to China despite being native to the Americas.
Accordign to Internet lore, the folk at Puckerbutt previously created 600, or was it 6000 different unique peppers before they created the Carolina Reaper. Either number seems impossible. Obviously someone is making some things up, but how much?
According to Internet lore, the Carolina Reaper was initially created by crossing a Red Naga which it does not look or taste like and peaks at 1,000,000 shu wtih a Red Savina which it does not look or taste like and has an even lower shu.
Although most of the literature incudes photos of peppers wtih that signiture skiney tail, many who have grown Puckerbutt seeds have noticed that is not the norm. Many grown from Puckerbutt seeds look, smell, and taste much more like something from the Scorpion line.
Again: I am not saying Puckerbutt is lying. I cant find anywhere that they said it was the cross that urban lore says it was. I am wondering if maybe, like the Butch T, we are speaking about selective breeding rather than cross breeding.
Just kind of a hmmmmmmm....
And again, not saying any false claims were made by the folk at Puckerbutt. Even the Wikipedia link to the cross breed information at the Puckerbutt site does not make the claims. No clue where these rumors have come from.
Is it a cross breed of two different pappers or a refinement / selective breeding of a single type of pepper. Maybe the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion or one in its line. Maybe a further refinement of Butch T?
Lets look at some of the claims... Again, not from Puckerbutt.
Its dna can be traced back to China? - Virtually every reference agrees the thing is a cultivar of Capsicum chinese. What most people do not know is that the term has nothing to do with China. Capsicum chinese is an entirely New World variety of plant. It was MISTAKENLY called chinese when initially classified by people who could barely agree the world was round.
Naga x Red Savina - The Wikipedia page for the Carolina Reaper says it was initially created by crossing a red naga pepper with a Red Savina. Various other sources say it was a Pakistan Naga and Red Savina. The Wikipedia page gives reference to Puckerbutt, but the information does not seem to be at the Puckerbutt site.
What is a Red Naga? - Usually we are talking Naga Morich, Dorset Naga, and even some of the hybrids. Genitically different than Ghost Pepper, but in that same 1,000,000 shu range. Some have shown much higher peaks, but the average is mostly around a million SHU. They tend to have the look of a Ghost Pepper.
What is Red Savina? - It is a selectively bred cultivar of Habanero which peaks around 600,000 shu.
So lets sum up
According to Internet lore, the Carolina Reaper is so pure that its DNA can be traced all the way back to China despite being native to the Americas.
Accordign to Internet lore, the folk at Puckerbutt previously created 600, or was it 6000 different unique peppers before they created the Carolina Reaper. Either number seems impossible. Obviously someone is making some things up, but how much?
According to Internet lore, the Carolina Reaper was initially created by crossing a Red Naga which it does not look or taste like and peaks at 1,000,000 shu wtih a Red Savina which it does not look or taste like and has an even lower shu.
Although most of the literature incudes photos of peppers wtih that signiture skiney tail, many who have grown Puckerbutt seeds have noticed that is not the norm. Many grown from Puckerbutt seeds look, smell, and taste much more like something from the Scorpion line.
Again: I am not saying Puckerbutt is lying. I cant find anywhere that they said it was the cross that urban lore says it was. I am wondering if maybe, like the Butch T, we are speaking about selective breeding rather than cross breeding.
Just kind of a hmmmmmmm....
And again, not saying any false claims were made by the folk at Puckerbutt. Even the Wikipedia link to the cross breed information at the Puckerbutt site does not make the claims. No clue where these rumors have come from.
