A recent topic posted by someone else asking about some Green Habanero "variety" reminded me of this, which I never asked before. I think it's obvious to most people (at least around here) that peppers are useful at any stage in their life, ripe or unripe, and theoretically at any size that is useful, but most people seem to pick them when they're about full size or start changing color at least (if not fully changed in color). But did anyone ever pop a real small, extremely young habanero in their mouth? I mean one that's literally not much bigger than a pea (yeah, I know--crazy idea, at that size they're really not that useful). I recall doing this with a couple these last two year I've been growing, and while sometimes I'm not surprised (ie. it tastes "peppery" and already has a bit of heat), I've tried a couple that tasted like... peas?! [literally, and with no heat] No doubt, these must have been some of the youngest of the youngest peppers on the plant, and I have to admit... they tasted absolutely nothing like any habanero (let alone any other pepper) that I've ever tasted. Yet still tasted good.
I wouldn't make a practice of picking such small peppers (I usually wait at least several days after fully ripe to pick if I can), but it was interesting. I noticed anything from no heat to a small amount of heat to a relatively impressive amount of heat based on very small increments of size. Similarly, not surprising at all, the heat also noticeably increased with each increment in size.
I wouldn't make a practice of picking such small peppers (I usually wait at least several days after fully ripe to pick if I can), but it was interesting. I noticed anything from no heat to a small amount of heat to a relatively impressive amount of heat based on very small increments of size. Similarly, not surprising at all, the heat also noticeably increased with each increment in size.
