hows everybody doin. its been awhile since i dropped in...school, vacation and way too much work. ive been reviewing peppers, both hot and sweet over at another forum, and i was so impressed with this one that i just had to post it here too.
this is gold bullet, a c. chinense variety that i first encountered when reading a post from pepperhead212 on the forums at idigmygarden.com. he had posted a picture of his latest harvest, with probably a dozen different varieties all in one pic. these were the ones that caught my eye, and i asked him for more info on them. turns out they are a copyrighted variety owned by the redwood city seed company at ecoseeds.com. the price they had at the time for these seeds was quite steep, but pepperhead was kind enough to send me not only a whole bunch of seeds, but some peppers as well. as soon as they came in the mail i put them to use in some salsa and also tried eating a whole one as well. it immediately became my favorite pepper of the year, even better than the orange or caribbean red habaneros that i was growing. so i decided i had to grow several plants this year.
ive got 3 or 4 plants, but only one has been fruiting lately and man has it been fruiting. the others have recently started flowering, but i have picked about 40 pods off the other plant this past weekend. to test the flavor quality, i put 20 of them into a bowl of salsa the other day, and ate a whole pepper to see how the heat is.
this pepper has a small plant, at least all of mine are, and they are being grown in pots so that may be why. the leaves are smaller than that of the habanero, and form a nice globe shape rather than turning tree-like like some other peppers do. when this thing gets loaded with all the little yellow pods, its hard to think of any pepper plant that would make a better ornamental. and it does get loaded....when this thing started setting fruit, i couldnt believe how many little tiny pods there were all over the plant, and they havent let up. the seller claims that one plant has the potential to produce 1000 pods in a single season. i think if this was growing in a more suitable zone, it definitely would, but i can see this plant easily putting off 300 pods before its done. so if you want a pretty plant, or a plant that will make you feel like a great gardener without even trying, this is the plant for you.
the pepper itself is not impressive if youre looking for a pepper with some size to it. each pod is an inch or less. i havent had any get bigger than that. they have a bullet shape to them, hence the name, and a nice bright yellow color, that can get to a slightly darker orangish color if it stays on the plant a little longer.
the flavor: this is a great little pepper, but if you try eating a whole one, it doesnt give you much time to catch the taste before the heat takes over and starts bombarding your tongue with an overload of capsaicin. the best way to catch the flavor when eating the pepper by itself is to take a light nibble of the very tip of it. you will still get the heat, but you at least have a good 10 or 15 seconds to enjoy the amazing taste before it sets in, whereas eating the whole pod, even with the core removed, gives you about 3-5 seconds before your mouth sets on fire. the taste is extremely sweet and fruity. think orange habanero but about 4x sweeter and fruitier, with a very tropical fruit taste to it. it reminds me of guava but with a hint of a pineapple taste at the same time.
the heat: this is the hottest pepper i have tasted this year. it sets in very quickly, but builds slowly, then reaches the high point and stays there for about 3 minutes. during this point, you can feel your heart rate soar, sweat beads may start forming, and for me there was a pounding sensation in the back of my head and at the temples as well. the good thing is that the heat has a very abrupt end, just like habaneros. it will be at the highpoint and then suddenly drop off like nothing happened. i was able to withstand the heat through the whole 3 minutes without running for milk, but it was painful....mind you that was with the core removed....im sure it would have been a different story with the core intact.
heat: 18/25
taste: 10/10
salsa rating: 10/10 ......this pepper is great in a fruity salsa. i used only 4 tomatoes, 4 tomatillos, 20 gold bullets, 6 cloves of garlic, a half a sweet onion, half a bunch of cilantro, and pineapple and mango, each measure of those was about the size of a tomato. i grilled the peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos, garlic and onion then put them in the blender. mango and pineapple go in raw, with skins removed. use half a grapefruit for the citrus, and add a little salt. the mango and pineapple really bring out this peppers great flavor while at the same time somehow reducing the potency of its heat. goes great on fish tacos.
use: in the salsa described above. it would also be great in a marinade with pork or chicken, and i plan on seeing how it does with cochinita pibil, because i think it will be better than the regular orange habaneros weve used in the past.
5 glasses of milk out of 5
this is gold bullet, a c. chinense variety that i first encountered when reading a post from pepperhead212 on the forums at idigmygarden.com. he had posted a picture of his latest harvest, with probably a dozen different varieties all in one pic. these were the ones that caught my eye, and i asked him for more info on them. turns out they are a copyrighted variety owned by the redwood city seed company at ecoseeds.com. the price they had at the time for these seeds was quite steep, but pepperhead was kind enough to send me not only a whole bunch of seeds, but some peppers as well. as soon as they came in the mail i put them to use in some salsa and also tried eating a whole one as well. it immediately became my favorite pepper of the year, even better than the orange or caribbean red habaneros that i was growing. so i decided i had to grow several plants this year.
ive got 3 or 4 plants, but only one has been fruiting lately and man has it been fruiting. the others have recently started flowering, but i have picked about 40 pods off the other plant this past weekend. to test the flavor quality, i put 20 of them into a bowl of salsa the other day, and ate a whole pepper to see how the heat is.
this pepper has a small plant, at least all of mine are, and they are being grown in pots so that may be why. the leaves are smaller than that of the habanero, and form a nice globe shape rather than turning tree-like like some other peppers do. when this thing gets loaded with all the little yellow pods, its hard to think of any pepper plant that would make a better ornamental. and it does get loaded....when this thing started setting fruit, i couldnt believe how many little tiny pods there were all over the plant, and they havent let up. the seller claims that one plant has the potential to produce 1000 pods in a single season. i think if this was growing in a more suitable zone, it definitely would, but i can see this plant easily putting off 300 pods before its done. so if you want a pretty plant, or a plant that will make you feel like a great gardener without even trying, this is the plant for you.
the pepper itself is not impressive if youre looking for a pepper with some size to it. each pod is an inch or less. i havent had any get bigger than that. they have a bullet shape to them, hence the name, and a nice bright yellow color, that can get to a slightly darker orangish color if it stays on the plant a little longer.
the flavor: this is a great little pepper, but if you try eating a whole one, it doesnt give you much time to catch the taste before the heat takes over and starts bombarding your tongue with an overload of capsaicin. the best way to catch the flavor when eating the pepper by itself is to take a light nibble of the very tip of it. you will still get the heat, but you at least have a good 10 or 15 seconds to enjoy the amazing taste before it sets in, whereas eating the whole pod, even with the core removed, gives you about 3-5 seconds before your mouth sets on fire. the taste is extremely sweet and fruity. think orange habanero but about 4x sweeter and fruitier, with a very tropical fruit taste to it. it reminds me of guava but with a hint of a pineapple taste at the same time.
the heat: this is the hottest pepper i have tasted this year. it sets in very quickly, but builds slowly, then reaches the high point and stays there for about 3 minutes. during this point, you can feel your heart rate soar, sweat beads may start forming, and for me there was a pounding sensation in the back of my head and at the temples as well. the good thing is that the heat has a very abrupt end, just like habaneros. it will be at the highpoint and then suddenly drop off like nothing happened. i was able to withstand the heat through the whole 3 minutes without running for milk, but it was painful....mind you that was with the core removed....im sure it would have been a different story with the core intact.
heat: 18/25
taste: 10/10
salsa rating: 10/10 ......this pepper is great in a fruity salsa. i used only 4 tomatoes, 4 tomatillos, 20 gold bullets, 6 cloves of garlic, a half a sweet onion, half a bunch of cilantro, and pineapple and mango, each measure of those was about the size of a tomato. i grilled the peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos, garlic and onion then put them in the blender. mango and pineapple go in raw, with skins removed. use half a grapefruit for the citrus, and add a little salt. the mango and pineapple really bring out this peppers great flavor while at the same time somehow reducing the potency of its heat. goes great on fish tacos.
use: in the salsa described above. it would also be great in a marinade with pork or chicken, and i plan on seeing how it does with cochinita pibil, because i think it will be better than the regular orange habaneros weve used in the past.
5 glasses of milk out of 5
