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The hottest pepper thing as a gateway?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Does it seem like the hottest pepper thing gets old at a point?  It is a cool novelty and all.  But it just seems like it wouln't hold a persons attention for long.  I do love heat, but the hotter a pepper is the less you can use in food and remain comfortable.  Less pepper generally means less flavor.  With a lot of the super hots, I cut them open, gut them, an flush with water so I can use and taste more of the pepper.
 
The other thing that I am really hooked on are the shapes and colors.  With color, it is almost like I have to complete a set.  Like with the Carolina Reaper, I understand Pepper Lover will be releasing a white soon.  Reaper is not at the top of my list for flavor, but a white one?  Ye, gotta grow it.  Then there is the shape of various peppers.  Bishops crown is just frigging cool looking. 
 
You dont see much press for best color, shape, or flavor.  So I wounder if maybe the hottest pepper in the world thing isn't kind of like a gateway topic / entry point to the world of pepper addiction?
 
Best is too subjective. Since heat can be measured, it seems like the only way to really compete and it not come down to preference.

Aside from a love of spice, the Reaper is what got me started. Before that, the hottest pepper I had tried was nasty ass orange habs. After a friend got one from his boss for me, I started looking it up and saw how varied peppers really are.

And yeah hottest doesn't mean best. It seems like most pepper lovers' favorites hover between 400k and 700k SHU. Ed would be wise to breed the Reaper down to that range so more people can enjoy them.
 
Taste is the most important part for me, Habs are what I find personally great balance of heat and taste, not interested in the heat Fab. Ghost etc I find good for boosting the heat in dishes that blunt the heat.
 
Pretty much any serious chile head will want to get a hold of the "new hottness" at some point when it comes along, even if only to taste once.

As a casual observation of this group in general, most have gone the route of flavour + heat.

It seems to be the general population that drives the obsession with hottest.
Drop a bit of whatever has gained widespread recognition as the hottest in whatever product, and it makes people feel that they are badass.
 
You'd be surprised how many people not obseesed like we are that bring things up in conversation like Pepper X etc.
 
Ghaleon, i used to feel the same way about habs because of what I'd had from the grocery store.  Now I love them.  Not so much the boring smooth yellow ones, but even those are much better than the grocery store.  Have you grown your own yet?  Might be like finding an old girlfriend on facebook and figuring out you have been in love since high school.
 
Edmuck, yes it is but it is a secret.  We dont want new folk killing themselves for not knowing about the frozen yogurt treatment.

Hotpepper, about folk bringing up Pepper X yep... that is what got me to thinking.  Neighbors, folk at fair, and the likes know we have a pepper farm.  So anytime anything is in the news, they ask if I have heard about it.  I try to grow the latest news makers knowing folk want them.  But I am far more excited about things like what I got in trade from a THP member in Croatia this year.  Anything I have to translate, now that is cool.
 
Extreme peppers as the gateway is like meth to pot lol...... but sure it's a gateway, to hell! :hell:
 
Oh yeah! Speaking of habaneros, I was looking through your Coming Soon list and I'm very intrigued by the purple habaneros!
 
Been there done that super hot pepper eating macho thing that stopped a couple years ago with eating a reaper with my brother, it totally wrecked him with severe cramps and puking and he had trouble sleeping that night from all the side effects. My stomach was wrecked but not like his and it was very painful. We worked our way up from orange habs that when I first ate one I puked lol. Then it went to the Red Savina, ghost , butch t , trinidad moruga and finally the reaper. I no longer eat peppers whole like that anymore and I've settled in with peppers like Rocotto's and various habs like choc's, Caribbean reds,  scotch bonnets for heat and flavor. I'm really enjoying the Aji family if I had to pick one variety it would be that family of peppers for sure. 
 
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