favorite What is your favorite Baccatum Chili and why?

I’ve only tasted chinense, annuum, and frutescens before, so I’m very excited to try baccatum and maybe pubescens in this, my first serious year.

That said, I can already tell the temptation to focus on chinense will be difficult to resist. The compact growth habit is sooo convenient, and they’ve dealt with the high heat better than anything else. It’s not like the summers are getting any cooler…
 
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From the pure taste, i find baccatums at least as good as chinense peppers. But chinenses peppers are my favorites, because i tend to find most baccatums leave a "soapy" taste on the tongue.

This is due to an aldehyte that some people taste and some note. It helps to cut the inner, white part of the pepper out, then the taste gets better.

My absolute favorite baccatum is "francos aji", sweet, very fruity, crunchy and a very exotic taste. Just a dream.

Unfortunately this pepper gets very big first and set flowers very late. In many cases too late to get a good amount of ripe fruits out of a plant.

Because of that i crossed it with lemon drop, and got a very nice faster growing hybrid. Now im trying to stabilize it over the years.
 
windchicken said:
Lol, you are right, of course…In the group I ran with, however, the DKs were several orders of magnitude more popular...

Cool, I'm glad you're growing the Guyana, and that someone has seeds available. I look forward to your impressions of it.


Thanks HS! That container is actually a resin planter from Home Depot—I believe its volume is around 25 gals or so. However, the Birgit's will get far larger than this one. In 2013 it was the variety used for the Tallest Plant Growdown—I believe Shane Carver's plant was 12 feet tall by the end of the contest. Maybe I can find a photo….

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HAHA was this a plant in one of the ‘largest pepper plant‘ competitions years back? This is just too great! EDIT: I see it was in the “Tallest Plant Growdown!”
 
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Peruvian Sweet Red Aji for me.. Perfect heat, fruity in a different way from the citrusy ones. I haven't tried many of the varieties yet, but this one really stuck out for me. Wish it had an earlier season, like Challeano, but whatcha gonna do?

That Challuaruro looks great, but it seems most of the vendors in the states here have a confused version of it that doesn't go thru the same colors or end red. I see Jukka has them, but I'd like to find a true version here in the states.
 
Brazilian Starfish is my favorite Baccatum so far, and it is one of my favorite peppers to snack on straight off the plant as well. It has a very sweet and fruity flavor. The burn is mild enough to be pleasant, but still spicy enough to remind you that you are eating a pepper. Approximately Serrano level heat, I would say. Aji Rainforest also has an excellent sweet and fruity flavor that is similar to the Starfish, but I really like the unique look of the Starfish pods, so it takes the top spot for me.
 
Chewi said:
HAHA was this a plant in one of the ‘largest pepper plant‘ competitions years back? This is just too great! EDIT: I see it was in the “Tallest Plant Growdown!”
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It was originally a competition to grow the tallest plant and after @wayright stopped participating here it was turned into most productive or heaviest yield. Shane did take the title nearly every year if I am not mistaken.

Edit: Thanks! This post made me go back and flip through that thread. That guy staked his around the inside of his porch,haha...actually pretty brilliant idea. This hobby/industry was really great before the flat bill,bro culture and the social media explosion that made it a you owe me scene. Tons of subterfuge and thievery over pepper seeds??? It was way more fun and there were meaningful connections back then.
 
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Good point, I think it still is a great hobby and pretty much just went underground. Maybe after dude bro gets his kicks and the fad fades more peeps will come back around. FB really ruined things too. Dude bros on FB lol, a curse on society.
 
I have to say I do love baccatums. For me, Brazillian Starfish, Ecuadorian Sweet, Amarillos, African Piquant, Sugar Rush Peach are all up there. If I had to choose a favorite among those Brazillian Starfish would have to take the title.
 
mlh5953 said:
Inca Red Drop.
Sadly, it's the only Baccatum that doesn't taste like soap to me.
And I've tried quite a few.
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Do you recall if that IRD is deciduous? Pretty sure I have a few seeds for it, but never grown it out. How would you describe the flavor, if you had to relate to another fruit, outside of peppers? And have you tried the Peruvian Sweet Red? Absolutely fruity, reminds me of a chewing gum I had as a kid or something, and I didn't get any of the 'soapy' after-notes like I do with LemonDrop or others.. Doesn't even really taste like a citrus flavor to me, unlike the others I've had.
 
CraftyFox said:
Do you recall if that IRD is deciduous? Pretty sure I have a few seeds for it, but never grown it out. How would you describe the flavor, if you had to relate to another fruit, outside of peppers? And have you tried the Peruvian Sweet Red? Absolutely fruity, reminds me of a chewing gum I had as a kid or something, and I didn't get any of the 'soapy' after-notes like I do with LemonDrop or others.. Doesn't even really taste like a citrus flavor to me, unlike the others I've had.
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Not sure if it is deciduous, I don't over-winter my plants, so have never observed their full year habits.
As far as taste goes, to me the fully ripe pod has a slight Scuppernong Grape taste when I first bite into it.
But hey, I'm the guy that thinks most of them have a soapy taste!
 
mlh5953 said:
Not sure if it is deciduous, I don't over-winter my plants, so have never observed their full year habits.
As far as taste goes, to me the fully ripe pod has a slight Scuppernong Grape taste when I first bite into it.
But hey, I'm the guy that thinks most of them have a soapy taste!
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My error.. I meant to ask if the it had deciduous fruits. Do they come clean easily off the pedicel when ripe, or does it usually come with it?

I was going to say I had never had that grape, but then I looked it up.. I've definitely had my share of those. Interesting little ride down information lane ending up at Roanoke Island, and the 'Mother Vine'. Thanks for that! Ever been to see it?
 
CraftyFox said:
My error.. I meant to ask if the it had deciduous fruits. Do they come clean easily off the pedicel when ripe, or does it usually come with it?

I was going to say I had never had that grape, but then I looked it up.. I've definitely had my share of those. Interesting little ride down information lane ending up at Roanoke Island, and the 'Mother Vine'. Thanks for that! Ever been to see it?
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The pods almost never come away clean; so I guess the answer is 'no'.
I've been to Manteo many times over the years, but didn't know about the 'Mother Vine'.
It'll be on my to-do list for my next visit (hopefully next month).
 
I highly recommend Peruviano Arancio. Very thick walled, almost like bell peppers. Very crunchy and juicy. And hot. Not as hot as Aji Cito, but still, one of the hottest baccatums IMO. And very heavy producer. Definitely worth trying.
 

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Sounds good for pickling some rings.
 
For now it is Sugar Rush Peach, because she's so tasty, not too spicy, and gave me so many pods to look at when others were slacking. And the color is just different from what I grew. It grew bushier than others, way smaller but when pods started to appear there were so many so close together it was really taking me places everytime I was looking at her. Sure, they were ripening later but not as late as Sugar Rush Stripey 😂
Which I didn't yet taste. I am sure it is similar in taste and colors are even more different but there is somethin in that Peach I really like.
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