flavor What would be your Greatest Hits of pepper flavors?

Nef

Nef

So I'm not new to hot peppers or growing them but over the last 15ish years I've only been able to grow the most common peppers that I've found locally, like Jalapenos, Orange Habaneros, Reapers, Scotch Bonnets and Fataliis. What I plan on doing is growing a variety of different peppers next year to get an overview of flavors. My question is what would you recommend planting to create like a flight or greatest hits, regardless of heat levels?

I basically have unlimited space but I would like to try and keep it focused to maybe 20 plants or less. Or more if that's just the way it is. Then once I have my bearings I can focus more on the ones I like or can try to cross them to make something. Many thanks in advance!
 
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how many can we pick? :lol:

Not a definitive list because I'll remember something else I grew this year that I really liked
Black Hungarians
Jamaicans
Jalapeno
Kiss of the Raven
Serrano
Pink Habs
Fatali
Inek boynuzu
Peppapeach
SRS
MOA Bonnets
Kashmiri
Espelette
Fruit Burst Habs
 
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Nef said:
So I'm not new to hot peppers or growing them but over the last 15ish years I've only been able to grow the most common peppers that I've found locally, like Jalapenos, Orange Habaneros, Reapers, Scotch Bonnets and Fataliis. What I plan on doing is growing a variety of different peppers next year to get an overview of flavors. My question is what would you recommend planting to create like a flight or greatest hits, regardless of heat levels?

I basically have unlimited space but I would like to try and keep it focused to maybe 20 plants or less. Or more if that's just the way it is. Then once I have my bearings I can focus more on the ones I like or can try to cross them to make something. Many thanks in advance!
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Hi. The question before the answer is: what flavor profile do you like?

If you give examples of flavors you like it will be easier to help you.
 
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I grew aji fantasy this year for the first time. I really liked the flavor fresh but struggled on how to use them. I ended up drying and making one of the most amazing powders. The powder leaves a sweet taste and is very aromatic with medium heat.
It might be one to try.
 
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Brown jalapeño:
very mild even for a Jalapeño, but the smoky flavor is incredible!

Tangerine TS:
It’s a cross of the paper lantern x carbonero I believe. The flavor literally tastes like a tangerine. No joke, like a real tangerine!

Sugar rush peach:
Prolific growth with juicy thick walled pods. Not too hot.

Ghost:
The OG of peppers. Great smoky flavor not too sweet.

Aji pineapple:
Like an Aji lemon drop only better.

KSLS (lemon starburst):
They have a nice lemonade like flavor to them and they are great producers.
 
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Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it! I have a few that I definitely want to grow that I'm going to add to the list I make here. Those are yellow scotch brains, white ghost and chocolate primotalii (just for fun). I'm also over-wintering scotch bonnets and fataliis and I'm definitely going to get an earlier start next year so hopefully I get more production.
 
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Agree with so many of these posts. I would say find your peak level of heat and go with things in that range. With the 40+ varieties I grow every year (approx 550 pepper plants - and around 16,000 hot peppers a year) I have staples every year that I have to have. I always have around 5 new varieties each year to try. If I like them (flavor/heat) and they are prolific - I'll grow again. I've liked a bunch that didn't do well for me for some reason - and others that have. Wife likes the Thai Dragon, Jalapeno and Serrano in many dishes so those are always in there somewhere. Can't go wrong with those.

Jalapeno, Serrano, Orange Habanero, Caribbean Red, Cayenne, Thai Dragon, Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Moruga every year...
Some I've found and love:
Datil - citrusy-lemon flavored habanero level heat
Aji Pineapple - was new this year. love taste on this one like the Lemon Drop (mentioned above) but even better
Atomic Starfish - bizarre sweetness on outside of this gem to serrano type level heat. Literally tastes like Starburst.
Any Scotch Bonnet (at least of those I've tried)
Red Savina - another hotter than Habanero but excellent

Just pick some - and enjoy :) I hope to try the Sugar Rush Peach next year (I see mentioned above - have heard good things on that one)
 
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While reading this tread there were a lot of peppers going trough my mind. A lot of chinense came to mind like Adjumas, Bonnets, goats, carribean reds etc. But after reading the last two posts above i started wondering, what if... you were to be send to some island and you could only take one pepper variety with you... 😮
I immediately ditched all the chinense and it's now a tie between cayenne and red thai peppers!

The island is like a nice tropical island ofcourse not freakin' Nova Zembla or something! 🥶
 
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I was tired when I first read it, lacking sleep and skipping words as I read, ruminating on goats, carribean, island, lonely... 😶‍🌫️

Anyway, interesting question that I haven't been able to answer, although it won't be a superhot - which I prefer for taste - but rather an annuum, which generally are more versatile for my type of cooking. Bird's eye pepper...
 
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Lol. If I was being stranded with just one pepper it likely would be the Cayenne (even though would still be tough call!). That was the pepper that started me down this crazy path to begin with. SO many health benefits for getting Cayenne Peppers in your diet. :)
 
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Tough question here because there are so many choices! Among the ones I've tried here is my core roster, which comes up year after year.

C. annuum
Zulu: Dark red, blocky Bell type with thick and crunchy walls and a little bit of heat
Tasmanian Black: Productive, also crunchy and not too hot with a nice smoky flavor

C. baccatum
Aji Ahuachapan: Productive AF (but needs a longer season) and pods taste like tangerine (just as Jeff said above about Tangerine TS), not soapy at all!
Aji Habanero: Abundant, crunchy, very sweet and almost heatless peppers that ripen quite early compared to other baccatum.
Aji Fantasy White: Almost heatless peppers too, sweet with a nice fruity taste (hard to describe).
Sugar Rush Amarillo: A new favorite of mine; heavy and thick walled fruit, tropical flavor to the fullest and sweeeeeet! Il also needs a longer season.

C. chinense
CGN21500 x Barrackpore: IMO the perfect match between taste and good heat level (between Habs and Ghost I'd say) but productivity is far from impressive...
Bih Jolokia caramel: High productivity with decent size pods that makes a very tasty powder
7 Pot Nebru: Unrivaled tropical flavor that seems to last forever and you can even taste it while your face is melting (yeah, it is hot!).
Any mustard variety that doesn’t have typical that grassy/chlorophyll taste!
DOx a crosse that I'm currently working on😎
 
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Okay so here is the semi-final list:
Atomic Starfish
Chocolate Primotalii
Scotch Bonnet
Tasmanian Black
7 Pot Nebru
Bhut Jolokia (maybe peach?)
Yellow Scotch Brain
Brown jalapeño
bahamian goat
Datil

I still feel like I'm missing something, maybe something green? The hard part is going to be finding all of these, hopefully someone has them all in place but I'm seeing a lot that are out of stock. Might be an Ebay adventure. Anyways thanks again for all the help, I'll definitely update this post on how they're coming along and turn out.
 
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Nef said:
Might be an Ebay adventure.
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Be careful who you buy seeds from on Ebay or Amazon. There are a bunch of reputable seed suppliers listed in this thread: https://thehotpepper.com/threads/seed-suppliers.77439/#post-1781622
 
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