‘Ghost Pepper’ Recognized As Hottest In The World

Wikipedia lists the 'Ghost Pepper' (Bhut Jolokia) as THE HOTTEST PEPPER IN THE WORLD, according to Guinness.

Last night, employees of Townsquare Media were invited to Willie and Michelle Lim's home for a get-together, and halfway through the night, Willie asks if we want some extra "umph" in our meal.  The boss man and I both said yes, so a (very evil) grin comes across Willie's face, and he reaches for the cabinet, and pulls a container labeled "Flour".

I can tell by the way my eyes watered when he opened the container that it wasn't flour!  There was a tiny spoon in the container of pepper (which looked similar to ground red pepper), so I took a tiny bit of that powder and sprinkled it onto my food.

As I was going to take my first bite, I asked Willie why they call it 'ghost pepper'.  He replied (after I had taken my first bite): "Well, you know that Habanero peppers are hot, right?  They come in on the Scoville scale at up to 350,000 (jules of heat, I think).  The 'ghost pepper' hits that scale between 1 million and 1,300,000.  And when someone eats it, they soon disappear!".

I was about to laugh when the pepper 'hit'.  When it did hit, it was like 6 dump trucks full of burning embers had been dumped into my mouth, with a flamethrower chaser.

The flavor was exquisite (much like extreme pain is exquisite), and the tears were both tears of pain and tears of "how could I be so stupid as to put something called 'ghost pepper' into my mouth".

The boss man had tears in his eyes, too, and he hadn't even tried his food yet (he was crying from laughing at me).  After he tried the pepper on his food, he was able to fight the tears, but his face turned redder than the pepper.

After that point, we must have continued to drink, because one of our friends took a WHOLE pepper and bit off a piece.  He immediately teared up, turned red, and asked if both of his lips were still attached to his face.

These things are strong!  (But, I can honestly say, they do have a decent flavor!)

Anyway, try them at your own risk, but please don't get any on your fingers, or you'll pay for it later....

Want to grow your own?  Go here!

(Via Wiki and ghostchilipeppers)