Our Peppers

Family: C. chinense

Origin: Peru

Scoville: 30,000 - 100,000

Selling for very high prices to Lima’s best chefs, this pepper is the most expensive in the world! The north Peruvian jungle native has a distinct fruity, citrus aroma and is equal in heat to a cayenne pepper. Due to its rarity and hefty prices, it is often known as the "Mother of All Chilis" and is very hard to source outside of Peru.

Family: C. baccatum

Origin: Chile

Scoville: 30,000 - 50,000

Aji Cristal peppers are small, spicy chili peppers native to Curico, Chile with a bodacious blend of citrusy flavor and heat. The most common use for Aji Cristal peppers is for making a famous Chilean condiment called "Pebre". Pebre is Chile’s answer to pico de gallo, and is quite delicious, made with peppers, olive oil, garlic and cilantro.

Family: C. baccatum

Origin: Peru

Scoville: 100,000 - 150,000

Aji Mango pepper have a beautiful mango fruit aroma to them along with that recognizable Amarillo flavor. It's a different kind of fruitiness from other chiles: less sharp and harsh, more full-bodied, and a lot more subtle. These flavorful, spicy peppers are great in South American dishes.

Family: C. chinense

Origin: Italy

Scoville: 1,200,000 - 2,000,000

This ugly, but beautiful warted fruit is one of the world's hottest peppers. Developed over 5 grueling years for intense heat by the Italian Pepper Lovers Association, this super hot scorpion type pepper has a sweet and fruity (almost floral) flavor if you can get past the extreme heat.

Family: C. annuum

Origin: Hungary

Scoville: 2,500

'Black Hungarian' is rare and colorful old Hungarian heirloom from the town of Kiskenfelegyhaza. Unique, black-colored fruits are the shape of a Jalapeño and have a sweet berry-fruit like flavor once they ripen to a vivid red color.

Family: C. annuum

Origin: Pennsylvania, USA

Scoville: 30,000 - 50,000

This cayenne-type pepper was saved through generations, leading back to Horace Pippin, an artist living in Pennsylvania in the early 1920s. In the 1940s, he traded seeds from his friends in the Black catering communities of Philly and Baltimore in exchange for bee sting therapy for a friend's WWI arm injury.

Family: C. chinense

Origin: Central Africa

Scoville: 125,000 - 400,000

The flesh is delicately thin, with a pleasant citrus flavor that makes it lovely in ceviche and even better paired with fruit, as in a mango salsa. Though the pepper's name likely reflects its central African origins, the word "fatal" seems to be in there for a reason—these are twice as hot as habaneros.

Family: C. chinense

Origin: Brazil

Scoville: 10,000 - 30,000

Fidalgo Roxa is a rare "Roxa" variety with a rich, fruity flavor that originates in Brazil but can be found in other South American countries. These peppers like to put on a show—starting out deep purple then turning nearly peach in color when fully ripe.

Family: C. annuum

Origin: Mexico

Scoville: 4,000 - 8,500

The jalapeño is a Mexican chili but was designated by the Texas Legislature as the official "State Pepper of Texas" in 1995. In Mexico, jalapeños are used in many forms such as in salsa, pico de gallo, or grilled jalapeños. Jalapeños were included as food on the Space Shuttle as early as 1982.

Family: C. annuum

Origin: New Mexico, USA

Scoville: 3,000 - 5,000

The New Mexico 6-4 Heritage chile pepper was developed around 1998 at New Mexico State University from the frozen seeds of the original New Mexico 6-4. The reengineering of the pepper by Dr. Paul Bosland resulted in more flavor and improved yield. In New Mexico chile peppers are a food, not a spice.

Family: C. annuum

Origin: Mexico

Scoville: 1,000 - 1,500

The Poblano Chile originated in Puebla, Mexico, a region in the heart of the country. It is said to have grown wild in the mountainous areas near Puebla producing large mild fruits that are nearly heart shaped. They are often roasted and peeled when cooking with them, or dried. When dried, they are called ancho chilis.

Family: C. chinense

Origin: Italy

Scoville: 300,000 - 400,000

Dark deep purple foliage and flushing on the fruits make this dramatic plant stand out among pepper varieties. This relatively new variety is most likely a cross-breed between Pimenta de Neyde and a Habanero golden. Ripening from purple-green trough to yellow.

Family: C. baccatum

Origin: Wales

Scoville: 50,000 - 150,000

The long, peach-colored fruit is packed with loads of tropical flavor, and the seeds bring a smoky, complex heat. This variety was bred by hot pepper prodigy Chris Fowler of Wales. Chris credits this amazing variety as being a happy accident courtesy of adventurous pollinating insects buzzing between various varieties of Capsicum baccatum, or Aji peppers.

Family: C. annuum

Origin: New Hampshire, USA

Scoville: 0

Sweet Chocolate Pepper Seeds were developed by Elwyn Meader and introduced by the University of New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station in 1965. This is a bell-style beauty that ripens from green to a dark chocolate purple and deep red inside.