Bishop's Crown vs Lemon Drop: Pickle or Citrus Heat
These are both Capsicum baccatum peppers, but they pull in different directions. Bishop's Crown gives you more flesh for pickling or stuffing and runs about 5,000-30,000 SHU. Lemon Drop carries similar top-end heat at 15,000-30,000 SHU, then pushes harder on citrus and thin-walled sauce heat.
Comparison Contributor·Updated Jun 30, 2026·
Reviewed by
Karen Liu
Quick Comparison
Bishop's Crown measures 5K–30K SHU while Lemon Drop registers 15K–30K SHU. Their upper SHU ranges are close enough to treat as the same heat bracket. Bishop's Crown is known for its fruity and sweet flavor (C. baccatum), while Lemon Drop offers citrusy and bright notes (C. baccatum).
Bishop's Crown
5K–30K SHU
Hot · fruity and sweet
Lemon Drop
15K–30K SHU
Hot · citrusy and bright
Species: Both are C. baccatum
Best for: Bishop's Crown excels in everyday cooking and salsas, Lemon Drop in fresh salsas and mild recipes
These peppers overlap more than the old labels suggest. Bishop's Crown usually runs 5,000-30,000 SHU. Lemon Drop sits around 15,000-30,000 SHU. Lemon Drop is not always vastly hotter, but it delivers heat faster because the walls are thin and the citrus note rides right on top of it.
With Bishop's Crown, heat can feel milder at first because more flesh comes with every bite. Seeded rings can land close to sweet-pepper territory, then a hotter pod surprises you later.
If you want a cleaner family reference, both sit inside the Capsicum baccatum group, but they use that family heat very differently.
Few peppers stop people mid-row in the garden the way the Bishop's Crown does.
Lemon Drop
15K–30K SHU
citrusybright
C. baccatum
Long before it appeared in specialty seed catalogs, the lemon drop was a staple of Peruvian markets under the name ají amarillo de la selva or simply mirasol amarillo - though it is distinct from the more famous ají amarillo pepper grown across the Andes.
Bishop's Crown leans sweet, fruity, and a little tangy. Lemon Drop leans sharp, lemony, and brighter.
That difference changes acid balance. Lemon Drop can make a sauce taste as if a squeeze of citrus already went in. Bishop's Crown usually needs vinegar or lime from somewhere else if you want the same lift.
The split looks small on paper, but in the pan it is obvious. One behaves like a pepper you can stuff or pickle. The other behaves like a pepper you mince into a sauce.
Culinary Uses for Bishop's Crown and Lemon Drop
Bishop's Crown
Hot
Escabeche is where Bishop's Crown really earns its keep. The pepper's firm walls and distinct shape hold up beautifully in a quick vinegar brine, and sliced crosswise, each ring looks like a tiny stained-glass window.
The lemon drop's culinary value is almost entirely about its flavor-heat ratio. At 15,000–30,000 SHU, it delivers real heat - similar to a thin-walled dried pepper with sharp culinary bite - but the citrus character means you can use it in places where most hot peppers would simply taste like heat.
Choose Bishop's Crown for flesh, shape, and gentler fruity heat. Choose Lemon Drop for thin-walled citrus fire that can season a sauce without adding much bulk.
They are close relatives, not close replacements. Wall thickness changes the whole result.
Can You Substitute One for the Other?
Start near 1:1 by amount. The heat ranges are close enough that flavor, form, and recipe role matter more than a strict Scoville conversion.
Growing Bishop's Crown vs Lemon Drop
Growing notes
Bishop's Crown
Bishop's Crown is a rewarding garden plant, but it has specific preferences that separate thriving plants from struggling ones. Start seeds 8–10 weeks before last frost indoors.
This pepper is a natural fit for container growing. Check the practical guidance on growing peppers in containers if you are working with limited space - Bishop's Crown adapts well to 5-gallon pots or larger, and the ornamental shape makes it genuinely attractive on a patio.
For those comparing cultivation approaches, De Arbol's cultivation characteristics - its preference for heat and full sun - overlap with what Bishop's Crown needs: 6–8 hours of direct sun daily and well-draining soil with consistent moisture.
Growing notes
Lemon Drop
The hardest part of growing lemon drops is patience with fruit set. Like most baccatums, this plant grows large - often 3–4 feet tall - and will produce abundant foliage before committing to fruit.
Germination itself is straightforward at 80–85°F soil temperature, but the long 90–100 day maturity window means starting seeds indoors 10–12 weeks before last frost is not optional in most of North America. The plant needs a long season to hit its stride.
Lemon drops thrive in containers - a 5-gallon pot is the minimum, though 7–10 gallons produces noticeably larger harvests. If you're working with pots, check our container pepper guide before choosing your mix, since baccatums are sensitive to waterlogged roots.
Where They Come From
Origin & background
Bishop's Crown
Barbados · C. baccatum
Bishop's Crown traces its documented roots to Barbados, where it has been cultivated for generations under various regional names - including Joker's Hat and Christmas Bell in different parts of the world. The pepper spread through South America and into European markets, particularly Germany and Austria, where it became popular as a pickling pepper in the 20th century.
As a the baccatum species group variety, it shares ancestry with Andean peppers that date back thousands of years in South American cultivation. The distinctive shape likely emerged through generations of selection - the winged structure is unusual enough that it was probably preserved deliberately by growers who valued its ornamental character.
Origin & background
Lemon Drop
Peru · C. baccatum
Peru is the center of Capsicum baccatum diversity, and the lemon drop reflects that deep domestication history. Archaeological evidence places baccatum cultivation in the Andes going back thousands of years, with peppers traded between coastal fishing communities and highland agricultural settlements long before European contact.
The lemon drop specifically appears tied to the Peruvian pepper tradition of the northern coast and Amazon edge zones, where citrus-flavored baccatums were prized for their pairing with fresh seafood. Spanish colonizers documented bright yellow ají varieties in the 16th century, though precise cultivar records from that era are sparse.
Buying & Storage
Whether you’re shopping for Bishop's Crown or Lemon Drop, the same quality indicators apply. Fresh peppers should feel firm and heavy for their size, with taut, glossy skin and no soft or wet spots. Minor stem cracks known as “corking” are perfectly normal and often indicate a mature, flavorful pod.
Selection
What to look for
Firm pods with taut skin and consistent color
Should feel heavy relative to size
Minor stem cracks (“corking”) are normal
Avoid anything soft, shriveled, or with dark wet spots
Storage
How to store them
Fresh: Paper bag, crisper drawer, 1 to 2 weeks
Frozen: Wash, dry, freeze on sheet pan, 6+ months
Dried: Airtight and away from light, up to 1 year
Mistakes to avoid
Common misses
Bishop's Crown
Blaming the seeds. Membranes hold most capsaicin.
Adding heat too early. Capsaicin breaks down with cooking.
Not tasting individual pods. Heat varies 30%+.
Common misses
Lemon Drop
Blaming the seeds. Membranes hold most capsaicin.
Adding heat too early. Capsaicin breaks down with cooking.
Not tasting individual pods. Heat varies 30%+.
Final call
Bishop's Crown vs Lemon Drop
Bishop's Crown and Lemon Drop
sit in the same heat tier but serve different roles. Bishop's Crown delivers its distinctive fruity and sweet character.
Lemon Drop, with its citrusy and bright profile, excels in everyday cooking.
Heat gap same bracketBishop's Crown fruity and sweetLemon Drop citrusy and bright
The shape tells you the kitchen job before the first bite. Bishop's Crown gives you wings and a center cup, which is why it works for stuffing and decorative pickles.
Lemon Drop stays narrow and pointed. It wants to be sliced thin, pounded, blended, or dried, not filled.
Pickle Or Sauce
In brine, Bishop's Crown keeps more crunch and shows off its shape. Lemon Drop still pickles well, but the bigger win is sauce because the citrus note carries through oil, vinegar, and garlic.
Bishop's Crown gives you a striking patio plant and fruit that guests notice right away. Lemon Drop usually gives a longer run of thin yellow pods that are easier to dry or turn into sauce.
Garden space decides part of this choice. Grow Bishop's Crown when you want a multipurpose fresh pepper. Grow Lemon Drop when you want a steady stream of bright sauce peppers.
Ripe Buying Rule
Buy Bishop's Crown for firm walls and clean shoulders. Buy Lemon Drop when the pods are fully yellow and smell a little citrusy as soon as you cut them.
Both freeze well for cooked uses, but only Bishop's Crown really loses something special once the crisp shape is gone.
Fact-Checked & Expert Reviewed
Editorial Standards: Head-to-head comparisons include blind tasting when applicable. Heat levels cross-referenced with multiple sources. All substitution ratios tested side-by-side.
Review Process:
Written by
James Thompson
(Lead Comparison Reviewer)
, reviewed by
Karen Liu
(Lead Fact-Checker & Science Editor)
. Last updated June 30, 2026.
Bishop's Crown vs Lemon Drop FAQ
Usually yes in how it eats, even though the printed SHU ranges can overlap. Bishop's Crown has thicker flesh and often reads gentler, while Lemon Drop pushes heat faster with a sharper citrus edge.
It can, but the result will be thinner, hotter, and less crunchy. Lemon Drop works better when the brine is headed toward a sauce or relish instead of a stuffed or ringed pickle.
Species tells you family, not final kitchen role. Different selection over time changed wall thickness, aroma, and heat delivery, so these two peppers behave very differently despite the same species label.
Bishop's Crown is a strong pick if you want an ornamental plant that also pickles well. Lemon Drop is a better pick if you want more sauce peppers and have time for a longer season.
