Hottest Peppers in the World, Ranked (2026 Current Record)
The hottest peppers on Earth, ranked by maximum Scoville heat — the current record holder sits at #1. As of 2026, the world's hottest pepper is the one leading this list. Every number is measured SHU from our database, not a guess.
25 peppers · Ranked by maximum measured Scoville heat units (SHU), hottest first.
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Apollo pepper is a reported Ed Currie/PuckerButt superhot tied to Carolina Reaper and Pepper X breeding. Treat the 2,500,000-3,000,000 SHU range as a…
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Pepper X is the current Guinness World Records hottest chilli pepper, with an official average of 2,693,000 SHU from Winthrop University testing. Ed…
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Dragon's Breath is a British-bred super-hot clocking between 2,480,000 and 2,500,000 SHU - roughly 500 times hotter than a jalapeño and nearly 10…
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The Carolina Reaper is a super-hot Capsicum chinense pepper from South Carolina. Treat it as a 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 SHU pepper for kitchen…
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The Komodo Dragon is a British-bred super-hot clocking 1,400,000-2,200,000 SHU - roughly 440 times hotter than a jalapeño and firmly in the same…
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The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion registers between 1,200,000 and 2,009,231 SHU, making it one of the most formidable peppers ever tested. Native to the…
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The Chocolate Bhutlah registers about 1,000,000-2,000,000 SHU - a cross between the Bhut Jolokia and 7 Pot Douglah that delivers scorching heat…
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7 Pot Douglah, often sold as Chocolate 7 Pot, is a dark brown Capsicum chinense superhot from Trinidad and Tobago. KTP treats 923,000-1,853,396 SHU…
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7 Pot Primo is a Louisiana-bred Capsicum chinense superhot credited to Troy Primeaux. KTP treats 800,000-1,790,150 SHU as a reported public-reference…
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The Dorset Naga is a British-bred super-hot clocking between 800,000-1,600,000 SHU - roughly half the heat of a Carolina Reaper on its hottest days…
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The 7 Pot Katie hits 1,500,000-1,590,000 SHU - putting it squarely in super-hot pepper territory alongside the most extreme peppers grown today. What…
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Most people assume the Naga Morich is just a ghost pepper variant. It isn't. This C. chinense from the Bangladesh-India border region registers…
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The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T ranges around 800,000-1,463,700 SHU, with its record-tested specimen clocking 1,463,700 SHU in 2011. Treat it as a true…
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The Naga Viper ranges from 900,000-1,382,118 SHU and briefly held the Guinness World Record in 2011. Bred in England from superhot parentage, it…
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7 Pot Brain Strain is a red, deeply wrinkled Capsicum chinense superhot selected from Trinidad 7 Pot seed lines. We treat 1,000,000-1,350,000 SHU as…
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The 7 Pot Barrackpore is a Trinidadian super-hot commonly listed around 1,000,000-1,300,000 SHU - roughly 125-520 times hotter than a jalapeno…
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The 7 Pot Red Giant can reach about 1,300,000 SHU - putting it squarely in the super-hot pepper tier alongside Trinidad's most feared peppers…
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The 7 Pot Jonah is a Trinidadian super-hot clocking 800,000-1,200,000 SHU - roughly 4x hotter than a habanero. Its deeply wrinkled pods pack…
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The 7 Pot Yellow is a Trinidadian super-hot clocking between 800,000 and 1,200,000 SHU - fruity and citrusy on the nose, then scorching in a way that…
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The Bedfordshire Super Naga is a British-bred C. chinense that registers 1,000,000–1,400,000 SHU - roughly 280 times hotter than a jalapeño and…
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The Infinity Chili briefly held the world record for hottest pepper in 2011, clocking in at 1,067,286 SHU. Bred in England by Nick Woods, this C…
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The ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia) held the Guinness World Record for hottest pepper from 2007 to 2011, measuring 855,000–1,041,427 SHU - roughly 208…
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The Bhut Jolokia Chocolate is a dark, wrinkled variant of the original ghost pepper, registering 800,000–1,001,304 SHU. Grown in northeastern India…
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Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion is a C. chinense hybrid bred in the USA, crossing ghost pepper and Trinidad Scorpion genetics into a pale peach-colored…
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The 7 Pot White is a rare Trinidadian super-hot reaching 800,000-1,000,000 SHU - below the highest Trinidad Scorpion listings but still firmly…
How we rank: Ranked by maximum measured Scoville heat units (SHU), hottest first. Scoville figures come from our pepper database, measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) where available. Individual pods vary with growing conditions, so ranges matter more than single numbers.