The 5 Hottest Peppers in the World

Mexico is one of the most well-known countries for having a cuisine full of intense and spicy flavors. It is home to chiles like chile de árbol and jalapeño, which give that special touch to broths, sauces, moles, and all kinds of preparations. But did you know that the spiciest chiles are not Mexican? We tell you which are the 5 spiciest chiles in the world! The 5 Spiciest Chiles in the World We know it's hard to believe, but the spiciest chiles in the world are not Mexican. It saddens us that the habanero or chiltepín are not the culprits for setting taste buds ablaze worldwide, but we are also curious to find out which are the most dangerous chiles, so we did some research! Would you try them? 5. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper Grown in Trinidad and Tobago, this chile has 1,207,764 units on the Scoville scale.  4. Naga Viper This chile has 1,382,118 Scoville units! This chile was first cultivated in England by Gerald Fowler and is a hybrid of the spiciest chiles in the world. It was briefly considered the hottest in 2011.  3. Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Pepper The third spiciest chile in the world is Australian! It was created by Marcel de Wit and has 1,463,700 Scoville units. Its name refers to the tail of a scorpion due to its shape. Would you try it? 2. Carolina Reaper Pepper To give you an idea of how spicy this chile is, it has 1,641,183 points on the Scoville scale, well above the habanero!The Carolina Reaper was created by Ed Currie and won the title of the spiciest chile in the world in 2017, but it slipped to second place in 2023.   1. Pepper X In August 2023, the Guinness World Record confirmed that Pepper X is the spiciest in the world, reaching 2,693,000 Scoville units. It is worth mentioning that this chile was created by Ed Currie on his farm; in other words, it is not a chile that can be found naturally. You can also read: Benefits of eating chileWhat is the Scoville Scale? This spiciness scale was created by Wilbur Scoville in 1912 and has since become the ultimate authority when we talk about chiles.  If you're wondering how the Scoville Scale works, it's very simple. This mechanism measures the amount of capsaicin, the substance that causes the heat, in each chile.  According to information published by the Mexican government, back in those years, the spiciness was detected by counting how many times the extract of the chile in question could be diluted in a mixture of sugar water. This was done until the heat was no longer detectable; however, today other methods are used to determine how spicy each chile is.  See more: 6 simple ways to relieve chile burn on handsMexican Chiles Although Mexican chiles are not among the spiciest in the world, they are a delicacy that adds flavor to national cuisine. What would chilaquiles, mole negro, cochinita, or pozole be without that spicy touch? To give you an idea of how spicy they are, here are the spiciest Mexican chiles, according to the Agricultural and Fisheries Information Service: 1. Habanero Chile – between 100,000 and 445,000 Scoville units 2. Chiltepín Chile - between 100,000 and 200,000 Scoville units 3. Piquín Chile - between 30,000 and 50,000 Scoville units 4. Chile de árbol - between 15,000 and 30,000 Scoville units 5. Serrano Chile – between 5,000 and 23,000 Scoville units 6. Jalapeño Chile - between 2,500 and 5,000 Scoville units Now that you know which are the spiciest chiles in the world and which are the spiciest Mexican chiles, we hope you are encouraged to prepare a good salsa or guacamole, enjoy your meal! See also: How to hydrate dried chiles in the microwave