Smokin’ Ed’s “Pepper X”, featured In HEATONIST x Hot Ones™ The Last Dab hot sauce, tops Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper® Pepper for the record.
Smokin’ Ed Currie’s Pepper X® has officially set a world record as the hottest chili in the world. GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ announced the title following the chili pepper registering an average 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) in lab tests at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
Pepper X breaks the record previously held by Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper®, which more recently measured an average of 1,641,183 SHU. The result of 10 years of development in Ed’s greenhouses in Fort Mill, S.C., Pepper X averages more than a million units higher than the Carolina Reaper on the Scoville scale. As a proprietary pepper, its pods and seeds are tightly guarded and won’t be sold or released, so the only way for the public to enjoy Pepper X is in the form of certain hot sauces.
“This was a team effort,” says Smokin’ Ed. “We knew we had something special, so I only let a few of my closest family and friends know what was really going on. The Heatonist Team, the Hot Ones Team, and the High River Team all had Faith in me and supported me, even when there was doubt. So I am honored and proud to have them be a part of the launch in Nashville.”
Pepper X first came to the world through a very spicy partnership between Smokin’ Ed, HEATONIST hot sauces, and First We Feast’s hit YouTube series Hot Ones™ as the main ingredient in a hot sauce called The Last Dab. A newly-released edition of the sauce – Hot Ones The Last Dab Xperience – is made with over 91% Pepper X.
“There’s been some speculation and disbelief since Ed introduced Pepper X when we first launched The Last Dab years ago,” says Heatonist Founder Noah Chaimberg. “They said topping Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper wouldn’t happen, but if anyone could, it’s Ed. I’m extremely proud to be a part of this history in the making.”
Spice fans can watch the Guinness World Records adjudication in a special episode of Hot Ones featuring Smokin’ Ed, Noah, Hot Ones host Sean Evans and Danish chili entrepreneur and host Claus “Chili Klaus” Pilgaard released today by First We Feast.
They said topping Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper wouldn’t happen, but if anyone could, it’s Ed. I’m extremely proud to be a part of this history in the making.
The public presentation of the world record will be held at the Tennessee Hot Sauce Expo in Nashville on November 5, 2023. For more information on the Guinness World Records title, visit https://www.
PepperX® is a US-registered trademark of KATIECO, LLC. Pepper X® is certified as the hottest chili-pepper by Guinness World Records™. KATIECO, LLC, is the owner and only source of PepperX® ingredients. KATIECO, LLC has not, and will not, release or sell any Pepper X® seeds, plants, or pepper pods. Any other claim(s) to sale of Pepper X® seeds, plants, pepper pods, or other ingredients derived from Pepper X® are false. KATIECO, LLC (through its authorized distributors) and HEATONIST are the sole authorized sources for sale of Pepper X®-based chili-pepper sauces and related apparel. Any other claim(s) to sale of Pepper X® ingredient chili-pepper sauces and/or related apparel are false.
ABOUT PUCKERBUTT PEPPER COMPANY
PBPC, LLC, home of SMOKIN’ ED’S CAROLINA REAPER® sells USDA Organic, high-quality, Kosher, and all-natural, smokin’-hot mashes, sauces, fresh peppers, dried peppers and powders, seeds, and other fine merchandise at stores throughout the country, on its website at puckerbuttpeppercompany.com, and from our team at sales@puckerbuttpeppercompany.
ABOUT HEATONIST
HEATONIST is on a mission to make food more exciting and delicious one plate at a time! Founded in 2013 by Noah Chaimberg as a Brooklyn-based push cart, HEATONIST has grown to include two retail stores and become the world’s most popular online destination for hot sauce. HEATONIST partners with passionate small batch sauce makers from around the globe to bring never-before-seen flavors to the world of hot sauce. Stop by for a taste at HEATONIST’s Williamsburg Tasting Room (Brooklyn), Chelsea Market Outpost (Manhattan), or visit online at heatonist.com. Look for HEATONIST sauces at retailers nationwide and remember to #stayspicy.
ABOUT FIRST WE FEAST
Founded in 2012, First We Feast views food as an illuminating lens into pop culture, music, travel and more through its innovative slate of food-driven video franchises. Part of Complex Networks, First We Feast’s YouTube channel is home to flagship series, including but not limited to Hot Ones™, The Burger Show, Feast Mansion, Tacos Con Todo, Gochi Gang, and Coneheads, which drives a community of 12 million highly-engaged subscribers and over 2 billion views to date. With a thriving eight-figure commerce business, First We Feast launched hot sauces, Truth or Dab The Game, a footwear collection with Reebok, “Hot Ones: The Game Show” on truTV, and much more. First We Feast’s slate of original programming has garnered numerous awards and nominations, including an Emmy nomination for “Hot Ones”; multiple Shorty Awards; the 2020 and 2019 Webby Award for Food & Drink; and the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Food Blog.
