This is an April 1st article…
By Richard Savill
http://www.telegraph.co.ukA chilli pepper grown in a polytunnel in Dorset has been claimed as the world’s hottest.
The Dorset Naga is so fiery that when the owners break the skin to remove the seeds to sow for the following year’s crop they have to wear gloves and be outside in a strong wind so their eyes don’t sting.
The strength of chilli peppers is measured in Scoville heat units
“It is something I wouldn’t eat but some people must like them,” said Joy Michaud, who developed the chilli at the Peppers by Post business she runs with her husband Michael at West Bexington.
An American laboratory found the chilli to be almost 60 per cent hotter than the one listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The Naga registered a Scoville heat unit of 876,000. The record holder is a Red Savina Habanero with a rating of 577,000.
The result was so startling that the Dorset pepper was sent for a second test to a laboratory in New York used by the American Spice Trade Association. It recorded a higher figure of 970,000 heat units. The Naga, which is sold with a health warning, was developed from a variety which originated in Bangladesh.
The Michauds found the chillis, collected the seeds and grew them. It was only when customers told them they were unable to eat curries containing half a small pepper that they realized how hot they were.
Mrs Michaud said: “We bought the Naga Morich chilli from a shop in Bournemouth. It is revered by the Bangladeshis. We have all the certificates and believe it is a world record. We will be in touch with the Guinness Book of Records.”
Aktar Miha, of the Indis Bangladeshi restaurant in Bournemouth, said: “Most people don’t cook with it; they just have it near to them when they eat. They just touch their food with it. If you don’t know what you are doing it could blow your head off.”
From the website:
Is Dorset Naga the hottest chilli in the world?
Possibly.We, Michael and Joy Michaud, grow chillies and sell them by mail order to customers throughout Great Britain. The business, called Peppers by Post, is located in Dorset on the southwest coast of England.
One of the items in our catalogue is Dorset Naga, an exceptionally hot variety that we developed from a Bangladeshi chilli known as Naga Morich. In 2005 we collected a sample of this chilli, and had it tested for heat by two laboratories in the USA. The result, measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), were astounding: taking an average of the two, Dorset Naga came in at 923,000 SHU.
To put this figure in context, the Guinness world record for the hottest chilli is currently held by Red Savina, which was once measured at 577,000 SHU (see: Guinness World Records).
This makes Dorset Naga more than 50% hotter than Red Savina, and clearly a contender for the title “hottest chilli in the world”.
57 responses to “World’s Hottest Chilli – Possibly”
Nearly a million scoville right off of the vine! Dang thats hot!
Holy cow! Do they have seeds available?
[Comment ID #24399 Quote]
I doubt it, you have to have a license for a red savina and if this is a true story, I’m sure you’ll need government approval before you can even buy
[Comment ID #24404 Quote]
Really? I bought some Red Sav seeds on from a reputable seed supplier online this year and I’m trying to grow some in pots. I may be breaking the law! “Arrested today for chile possession….” 🙂
[Comment ID #24404 Quote]
April 1st article huh?, I missed that the first time.
[Comment ID #24405 Quote]
I’ve got one too – I think the license applies to commercial growers – Jim C would know for sure.
The license is due to the fact that the name ‘Red Savina(R)’ is trademarked and the chile is protected under the Plant Variety Protection Act (pvp). No one may use the name without the express written permission of the trademark holder. The commercial license that I have is to grow the chile and to use the name. Under past agreements, that permission extends to anyone who buys product from me. The license has nothing to do with the heat of the chile. Seeds are available from a number of sources, having been previously approved by GNS Inc, the trademark holder.
It is of particular note that “redsavina.com” does **NOT** have permission and have been ‘cyber squatting’ on that name. The seed stock that they have is several years old now, having been purchased from a supplier that went out of the business.
I’m always extremely skeptical of these articles, especially around April 1st. There have been several of these claims- remember the ‘jokia’ they played last time? The media is notorious for seldom getting things like this straight. Just as soon as it is verified by Dr Paul Bosland, I’ll believe it. Until then, I remain highly doubtful.
Happy BD!
See, I knew Jim would know the answer
There’s nothing on snopes.com about it being true or false yet… Have to check back in a few weeks or maybe our UK friends can check into it over there!!!
Chris
There are a lot of ways to cheat a test also. Wilbur Scoville did quite a service to the chile pepper industry when he tried to develop a standardized test, but there is still much need of standardization in several other areas. “Naming” is one that comes readily to mind, as does “testing procedures”. While the HPLC is fairly straightforward, that only gives you the result for a particluar sample submitted on a particular day. It certainly says nothing about the replicability or reliability of the sample.
[Comment ID #24433 Quote]
Great information as always Jim. Thanks for the immediate response and the word of caution.
The Red Sav (as in “Savage” as far as I’m concerned:)) seeds I bought were from Reemer seeds and they are very professional and reputable in my experiences with them. Thanks again!
[Comment ID #24420 Quote]
For once something in the UK – may not be as good as it seems though after reading the comments.
I might order a some and get a few unwitting people to give them a try. Now I’m home I might cook a curry or chilli for my parents and brother. Teach them for not letting me buy hot sauces!! 😉
the telegraph is usually a decent enough paper – if it had been put on The Sun’s website, I’d be a bit more dubious about it being true
[Comment ID #24416 Quote]
Perhaps we should get some of the conspiracy theorists involved here…Maybe their black-ops helicopters responsible for various cattle mutilations and crop circles can harvest some of these seeds for us.
[Comment ID #24416 Quote]
Jim you are a master at your art brother, thanks for the information.
The heck with playing jokes with them MattUK- get me some seeds & we’ll share it with LOTS of folks 🙂
[Comment ID #24441 Quote]
I put an email in to them first thing this morning… no response yet.
About the Naga in mythology (NOT the Naga chile):
The Nagas were mythical beings who could transform from man or woman to snake. They were a separate species from humans and lived in their own secret cities deep in the jungle. Often worshipped as gods in the early days, they eventually ended up as minor parts of both the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Although these beings generally kept to themselves, legend has it that the Naga princes and princesses often married human royalty, and many noble houses in India have claimed that they are descended from Nagas. The wise Nagas could be benevolent demigods, or they could be ruthless rulers, killing anyone who disobeyed them, cursing the land with drought and poisoning the waters. Unicorns were their deadly enemies and could keep the evil Nagas in check. These legends may be based on a real tribe of people called the Nagas, who live on the border between India and Bangladesh.
The Naga have a number of forms that they can shapeshift into, apparently at will. These forms include:
(1) A real snake (generally a cobra or large water python)
(2) A real man or woman
(3) The ‘medusa’ form, a human with many snakes emerging from the head and/or shoulders
(4) The ‘snake mermaid’ form, like a mermaid except that the lower half is a snake instead of a fish
(5) A snake too large to be natural (sometimes so big it can swallow elephants)
(6) A snake with many heads (sometimes also gigantic)
(7) A dragon (this is rare in India, but more common in Thailand and Malaysia)
When I saw “Naga” I immediately though of Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne. 🙂
Cool, so eating a Naga would be the equivalent of eating the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle(which of course had been infused with this ‘crop-circle’ pepper). Got it.
Sounds very interesting if it really is that hot. For now I shall stick with the Red Savina as I get enough heat out of it 🙂 MattUK should travel over for a taste test and tell us first hand how hot it really is!
[Comment ID #24465 Quote]
Ditto – or WoW
[Comment ID #24467 Quote]
Travel over – I’ll just send for some- shouldn’t take long. I’ve got my camera here 2. Take bets at the pub and see who can eat one whole
[Comment ID #24474 Quote]
Lots of dangerous stuff have gone on at Pub’s before. This would definitely be one of them! If I ever make it to England I will take you up on it 😀
Re: Dangerous stuff at Pubs
Used to be a Pub down in the south of England that carried a bunch of my stuff years ago. The Olde Brewery Pub in Torquay, Devon. All the very hottest stuff. I should wonder what happened to them….
That’s Hot. 🙂
Hmmmmmm, new hottest pepper = new hot sauces!!!!!
[Comment ID #24459 Quote]
They say on their site they don’t sell seeds. But they sell chillies with seeds in them….hmm
[Comment ID #24461 Quote]
They say on their site that their season is July to december and keep any orders until the chillies are ready to pick. It could be a long wait
If you get any of these MattUK, let me know please! Thanks!
[Comment ID #24683 Quote]
I will let you know as soon as I do
I’ve just heard from them – they will not have any until late July at the earliest….. April the 1st may well have been the main reason for this as otherwise why and how did they manage to do a story on it at this time of year, when they have no stock to give to the customers that read about them
just my thoughts anyway
[Comment ID #24702 Quote]
Cool! Thanks!
Wow this is relatively BIG news. Think if we domesticated this chile we’d be changing the hot sauce industry.
I still have my doubts about an article released on April 1, especially with remarks like “some people just sit it next to the food” we have 4 million SHU extract and it doesn’t put off heat! I guess only time will tell…
I can’t wait until these peppers are commercially grown for hot sauces!!!, if in fact the reports are true that this pepper is ranging 850k-900k SHU… Wow this one pepper can change the entire Market… For instance, Red Savina will no longer be referred to as the legend!!!. This will be a great natural ingredient for many snacks. Almost a cool million, huh… What family does this pepper “Dorset Naga” belong to? Obviously it is not a habanero as the shape is quite different… Interesting times coming up for us chiliheads.
Cheers
[Comment ID #24812 Quote]
Nick P, it will always be “The Legend” as far as CaJhns is concerned. We’ll just have to come out with a new one. Maybe “The Pretender”?
It’s worth noting that they have a PDF file of the certificate of the HPLC test results on their website. This apparently backs up the claim for the 876K readings, which still puts it ahead of teh (uncalibrated) Tezpur chillies of 2000… It didn’t even cross my mind that the April 1st date could make it a hoax, but searching for other stories has revealed an earlier post in a local newspaper, and other stories after… so it might just be the real thing.
I too am waiting until July/August for this year’s crop to be ready, and have sent off an order for a dozen pods or so to see quite how hot they really are… but to be honest, even if they’re not up in the 800,000+ Scovilles bracket, it’s going to be interesting to see what they taste like!
[Comment ID #24714 Quote]
Finally got an email response – Joy there says that they have been swamped which is understandable. She confirms as reported by MattUK that they do not sell seeds and adds that they will only ship live plants to the UK.
We need UK folks to buy plants and get seeds for us then:). Hint, hint!
Hmm, this is very interesting… I’ll certainly be ordering a couple of bags!
Hi
I can attest for the heat of the naga morich (dorset naga). Whether it is 900,000 SHU or not is beyond my tongue, but they are stupid hot. I have 3 in my fridge. And there are seeds for sale on ebay uk (naga morich not dorset naga, but they are very closely related (probably exactly the same!). We have posted some more info about and pictures of the pepper here: http://www.thechileman.org/naga_morich.php
Julian
[Comment ID #25624 Quote]
I don’t dispute these peppers exist and surpass the Red Savina in Scoville units, I dispute the right to buy a Naga Morich chile plant in Bournemouth, then regrow it somewhere else, rename it, and seek license to retain all exclusive rights to its name and distribution. The “Dorset Naga” is their pseudonym for what’s really a Naga Morich as they freely admit. You’d at least want to hear they genetically enhanced/altered these bad boys to justify renaming them and claiming ownership. I found an interesting article floating on the Naga Morich with this excerpt snip:
“…Although I cannot profess to growing all hot chiles, I have grown most of the ‘claimants’ to be the worlds hottest from the Red savina to fatalli to the carribean red and the other habs. I grew Naga Morich in 2005 (and many of you will have recieved pods) and they are by far the hottest I have ever grown. Eating one is like drinking molten larva whilst throusting a red hot oooooops up you nose!!…”
Found here: freerepublic chat
^ If this is guy is really growing them, clearly these seeds can be had by anyoe with the connections, or willing to do as the Michaud’s did, and follow suit. Visit a Bournemouth chili shop, and buy it yourself, come back home, plant it, and call it Doug’s Naga, and a star is born.
–
I completely agree with you. Maybe they have spent years turning the Naga ‘Morich’ into the ‘Dorset’ Naga. Maybe not.
Your quote also amused me. It was posted by Mark McMullan, who is the brains behind the chileman.org website that we have spent the last six months creating. He was the one who passed the Naga pods to me, he also came up with the neologism ‘Naga Morich’. The peppers were described as just Naga, but he also bought a hot sauce which had a main ingredient, Naga Morrich. The name morich seems to have stuck.
The naga morich is quite well-known amongst Bangladeshis, although I’ve found it going by several other names… Methinks someone is pulling your leg, Julian.
T
I’m not so sure you are right. The Bangladeshis have naga, but the word morich was never associated with the word naga. search google for “naga morich” and you’ll get around 200 matches. most are a result of the recent headlines. before the headlines there were almost no results. sounds like a neologism if ever I heard one!
I am a chili grower and seed seller , as a result of many friends worldwide i have received 6 naga morich pods today and eaten one raw , again i got that feeling of a complete scam after eating it. having a glass of milk at the ready as the tales i heard about this pepper being so fearsome i bit into it chewed and waited and waited and well , waited. for a heat no more than a regular scotch bonnet with a similar flavour.i grow around 120 varities of peppers ( limited space ) the hottest of which are ( in no particular order ) chocolate hab,red savina , fatalii, tepin . and a few others are extremely hot . also upon cutting into the flesh of the “dorset naga” / naga morich the oil caused no irritation to my skin etc. i also grow the pc-1 military pepper as it is known , again a big scam as far as heat is concerned , if indeed the SHU’s score was so high on these lab tests why havent we seen then. furthermore the reason your not supposed to be able to buy red savin tm is for that very reason it was trademarked not because of the heat / capsaicin content of it.Until such time it is verifed by the guiness book of records the dorset naga is nothing and the red sav still rules as king.all the best -Ade
I thought that naga morich and the dorset naga were to different peppers, it says they got the dorset from the morich.
theoretically yes . what i actually have is classed as “dorset naga” again the heat level ( according to my taste buds ) is a myth. and its possible that it turned up as an “off breed” in their greenhouses / so they say .furthermore think about this . in their story they say ” we had no idea how hot it was until people rang us and said they couldnt eat a curry with 1/2 a small pepper in etc” they then go on to explain that their workers have to go out into the open with gloves and protective gear to cut open the pods. so if this is the case , Surely they MUST HAVE known how hot the pepper was!!!as said when i see the lab reports and its in the GBOR i will accept it , up until that time its old rot lol .
all the best -Ade
I’ve been following your posts here with interest Ade, as an avid chile grower myself. I’ve seen the pictures of all the chiles in question and they, for the life of me, look absolutely indistinguishable from the Fatalii and Devils’ Tongues that I grow. Not a whits’ worth of difference. As that undoubtedly puts them in the Chinense family, I’ve no doubt they’re hot, but like you, am awaiting independent confirmation from un-biased sources. Even then, I’m likely to withold judgement until I can get some to do my own field trials with. Thanks for the posts!
Good day all happy fri——————-ddddddaaaaaayyyyyy.
I brought a paste made with this product from http://www.123curry.co.uk and it blew my head off. Far hotter than the red sav. I too doubted the reports but after tasting this, I have not a single doubt in my mind!
I’ve taken delivery of two lots from the Michaud’s this year. I (and my chilli-headed family) can attest that they are absurdly hot. we’ve tried them most ways now (blended sauce, alcohol extraction, chilli oil, raw etc) and you have to be very careful indeed. It’s quite easy to end up with something completely inedible but when you get it right you suddenly have lots of willing victims. I’ve a recipe that we call ‘Dorset Friends’ that is in great demand.
Probably the most loopy one so far was 4 or 5 small dried pods allowed to infuse a bottle of olive oil. A couple of drops on a meal is all it takes. (We reckon that bottle should last us until 2020 at this rate!).
All of the above were made from the first batch which (according to the growers) are milder than the second. I can’t attest to that yet because they only just arrived but the aroma alone is enough to make your eyes water.
Cheers
Simon
Well for all those sceptics……..
The Naga Morich has been tested be the respected New Mexico State University (NMSU)Chile Pepper Institute and its offical at 1,001,304 SHU, 4 times hotter than the Red Savinas, they really are the hottest in the world.
http://thechileman.blogspot.com/
I find it quite amazing that after sourcing the original seeds from a contact in Bangladesh a few years ago (the same one used by the Michauds), now that its offical every man and his dog claims to have some seeds. Thats capitalism for you 🙂
Mark
The hottest by far, these give you a rush, and now a record holder!
I would like to know where to get either powder or crushed Naga-Bin Jolokia peppers in the United States. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks!
[Comment ID #108455 Quote]
Bill call me at Jungle Jim’s 513-674-6000 ask for Bret