Choosing a Hot Pepper

The Scoville Heat Unit is the closest thing to a standard form of measuring the heat in a pepper. It is a measurement that involves adding sugar to a solution until one can no longer taste the heat of the pepper. The more sugar, the higher the spice, the greater the measurement in Scoville units. Created in 1912, the Scoville method is still used despite more scientific methods of measurement.

The following chart is an approximation of heat, used to compare the relative spiciness of peppers.

See Printable Version: Hot Pepper Scoville Chart

Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia Red): 1,000,000 Scovilles

Caribbean Red Hot: 400,000 – 450,000 Scovilles

Jamaican Yellow: 300,000 Scovilles

Habanero: 200,000 Scovilles

Scotch Bonnet: 200,000 – 300,000 Scovilles

Burning Bush: 180,000 Scovilles

Habanero Red: 150,000 – 325,000 Scovilles

Habanero Orange: 150,000 – 325,000 Scovilles

Thai Hot: 80,000 Scovilles

Thai Dragon: 75,000 – 100,000 Scovilles

Hot Cayenne: 30,000 – 50,000 Scovilles

Tabasco: 30,000 – 50,000 Scovilles

Ristra Cayenne: 30,000 – 50,000 Scovilles

Super Chili: 30,000 – 40,000 Scovilles

Hottie: 30,000 Scovilles

Kung Pao: 10,000 Scovilles

Hot Lemon: 5,000 – 30,000 Scovilles

Hot Portugal: 5,000 Scovilles

Serrano Del Sol: 4,500 – 5,500 Scovilles

Hot Cherry: 3,500 – 6,000 Scovilles

Hot Jalapeno: 3,500 – 6,000 Scovilles

Tiburon: 2,000 Scovilles

Hungarian Wax: 750 – 3,000 Scovilles

Holy Moly: 700 Scovilles

Cajun Belle: 100 – 1,000 Scovilles

Zavory: 100 Scovilles

Cayenetta: mildy spicy

False Alarm: almost no heat, very mild sweet jalapeno