b'Pepper X, currently recognized as thePepper X displayed alongside its Guinness World Records certificate, officially worlds hottest pepper, averaging morerecognizing it as the worlds hottest chili pepper following third-party laboratory than 2.6 million Scoville Heat Unitstesting.PHOTO: ED CURRIEfollowing third-party laboratory testing.Capsaicin has a long history of medicalAt one time, he expanded his bucketThats how Pucker Butt Hot Sauce started, use for treating pain and certain skinbusiness into his neighbors yards, payingCurrie says. conditions, particularly in topical andtheir electric and water bills in exchangeBy 2005, they had a storefront, and by patch forms. Studies have also foundfor the space. 2008, a new kitchen. potential benefits in other applications,It was hilarious, Currie says. ButThen, in 2013, Currie received a such as neuropathic pain relief to possibleI still grow a lot of peppers now, evenGuinness World Record when his Carolina anti-cancer effects. Long-term risks andbeyond my farm, because thats just howReaper was officially recognized as the broader medical role continue to beyou stabilize varieties. worlds hottest pepper with an average of studied. But ultimately, it just takes time. Overover 1.5 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU).One of the problems is the deliverythe years, he has turned those backyardThis brought Currie media attention and method, because not everybody wants toexperiments into his own hot pepperopportunities, including collaborating with eat a two-million Scoville pepper a coupleempire. the brand First We Feast to create specially times a day, Currie says. I think I started with around 20,000branded sauces for their YouTube show buckets in the backyard, Currie says. MyHot Ones, which brings in millions of views A Backyard Breeding Obsession wife was not happy. each week.Currie has kept his focus on breedingThat many plants meant Currie and hisIn 2023, Currie broke his own record peppers. He says its a painstaking pro- family were soon overrun with peppers. with his new superhot, Pepper X, which cess, involving either random cross-pol- We were harvesting approximatelyaveraged 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units lination very early in the morning as thetwo to three pounds of peppers off each(SHU) at testing.flowers open, or emasculating the plantplant and there are only so many peppersWe have continued to expand, making and pollinating it the next day. He saysyou can eat, he says. So, my wife decideddifferent hot sauces, and eventually supply-record keeping is also critical. to sell hot sauce at the farmers market.ing mash to large companies, Currie says.18/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2026'