Sunday, December 5, 2010

Naga Viper Chilli-We Think Have a Hotter Pepper

What I am going to tell you was being kept secret because we wanted to do this Record holder thing right. No buzz and no hype. Last year Dave De Witt approached me about Superhots. I sent him a Trinidad sample of Scorpion and he had it tested. This began it all. Dave De Witt contacted his friend of 20 yrs Marlin Bensinger who is North America's foremost expert on Capsaicin Extraction and testing. Marlin is the guy who major spice companies contact to do analytical testing on pungency before they go out and buy 500,000 pounds of Paprika or habaneros. He also works closely with those in the Pepper spray industry. Marlin also oversees some fields of chiles in New Mexico. Marlin has personal labs in both Texas and Florida. Now I don't have to tell you who Dave De Witt is I hope. Dave is the man behind this. Author of over 20 chile books Dave is the Pope of Peppers. My job was to supply plants and seeds of superhots to Marlin and also grow them here in San Diego for samples. I also got dried samples directly from Trinidad as well.

Now this was going to be kept quiet until we had application in at Guinness. Over this past growing season we have tested the following in multiple samples not just once like Gerald. Trinidad 7 Pot Red variety 4 types (elongated pod, Brain like pod, Sr strain and Jonah), Yellow 7 pod (THSC strain), Douglah, Naga Morich, Yellow Bhut, Chocolate Bhut, Trinidad Scorpion (similar to Butch T or small pod) and Moruga Scorpion. We did not test red Bhut Jolokia because Marlin has done that so many times for clients. And just for fun we wanted to know how Fatalii, Red Fatalii, Devil's Tongue (yellow, Red & Choc) came in even though we knew they were not contenders. Now we took pods during rainy and dry periods. Took pods from single plants and groups of plants. Made samples of single pods and composite of groups of pods. And of course ran multiple tests on each species. Now a little education here for you. When we all cut pods open or taste test them the strong smell that makes you cough or burn that hits you right away is not the true indicator of a peppers pungency. So if some of say for example that a Brain Strain or Douglah hit you the hardest it does not mean it's Capsaicin. It may be the terpines which are another compound in peppers. We still don't know about Terpines because the food industry does not care about them. Just thought I would throw this in.

Okay so now after Marlin does lots of testing we have had 4 varieties come ahead of the Bhut Jolokia. And they are......Douglah, 7 Pot Jonah, Scorpion and Moruga Scorpion. Out of these 4 we picked two that consistently had the highest heat levels. We then made a composite sample of both and re-tested and then sent a portion of that sample to a high end Agricultural lab in Texas as an Independent 3rd party test. This lab does pungency testing for the chile industry so they know what they are doing. Not just a University like Warwick that can HPLC. Any college can do this but does not have the experience and technology of the Capsaicin and Spice industry. We now wait for our results. If they are close to ours we submit. We are doing this the right way. And we are doing it at a higher standard than others before us did. So we are raising the standard. The single Naga Viper test at a College in England is spreading through the media. Now we must talk to the media instead of waiting. Dave De Witt knows I am writing to all of you. I ask that you tell others that a true test is going on. You can choose to support us. If you think I am pulling your leg go ahead and contact Dave De Witt directly or wait until he does a press release. Thank you!
Jim Duffy

P.S.I can give you these results...7 Pod Yellow 600,000-700,000, all 7 Pots except Jonah and Douglah 600,000-900,000, Yellow Bhut Jolokia over 400,000, Chocolate Bhut Jolokia over 800,000,
Chocolate Hab over 500,000, Devil's Tongue Yellow over 400,00, Devil's Tongue Red over 400,000, Devil's Tongue Chocolate over 500,000, Fatalii over 300,000, Fatalii Red Under 300,000, Naga Morich over 700,000

We did not test any red habanero types because we all know they average between 250-400,000. We did not test Red Bhut or Bih because Marlin knows the average is between 400,000 and 800,000. Sorry but it's rare for a Bhut to get near 1,000,000. On the average 7 Pots and Scorpions get closer or just above 1,000,00 more than any Bhut or Naga. And as far as I am concerned grow better and taste better too!

1 comment:

  1. Aloha Jim,
    This is Jamie from thehottestpepper.com in Hawaii. Good article. I would like to put this on my site please. We have been testing our "Bhuts" via HPLC for more than 2 years and have been lucky enough to reach the low 900,000's, but most test in the 800,000's. We have tried many methods to try and get higher results, but just couldn't set the record. I seriously doubt the results from Warwick U. as well and one test with a small sample is not conclusive for sure. Can we post your article? And PLEASE keep me posted. IF I can assist you, please let me know.

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