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ab2008

Pepper tastes

ab2008
10 years ago

So now that everything is in full swing here, and pods are ripening on about every variety I have... I've kind of noticed one thing about super hots thas has me.. for the lack of a better word- "discouraged." So far, and it may just be my opinion... the majority of the strains of super hots all taste extremely similar... if not almost exactly. Even the majority of the smells of them all smell for the most part the same- and I think the only one that I can tell a difference in is my 7 pot douglahs. I know that tastes are obviously going to be similar with say... 7 pots, etc. I suppose I was just hoping to be blown away by the taste?

I do enjoy seeing the crazy pods I get from various plants, and all the many colors, but I think perhaps I'll stick to one or two super hot varieties next year, to have more peppers of the same type come in at once. Other than that, it is an enjoyable hobby and I will continue it, and most of these make some awesome powder and it goes such a long way!

What are your thoughts on the tastes? I myself would love to find a super hot that had the sweetness of a sweet bell pepper, without that super hot oddball flavor. That would be amazing to cook with. Maybe that strand that's crossed between a jalapeno and habanero...

Comments (11)

  • jtc3
    10 years ago

    I grow orange and red habaneros, ghost chili's, tabascos, serrano and they all have a unique flavor. You might be growing your plants to close to each other. If they are being crossed pollinated by your other plants the peppers you produce are not pure bred and can all taste the same or similar. The peppers would carry genetics from both plants. It only takes a tiny spec of pollen to fertilize the plant and cross pollination happens naturally very easy. If you can't separate them enough you should try growing only 1 type of pepper at a time to prevent cross pollination. Be sure to start with pure seed stock, as the seeds you produce could be cross bred.

  • chilliwin
    10 years ago

    I have experienced with Scorpion Moruga, Ghost Yellow,Ghost Red and many other super hot/medium hot. I like only the organic Red Ghost's flavor and taste. A ripe red ghost flavor you can smell it without touching it. If you touched it without any protection it would burn your hands. Dry one if you kept inside the room without proper packing or sealing you would get hiccup. I am talking about the products from its original place :-).

    The taste could be different according to the growing conditions of the plants. Before I was not very serious about the taste, I thought the same variety could be the same taste but I am wrong. I have few Snow White plants one of them is in a 7 gl container it is a very big strong plant, the other three are in about 1 liter containers. They are all same age. The pods from the 7 gl taste so good, soft, juicy and very sweet flavor and hotter than from the 1 lt containers' plants. The pods from the one liter container taste is disgusting, I hate it.

    Caelian

  • SgtPepper
    10 years ago

    I like the aroma of a freshly cut Bhut Jolokia. But generally, the all c. chinense varieties all have a similar flavor when cooked into food. I never eat them raw - I leave that to the youtubers.

    I will however sample a small piece to get an idea of the heat and that is quite enough! But spread throughout a stir-fry preparation for example, is still a challenging meal, but enjoyable for all pepperheads from novice to expert.

    A good pepper for cooking is scotch bonnets - your standard hab. It is large, hot enough for the connoisseur, and has all that hab flavor that we like. I find them better to cook with than the thai or bird eye, because there is more 'meat'. Plus the thai tends to attack the tongue too much I find.

  • scorpion_john
    10 years ago

    ab2008, they are similar in general. but you can taste small differences. most of them have similar burns also, like you said, the douglah has a different taste and also a different burn. i eat alot of them and i'm not sure how well i would do in a blind taste test. I will give it a try when i get more ripe varieties. it should be interesting. John

  • nc_crn
    10 years ago

    You could always grow a "flavor" plant to mix flavor profiles with your hots. There's a few options where you can add small amounts with big flavor...an Aji Dulce or Jimmy Nardello (not much bulk, nice flavor, no heat).

  • sjetski
    10 years ago

    Caelian's opinion seems ot be the prevailing one over the past few years, the classic red Bhut Jolokia gets a lot of compliments on it's flavor. Maybe because it's been the most popular, who knows...

    Another one with good very strong flavor, and do-able heat, is the yellow fatalii.

    There are websites that sell oddball crosses, the last one I saw was a bell pepper x scotch bonnet, aka bonnetbell. There's also a Bhut x Bell cross floating around, nicknamed the bellokia. It might take some creative google searches to find these stores, or worst case scenario you may have to trade for them, or head to Ebay. You should be able to find a few in the near future, with all of the harvests coming up etc.

    Here is a link that might be useful: BonnetBell , Bellokia pics

  • chilliwin
    10 years ago

    Sjetski, you provided me a very good information. thank you.

    I have few Fatalli Yellow and Ghost Red plants they are getting pods. Now it looks like real, I hope I'd get very real flavor of Ghost and Fatali :-).

    Other super hot peppers I have a lot but the flavor are almost same.

    Bhut X Bell, I hope soon we may have some pictures in our forum.

    Thanks for the link too.

    Caelian

  • tony469
    10 years ago

    I like the flavor of bhuts..chocolate bhut is the best tasting pepper I ever ate..morugas,brain strains,7 pots all taste the same to me "floral" ..chocolate habs smell good dried and ground up kind of smoky..fresh they don't taste smoky just hot and painful..I don't care for habs unless I'm going mild Mexican food..morugas are good in a powder and added to soup..just my opinion

  • chilemilio
    10 years ago

    I think the main issue is that the super hots are so supremely hot, that its hard to really get the subtle differences between them, unless you have an iron palate.. and even then, people you make stuff for, really won't notice the difference very much. for me it boils down to three main flavor/burn profiles between Bhut relatives, scorpions, and 7 pods.

    you could always grow more lower heated peppers that cover a wider spectrum of flavors and add the super spicy to your liking... thinking of Pimento, Piment d'espelette, Peperone di Senise, Fresnos, jalapenos, Thai types, Korean types, etc..

    Good luck, -E

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    10 years ago

    I agree with chilemilio about superhots. But there's that 15 seconds or so that you get a chance to actually taste them before the heat/pain takes over all of one's senses -- except "feel." Feel is definitely the one sense that's alive and well....lol

    Kevin

  • DMForcier
    10 years ago

    I thought I had been eating a savina, but it turns out to be a scorpion, and I have to agree with ab's and other assessments: little flavor other than a general hab-iness; lots of heat.

    But that doesn't apply to all other super-hots. I love the taste of bhuts - like berry. Also douglah, though I haven't put my finger on the taste yet. Naga morich and 7 pot F1 are also rather nebulous and may have no distinct flavor - will try again.

    Overall, I agree. Growing all these super-hots won't happen again next year. Will probably stick to BJ, douglah and let fatalii top out the rest on the heat spectrum.

    Dennis

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