Tastiest hot peppers under 150,000 SHU?

[Glitch]

I tried out sugar rush peach peppers this season and I think that may be the hottest I can survive. Haha

I'm totally fine with Thai chilies which seem to be in the 50,000 to 100,000 SHU range, but they're not my favorite in regard to taste. I also really am not a fan of the taste of jalapenos, though I know those are barely spicy.

What are your favorites?

[pepperhead212]

Actually, the Thai peppers are some of my favorites - not the Thai birds, which are hotter, but almost flavorless, but the larger ones, like dragon, and Thai Vesuvius, that are around 2-3". They have much more flavor, when dried, than Chinese, Japanese, or Korean varieties I've grown. I use these, and an Indian variety - Jyoti - more than any other peppers, as they are good green, red, and dried. I use them for my own crushed red pepper flakes, and the aroma in that is much better than the almost flavorless commercial varieties. That's used more for heat, but I still notice the flavor.

And there is a variety I got years ago from Pinetree Gardens - Superthai - that was definitely a hybrid, and was the best dried pepper I found for making Nam Prik Pao, and believe me, I've tried a bunch! It is only about 50k, and is a 4-6" cayenne type pepper, but the flavor when the pepper caramelizes is the best of any of those varieties I've tried, and it's mild enough to be able to use much more of the nam prik pao, than when I first used Thai dragons - great flavor, but much hotter. Unfortunately, Pinetree Gardens dropped Superthai many years ago, so I had to save some seeds, and through the years stabilize them, a
which took a while, but the flavor is still there. PG put Superthai back in there catalog in recent years, but unfortunately, it was not the old one - it was a small, Thai dragon type, and not even that good.

For a fresh pepper there is a pepper I got in the early 90s - Hanoi Market. This is a pepper that ripens orange, and the only pepper I ever had that tasted like this is Bulgarian Carrot pepper, even though I kept trying every orange pepper I'd see in catalogs! It's less hot, however - 30-40k, compared to 60k, so I could use more of it in dishes. It is great in guacamole, and many Thai and Vietnamese sauces, calling for fresh, ripe peppers. I'd see those shows of Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bordain, in those huge Asian markets, with piles of peppers, and they always had some piles of orange peppers, along with the reds and greens, which were probably like these peppers.

I also don't use jalapeños too often, unless I want that particular flavor, as it can overpower other flavors. Fresno is a favorite of mine, and one I grew this year - Pepperdew - had a great pepper flavor, but was very late, unfortunately. Might try it again, but start one very early, and grow it in a larger pot, before putting it out.

Then there's the Aji Dulce, which is a super flavored chinense pepper, that I have given to people who can't take heat, so they could experience that habanero flavor! It's been my experience that the milder habaneros didn't have as much flavor, as well, so those 400-500k varieties had more flavor, too! I had a stray orange habanero get in my chocolate habanero envelope, and the only plant I grew this year (I really don't need more than one of those plants!) turned out to be just this plain orange one, that also didn't have as much of that habanero flavor. The aji dulce has that intense flavor, yet almost no heat - maybe 500k, if that. So they could finally experience that flavor. And sometimes I'll want to make a habanero dish a little milder, so instead of 2 chocolate habs, I'll use 1 of each. With this, as with many peppers, it's better to use more of milder ones, rather than reduce the number, since then, you're looking flavor.

[Glitch]

[mention]pepperhead212[/mention] , thanks for taking the time to type so much up! The Aji Dulce peppers sound especially great. I like the idea of mixing a more flavorful pepper with a spicier pepper so you can get the best of both worlds.I also never thought to use other Thai peppers. My parents raised me on bird's eyes and they're so bland. I'll give some other Thai varieties a shot.

[Shule]

Of the peppers in that category that I've tried to date, this is most of what I think is the tastiest:

* Aji Dulce 1 (#1 favorite for taste; fruity green, not sure how it tastes red, since I ate them green; hardly spicy at all; great in raw salsa)
* Aji Habanero (to me, it tastes like it's about 50k to 75k SHU, but it's supposed to be 5k to 10k; it's baccatum, not chinense like actual Habaneros)
* Scotch Bonnet (some Scotch Bonnet's are higher than your range; so watch out for the SHU)
* Ring of Fire (the taste is pretty simple, but I still like it; basically like Cayenne, but hotter, with more sugar, and small peppers; I think this is hotter than advertised, personally; Baker Creek's version is the one I like; I tried another and it was different)
* Aji Omnicolor (fruity taste red, citrus taste orange; said to be 30k to 50k SHU; fully ripe ones are sometimes a lot hotter than that, to my tongue, but to me, the normal ones taste about 20k to 60k SHU)
* Grandpa's Home (with certain uses; you might not like it, but it's similar to Yatsufusa with different heat qualities; I like it dried and used as a spice in cooked dishes; savory taste—not sweet at all)
* Cayenne (the powder adds a nice zesty flavor to dishes; underrated spice; I didn't used to notice the flavor, though)

[Glitch]

[mention]Shule[/mention] , Ring of Fire is one that I wanted to try but cut from the list in past years. I'll add it back in for this year. I actually really do like cayenne, probably should have mentioned that in my opening post.

[Sue_CT]

Not cooking tonight. But Anyone know what variety of chilies they usually sell at nurseries just marked as “Thai Chilies”? Grew them last year. This year i bought the same thing but also found a Thai Dragon Chili plant and picked up one of those also, in addition to Poblano, Jalapeño and Serrano. Curious as how much difference there will be. Are the dragons even hotter than the standard Thai Chili?

[pepperhead212]

The generic "Thai Peppers" I've grown in the past have been smaller plants than the Thai Dragons and Thai Vesuvius, and have smaller peppers (about 1½", and a little skinnier), maybe a little hotter (about 70-80k), but not as much flavor, IMO. The Thai Dragons vary, but usually have larger plants. One of the best peppers I ever grew was a Thai Dragon hybrid, which unfortunately, disappeared from the market, and I couldn't stabilize it, from the saved seeds, and none of the dragons I've tried since have been quite as good, though most are still some of the better ones. I have some Thai Dragon from another source this year - I'll see how they compare. Some dragons I've grown produce the peppers in clusters - good for putting in the flower bed out front.

[Sue_CT]

We will have trade results this year. I have no problem sending seeds. They usually produce quite a bit, but don’t know if there are any special procedures to save pepper seeds. Are dragon peppers always hybrids?

[pepperhead212]

The Thai Dragons I see now are usually not hybrids. Also, when saving pepper seeds it's a good idea to isolate them in some way - bag the blossoms, or an entire branch, as peppers cross even easier than tomatoes. Bees are always all over my pepper blossoms.

[bower]

Some of the Mexican peppers in the 'barely hot' category are very very tasty. Guajillo and Pasilla Bajio, for example. I like the fruity high end heat notes of cayenne as well. Alma paprika, Santa Fe, are prolific and less hot types with a high note of heat.
If I had to pick one best tasting all round seasoning pepper it would be Guajillo for me. Loved using them fresh in all kinds of dishes.
None of these peppers are even close to your scorch level though.

[worth1]

Don't forget the pula chile.
A very good Chile pepper.

[bower]

Puya and Santaka are a couple I grew that are hotter than Guajillo but nice flavored and good as a dry seasoning pepper. The heat is on the cayenne side (high notes) vs Guerito for example - Guerito was super prolific but in the end I got tired of the low note burn. I always add ground cayenne when cooking to bump up the heat, as I do like that note but don't find there is a lot of flavor associated with it. Maybe I just can't taste flavor as much when the heat is up.
I got this bunch of Mexican peppers as seed bonus in a swap many years ago, what a lot of joy I got!!

[worth1]

@bower
To me the cayenne is flavorless as well.