To the casual observer, downtown Fort Mill, South Carolina appears to be a sleepy Southern town where nothing much has changed for the past hundred years or so. But peek inside one storefront, and the impression shatters. Inside you’ll find images of a horned devil and the Grim Reaper amid bottles of blood red liquid.
No, it’s not a shop for Satanic rites… instead you’ve found the PuckerButt Pepper Company, home of the world’s hottest pepper. The Carolina Reaper won the Guinness Book of World Records title for hottest pepper, not once but twice, most recently in 2017. The pepper, 200 times hotter than a jalapeno, is the creation of "Smokin" Ed Currie, a self-described mad-scientist, who crossed a Ghost Pepper and a Red Habanero in his backyard greenhouse back in the early 2000s. Today, he’s the largest chili pepper grower on the East Coast, with products that brought in $10.5 million last year from sales in 95 countries around the world.
Or maybe Currie crossed a La Soufriere pepper from St. Vincent Island in the Caribbean with a Naga Viper pepper from Pakistan. Given the contentious nature of “chiliheads” and the ongoing competition to grow the world’s hottest pepper, Currie is perhaps understandably wary about revealing his methods. He keeps the location of his fields secret as well, hoping to avoid seed stealers.
It took Currie 12 years of pepper-crossing to come up with the Carolina Reaper, which he had tested by chemists at Winthrop University to determine its Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating, a measure of pepper hotness used universally in the world of chiliheads. Jalapenos, for instance, typically have a SHU between 2,500 to 8,000. When tests revealed that the Reaper had an average of 1.6 million SHU, with a high of 2.2 million, Currie submitted his pepper to the Guinness folks.
Smokin Racha hot sauce, another tongue-scorching topping sold at PuckerButts. [Photo/Renee Wright]
Currie says he didn’t start out aiming to grow the world’s hottest pepper. “I was actually looking for a chemical reaction, not heat,” he says. “Some studies have suggested that capsaicin, the stuff that makes peppers hot, could be useful in treating cancer. Certain molecules in peppers match keyholes in certain cancers.”
Hot peppers have also been said to contribute to heart health and even be beneficial for ulcer sufferers, a finding that seems counter-intuitive considering the considerable gastric distress they can cause. Currie admits that his peppers and the sauces made from them can cause abdominal cramps, and worse. Hence the name, PuckerButt.
Travelers are welcome to stop by the PuckerButt shop in historic Fort Mill and sample the many sauces, salsas and mustards with evocative names such as Edible Lava, Voodoo Prince, Gator Sauce, I Dare You Stupit, Bacon Me Crazy and Purgatory. You can buy peanuts soaked in Carolina Reaper essence or an incredibly spicy sausage marinated in the same. Even pepper-spiked chocolate is available.
Step through the doors of the shop on Main Street and you’ll be greeted by one of Currie’s helpful (if slightly sadistic) assistants, eager to guide you through the numerous taste experiences on offer. Samples on little spoons get more fiery as you go, and will soon have you racing for the water cooler in the corner.
By the way, Currie says that water and the often mentioned milk aren’t the best way to cool the fire in your mouth. “For that, you need something with citric acid in it,” he says. “Lemon or lime aide, or maybe grapefruit juice.”
The PuckerButt shop, decorated with the many awards won by Currie’s peppers, also sells a huge variety of pepper-based products you wouldn’t ordinarily imagine, plus clever logo’d t-shirts, hats and more. Lots of seeds from various pepper strains around the world, including rare varieties such as Sudanese bird peppers, Brazilian starfish, Vietnamese tearjerkers, and the memorable Thai rat’s turd, are for sale as well, so you can get started on breeding your own hottest pepper at home. Directions for growing them are included.
Currie started his pepper empire back in 2004 selling a hot sauce and salsa at a local flea market. “Today I’m selling everything pepper-related from the seed to the table,” he says. He also sells pepper mash, flakes and sauce to the wholesale market, where it’s used in everything from vodka to ramen noodles.
PuckerButt’s biggest seller, Reaper Squeezins, contains 92% Carolina Reaper mash mixed with a little vinegar. Those who’ve tried it say it’s like swallowing a stick of dynamite.
Currie says the shop attracts a lot of thrill seekers, eager to test their tastebuds against the hottest peppers in the world. This summer he sponsored a pepper-eating contest that attracted contestants, what Currie calls “pepper idiots,” from as far afield as Australia.
Hot peppers, Currie contends, are good for you. “The burn pumps endorphins and dopamine into your body - you get high as a kite,” he says. “Maybe I’ll come out with a nutraceutical…”
But the quest for the hottest pepper continues, with other growers attempting to oust the Carolina Reaper from its top spot. Currie has an ace in the hole - make that eight aces - strains that he’s keeping in reserve that are even hotter than the Carolina Reaper.
Next up to defend the title will be what Currie calls Pepper X, which he says is twice as hot as the Reaper, with a 3.2 million SHU rating.
“The first time I tried it,” Currie recalls, “it brought me to my knees.” For your own experience of his creation, check out his shop here.
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