Trinidad Moruga Scorpion going for Guinness record, or just going for your money?

In my quest to find out more about these so-called new pro-claimed record winners, I have had a good few emails and questions, why I would dig. Or why it is an interesting topic even. Note these questions have only been asked by people in the chilli business, or affiliated to it. Most of the time, I do answer; I am trying to follow the money. But as soon as the word money drops, all gets silent, or I get answers like “I am just earning my living”.
If I also hear from growers of the next possible runner ups, that they get over 1000 emails per day begging for seeds, do the calculation yourself for 10 dollar per 10 seeds or more.. Nothing wrong with it, if it really is a winner, but you know what? You need to win first, before you are a winner.

So, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Trinidad Scorpion “Moruga”, TS Morouga, and TS Morouga blend, that are the pretty much the same, has been announced on 5 February 2012 by NMSU’s ( New Mexico State University) Chile Pepper Institute (CPI) as the hottest pepper on earth. Jim Duffy from Refining Fire Chillies provided the seeds to the CPI and comes in several media for that and sells these seeds from this “Hottest pepper on earth”.

Nothing wrong with that sofar, however. . . .
A lot of controversy is there, as a lot of debate all over the web starts about the facts and numbers, and the question rises for proof and the publication of this proof.
Proof of this scientific research and its research gets published by the American Society for Horticultural Science in the Hortechnology issue August 2012 22(4) under the title: ‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’ Pepper is the World’s Hottest Measured Chile Pepper at More Than Two Million Scoville Heat Units. This title is somewhat better and I will explain this.

But first, where does this chilli come from? It has been found in Moruga, Trinidad in the Caribbean’s. It is found by Sara Ragoonanan, who found a lot more superhot chillies in this region. She, and I quote: “I found it in 2007, it was used as a vegetable. I used it for hot sauce. That's how I discovered this variety packed heat. I knew this was the variety I was searching for, I would first dissect the pods, and take some seeds out for growing. I did start trading seeds with no charge to growers worldwide. At that time I did not think super hots would get this recognition. “
She shared them with several people amongst others with Christopher Phillips, who shares them also wtih Neil Smith from the Hippyseedcompany and Marcel de Wit from the Chilli Factory. I love it, that sharing bit!
Those last two tell me both they have send seeds to Jim Duffy and Jim tells me he got it from Jukka in Finland. Funny in between the lines this great chap Neil Smith, is dyslexic so he miss spells the name Moruga to Morouga. So almost another variety was born. . . Sorry, drifted off, so after this trip around the world, let’s go to New Mexico.

Proof:
For testing SHU (Scoville Heat Units) the Chilli Pepper Institute grows chillies on fertile fields along the Rio Grande, in a high desert country, 1200 meters above sea level where the sun always shines, the air is dry, and only20 cm of rain a year. Well, that is bound to give good results. They performed an excellent test by the first look at it, testing the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpion, Douglah Trinidad Chocolate, and Trinidad 7-pot Jonah to see which variety has the highest average measured heat level (mean) and how the chile peppers are related, using molecular analysis. Now, sounds great but I would have loved this research to compare the others to the current Guinness Book of records chilli, the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.
And they do not? Well, they could not get the seeds at the time they answer by mail after asking.

Even though the publication of this research in HortTechnology at first glance looks great, it is wildly vague about how many plants there were planted it their test fields, and even do not name a specific number of pods tested. This is a bit strange, together with the title “World hottest measured Chilli” Then if you want to read the issue from HortTechnology, or the part that has the research the answer is: It is copyrighted so, you have to pay money for it. . . .
After asking by email the CPI replies: We harvested 30 pods per plant, randomly picked from different places all over the plant, 20 plants per replication and there were 4 replications.
There were 2,400 pods harvested from each variety.
So the article should have been clear on that.

The result from all this testing is clear; The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion has peaked at 2,009,231 SHU having a low at 953,703 SHU and an average heat level (mean) of 1,207,764.
So is this now the new Guinness Book of Records chilli? No, as the other winners had to proof average (mean) heat level, and this chilli is 200.000SHU+ under par.
So is the “World hottest measured Chilli” No, as we haven’t seen publications of research by others, nor their test results for highest measured. V ( Nor is the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T tested for this at the CPI themselves either.)
Why? It is not important what the highest is, it is important what the average is if you want to make produce with it. Would I want to use it at home? No, as I have 2 kids and a wife, and I would not like it to play Russian roulette with food that can be twice as hot depending on which plant you took a chilli from.

Still, seeds are sold as mad, so from this self proclaimed title money is made. People contesting this “record” are being told that the other record breakers are not tested by a third party.
SHU measurements would have been done by colleges or second grade laboratories.
Only one pepper would have been tested and other rubbish.
The lab equipment would not be calibrated with the other labs, etc etc.
Well for SHU measurement there is a standardized procedure that any labrat can do if he has the tools.
Even the scale at the local butcher is calibrated every year, so what do you think they do in a lab, smoke pot?
Even Guinness is attacked: “Guinness is Independent and nothing but a record keeper and record publisher. They are not a scientific organization. They can make their own rules and set their own criteria and change it anytime they want.” ( Guinness when I called them, asked me to provide links to these statements, and to send them on to their legal department )
These poor excuses was what tickled me to look further into things, as they sound to me like poor excuses, or as poor advertisement for a chilli that is not a winner.
And claiming victory on a self proclaimed title of “World hottest measured Chilli” is too silly to step in to.

Weird enough there has been more controversies with the “New Mexico Scorpion” as well. This was also claimed to be a new found variety, that later was discovered to be a renamed one.

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, the current record holder.

The current record holder therefore is still Marcel de Wit from Australia with the Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” and after asking he let us know:
So the Guinness World Record was:
- Tested more than one pod.
- 8,500 Trinidad plants, commercial growers.
- Scientifically tested and averaged/MEAN heat.

Anybody telling you differently just tell them to read this ... and yes we have had to send a scientifically correct tested, backed up by THREE horticulturists, pack with lots of information to Guinness World Record to PROOF we did it Scientifically!

All in all I think it is great that a chilli grower works with  the CPI, and is giving away loads of seeds to research, as others did not. So I hope Jim Duffy can select the hottest plants, topping at 2 million SHU. If he gets that one stable at say 1,8 million SHU, I bet nobody will go over that mark.

If you want the hottest, ask for proof, if there is none I’ll bet you. . .
There is none.

Yours sincerely,

Bart J. Meijer
Images by Chris Fowler, a chap in the UK with excellent seeds as well!

Taste review unknown Yellow Crazy Hot,

Now my friend Henry and his friend Beppe from Italy send me one load of chillies you would not believe! They selected the ones I needed to taste, although they have a lot more, they wanted me to taste these ones. So I dug in and as it appears, with the first bite I made a mistake.
Now excuse me please, but I did get a little excited unpacking, and got punished. I unpacked one, bright yellow and a little orange, not pointy but irregular in a funny way.

The paper next to it said Cornetto Calabrese, so not knowing it I was taking good care but took a rather large piece from in between the seed lists. I felt like a chilli rookie again, man that pepper had me sing. Good grief it was hot, but tasty never the less, but boy did I sing. So I asked Henry if they always are that hot. Well then I understood I need to learn to speak and write Italian. Who needs Latin?

So, I thought I’d better taste on, I will get it later. The scent of this chilli is great, perfumy chinense, with fruits and sweets. The chinense part that sometimes has an irritating overtone in both smell and taste is not there, it is in balance. So tasting again, but more, much more careful. Tastng and smelling I get a scent and taste from Tea Rose, perfume. In the middle there is no sweets, no paprika but fruits and a bit of metal like bleeding. You get that in times if you eat superhot chillies like these. Rinse with milk and get back at it, smaller bits I take. In the tip of it I find a bit of sweet and tastes like pineapple. A little piece from the middle does give me a bit of a bitter, but not irritating as such, and again the tea rose and the perfumy chinense. At the top however I get apricot and tea rose as well as some paprika taste. This is one weird lovable chilli that is extremely hot, far hotter than a Fatalii.

So again I have a chat with Henry from Italy, asking what it is. In the end I show him the picture and the label that I thought belonged together. “Ah” Henry says “that is a Bhut Jolokia Yellow, and the best he has selected over more than 10 years”. Every time he only takes seeds from the plant he likes best, and sure did one great job. This my good readers is one chilli to respect, not feared, but used in little bits if you don’t want to be scorched. But this is a chilli that makes me think of a great Chili con Carne, that is subtle on the herbs. Good grief Beppe, I am so digging in the next one tomorrow. Thank you ever soo much, this is a superhot chilli I love !!

Yours sincerely,

Bart J Meijer

Overwintering a chilli plant

Some weeks ago I told you about pruning a chilli plant for overwintering. Now I have a good few plants in the house at the moment, all doing fairly well, I am pleased. So I was in the process of tasting chillies again. Now that does take a bit of time as I do have to do some research as well, to try and tell you the most I can. Now with my head in tastes, with the accidental burn at times, I am trying to find words.
At times it is hard to describe a chilli, same as you tasted something new and had to describe the herbs. When I look at Hell’s Kitchen from Gordon Ramsey, I find it most amusing to see wannabe chefs that cannot pick out tastes like peanut butter. Very funny to look at Chef Gordon’s face as well. Sorry I am drifting off topic again.

So when I was staring out the window to get a grasp at a taste, my eye started to focus on a plant..
Good grief, I killed a plant, and then remembered my own tips and tricks. Please excuse me for killing 2 plants in fact, now you see an experienced grower makes mistakes too.

In a post before I told you about the hormone system of a plant. If a plant has ripe fruits, especially a chilli plant, it thinks it is done for the season. So if you pick the ripe fruits, it will ripen off the rest of the fruits. If all fruits are picked the plant will start to flower again, getting in a growing and flowering state again. Now that is all done by the plants hormone system. In fall and in winter it is much the same, with one major difference. If a plant has a ripe fruit on, it will start to die in winter, as it has done its task. How can I forget? Well with my head up the clouds. . .

A plant with black/purple fruits should be observer very good.

So other than the regular tips for your overwintering plant, like don’t overwater; don’t leave ripe fruit in the plant. Now it the plant starts to get in flower mode again, it might drop all its flowers. Now that is a shame if you want to have good chillies early in the year. The main reason for flower drop is low humidity, and there is an easy fix to that. If you do get flowers and the plant is over a radiator or other form of heating, put some water in a pot on top of the heater.
If the flowers open, give the plant a little tap at times or a bit of a shake. The male and female parts are so close in the flower, as said in my post about isolating flowers, it will self-pollinate. But as I do so certainly hope there is no wind blowing through your house, give the plant a shake to imitate the movement of the wind.

Yours sincerely,

Bart J. Meijer

Chocolate, me and chilli - Grimreapers Chilli Chocolate !

I am not really one for candy or sweets, in the sense like eating a bag in a day or a chocolate bar in a day. Sure I do eat a candy once in a blue moon, or a piece of chocolate if my wife puts in on the table. But really, I seldom see myself raiding the fridge for something sweet. One exception is drop; that is what is Dutch for Salty Liquorice (in North America called black Licorice), a candy made with salmiak and Liquorice root. Dear readers, you can say anything about that stuff, but it is wonderful. It has a nice balance between sweet and salt, and got an odd rich taste. I can eat a box a day easy, but I try not to. While writing this I just could not help myself, or did help myself with a good handful. Really if I would be send off to Alcatraz, I would take Sambal, a pen and some paper and a box full of Liquorice with me! Ok, where was I, sorry for rambling. . .

So, I am not one for candy, chocolate and so on. What made it worse I think is having kids. At times I get a so-called lovely sweet from the kids when they are sharing. Some of it is so sour it feels like my teeth are eaten, awful. And the stuff with chocolate, boy, everything seems to have chocolate in it. Crispy whatever chocolate things for breakfast, cookies with chocolate, even cruesli bars with chocolate.

Believe me, after weeks not being able to eat a cookie without chocolate, or breakfast without chocolate you get sick off the stuff . . . 

Worst of it all, it is a cheap excuse for a chocolate containing very little chocolate if at all. So I get this big box in from Grimreaper food UK, Russell Williams and guess what is in it? Chocolate. . . .

 But as this is work related, I will have to eat the stuff, thanks Russel.

I tasted the bar of Hellraiser, the milk chocolate version. But first, this is not simply chocolate in wrapper; no this is really nicely looking packet with a ribbon in it. A ribbon that my daughter fancies rightaway, and I do have to admit, this looks stunning! The kids wanted to dig in, and told them not to. They were a bit surprised and started protesting; “You don’t even like chocolate !!!” So I took a little myself to see if it wasn’t too hot first, and was stunned with the taste. This is one chocolate with a capital C! The taste is superb and extremely well balanced, I can even taste the liquorice tones that you have in the dried Naga Jolokia chilli which is used to spike this chocolate. I hoped that I did not spoil the surprise that it was one good chocolate, with the kids looking at me to try and see if I liked it. So I offered them a piece and told them to take care not to take a big bite at once. They both took a good bite, and even my wife wanted some. We all agreed it is superb, and the kids wanted more. . .

We compared it with another very good chocolate, and that really surprised us all, the Grimreaper chocolate is by far better in its chocolate contend and taste!

This chocolate has the classic combination of cinnamon and orange, with a twist of garlic that is hardly noticeable but complementary and the full taste of Naga chillies. Surprisingly you can taste the herbs and fruit tones that you can find in the real Naga Jolokia, unbelievable! I don’t think it is too hot really, no, it is well spiked with the full array of tastes the Naga has without going over the top.

Now my daughter wanted to make a video review for Grimreaper foods, and that was not done in one take. So after about 10 tries thus eating 10 pieces, it was on video. Half an hour later or less I got the buzz of eating Naga chillies, almost a high I would say, that I also got from eating a wild chilli from the Galapagos Islands. The video was received with great comments, and the chocolate was received by us with great joy!

This chocolate I think is one to recommend, not only for hotheads for sure. No, this is one I can recommend for anyone that wants to try something different, something new and great !

Yours sincerely,

Bart J. Meijer