By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. February 16, 2012 (AP)

There are super-hot chile varieties. And then there’s the sweat-inducing, tear-generating, mouth-on-fire Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.

With a name like that, it’s not surprising that months of research by the experts at New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute have identified the variety as the new hottest pepper on the planet.

The golf ball-sized pepper scored the highest among a handful of chile breeds reputed to be among the hottest in the world. Its mean heat topped more than 1.2 million units on the Scoville heat scale, while fruits from some individual plants reached 2 million heat units.

“You take a bite. It doesn’t seem so bad, and then it builds and it builds and it builds. So it is quite nasty,” Paul Bosland, a renowned pepper expert and director of the chile institute, said of the pepper’s heat.

Researchers were pushed by hot sauce makers, seed producers and others in the spicy foods industry to establish the average heat levels for super-hot varieties in an effort to quash unscientific claims of which peppers are actually the hottest.

That’s something that hadn’t been done before, Bosland said.

“The question was, could the Chile Pepper Institute establish the benchmark for chile heat?” he said. “Chile heat is a complex thing, and the industry doesn’t like to base it on just a single fruit that’s a record holder. It’s too variable.” The academic institute is based at the university’s agriculture school and is partially funded by federal grants, as well as some industry groups depending on the project.

The team planted about 125 plants of each variety — the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, the Trinidad Scorpion, the 7-pot, the Chocolate 7-pot and the Bhut Jolokia, which was a previous record-holder identified by the institute and certified by Guinness World Records in 2007.

Randomly selected mature fruits from several plants within each variety were harvested, dried and ground to powder. The compounds that produce heat sensation — the capsaicinoids — were then extracted and examined.

During harvesting, senior research specialist Danise Coon said she and the two students who were picking the peppers went through about four pairs of latex gloves.

“The capsaicin kept penetrating the latex and soaking into the skin on our hands. That has never happened to me before,” she said.

Chile peppers of the same variety can vary in heat depending on environmental conditions. More stress on a plant — hotter temperatures or less water, for example — will result in hotter fruit.

The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’s new notoriety is already making waves in the industry and among those who love their hot, spicy foods.

“As with all the previous record holders, there will be a run on seeds and plants,” said Jim Duffy, a grower in San Diego who supplied the university with seeds for four of the super-hot varieties. “Like Cabbage Patch dolls right before Christmas or Beanie Babies, it’s like the hot item.”

Not even Duffy or the researchers would dare to pop a whole Trinidad Moruga Scorpion in their mouths, but there are plenty of videos on social networking sites where heat-loving daredevils have tried.

The blood flow increases and the endorphins start flowing. Their faces turn red, the sweat starts rolling, their eyes and noses water and there’s a fiery sensation that spreads across their tongues and down their throats.

“People actually get a crack-like rush,” Duffy said. “I know the people who will eat the hottest stuff to get this rush, but they’ve got to go through the pain.”

Pepper experts said there are a handful of people who are crazy enough to subject themselves to the pain, but the rest just want to try out these super-hot peppers on their friends or make killer hot sauce — and it doesn’t take a whole pepper to do that.

More bang for the buck is how Bosland describes it. He said a family could buy two of the super-hot peppers to flavor their meals for an entire week.

The beauty of the peppers is they’re not only the hottest in the world, but they’re also some of the most flavorful peppers, Duffy said.

“You can make a barbeque sauce or a hot sauce at a mild to medium level using small amounts of these peppers and it will be so darn addictive that you won’t want to put your spoon down,” he said. “You’ll want to eat and eat and eat.”

I recently had the misfortune of trying the Death Wings Challenge at Lindy’s at Redline Sports Grill. The challenge requires that you eat one dozen of their Death Wings in under 20 minutes with no sauce, drinks, or anything besides the wings and then keep the wings down without eating or drinking anything else for another 10 minutes. If you manage to succeed, you are rewarded with free wings….

When I arrived, there had only been two people to succeed at this challenge so it sounded like a good idea to try it. Three of my friends decided to take on the challenge with me. You will have to check out the video to see the results!

I will tell you that this is a very tough wing challenge and newbys should not even attempt this challenge. I am rating the sauce a 9 out of 10 on the heat scale! I was told that the sauce is a combination of multiple sauces and peppers with some powder and two different extracts. One of the hardest parts about this challenge was the sheer volume of sauce, these wings had a thick layer of hot sauce caked on them!

The worst part about this attempt was the aftermath. You probably noticed that I was walking around a lot in the video, that was because my stomach was going crazy. As a matter of fact my stomach continued to rebel against me the whole night. It felt like the sauce was burning a whole through the wall of my digestive system if I laid in one spot for too long!

If you feel like you are extra rugged and have easily eaten the hottest wings at any restaurant that you have

visited, then come to Tucson and give this wing challenge a try! Actually, make sure you let me know that you are going and I may stop by to watch! If I don’t join you, make sure you record your attempt and send it to me, I would be happy to watch it and possibly post it!

McCoy’s THIS sauce, which stands for Thick Hot Irish Sauce fits the description pretty well. I am not very familiar with Irish sauces, but I will take their word for it, the sauce is quite thick and has a very small amount of heat. This is a great sauce for someone looking for some variation to their condiments if they can’t handle spicy. The sauce is very similar to a spicy ketchup. The flavor of THIS sauce is better than ketchup, hands down and THIS sauce is also more spicy than ketchup, but not by much. This sauce was great on Burgers and french fries. I am rating this hot sauce a 1 out of 10 on the heat scale.

This hot sauce had a mediocre taste with hints of habanero. I only noticed a small amount of heat from the habanero peppers. There was nothing that jumped out at me as unique about this sauce. I am rating this sauce a 3 out of 10 on the heat scale.

Mike: Habanero Peppers are one of my favorite peppers. I love the citrus flavor and the heat that these peppers can bring. These habanero peppers were quite spicy for Habanero Peppers. If you find Jalapeno or Serrano Peppers spicy you should only sample a small amount of a Habanero pepper with your food until you check the heat. I am rating this pepper a 7 out of 10 on the heat scale.

Josh: These peppers are hot and horrible. I am rating this pepper a 10 out of 10 on the heat scale.

This is a beautiful display of hot pepper bouquets in Venice.   Peperoncino piccante is how you say spicy pepper in Italian.  Most restaurants did not even have crushed red pepper flakes, but some restaurants had peppers to add.  Below are pictures of the peppers that I was given to spice up my pasta.

These peppers were good!

In Greece, a hot pepperis called kafto peperi

In Greece, we seemed to get the same red peppers, only roasted.  These were the only peppers we found in the Mediterranean until we bumped into a unique plant on someones porch on a Greek Island.  I will tell you more about that in my next post.

Rippin Red’ Hot Wing Sauce is not your ordinary buffalo wing sauce.  Sure, the sauce still has that buffalo wing sauce flavor in the background, but this sauce has a very rich buttery parmesan cheese flavor in the front.  The flavor of this hot wing sauce is quite good and the sauce is lacking in heat.  Even in the hot version of the sauce, it was not very spicy.  If you can’t handle spicy sauce, this is a great choice for your wings.  I am rating the heat of the hot version of this wing sauce a 3 out of 10 on the heat scale.

Mike: Heartbreaking Dawns Classic Gold Hot Sauce has a great flavor, that is if you like a sweet hot sauce. This hot sauce tastes very versatile as it would go well with most meats. This is not the type of hot sauce you would think of first for chips, but you may enjoy the sauce on chips too. The hot sauce has a little bit of heat, I am rating this sauce a 4 out of 10 on the heat scale.

Josh: I really liked the taste of this hot sauce and could definitely see eating this hot sauce on pork. I think pork is the perfect fit for this hot sauce. I thought this hot sauce had a decent amount of heat and I am rating this sauce a 5 out of 10 on the heat scale.

Mike:  Tom’s Hot Sauce, Kickflip Fire is a thin sauce with an orange color. The hot sauce has a great lime, habanero pepper flavor just like the “old man medium” version.     This hot sauce was supposed to be a little spicier than the “old man medium”.  I didn’t think this sauce was any spicier, what I did notice was that this sauce had a stronger lime taste.   This sauce was very good just like the previous sauce.  I am rating this hot sauce a 4 out of 10 on the heat scale.

Josh:  I felt that Tom’s Hot Sauce, Kickflip Fire was a good hot sauce.  The hot sauce packed some heat and I loved the flavor just as much as I like the “old man medium” sauce.   I am rating this sauce a 5 out of 10 on the heat scale.