Pepper X, also bred by Currie, took the record in August 2023 at 2.69 million SHU, but the Reaper is still the pepper most challenge videos reach for. In our 2026-11-09 sample of 446 TikTok challenge videos, the 9 that mention the Reaper had about 5.5 million views between them.
Price tables: SpicyExtreme foods
At a glance
| Product | Claim | Lowest eBay | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
 Dried Carolina Reaper Peppers | 1,641,183 SHU average | $8.39 | Check price |
 PuckerButt Reaper Squeezins | Reaper and vinegar, from its breeder | $27.50 | Check price |
How the Carolina Reaper challenge works
The usual video format, made famous when Hot Ones' Sean Evans ate a whole Reaper in 2015:
- Eat one whole Carolina Reaper pepper, or a teaspoon of Reaper sauce, on camera.
- Start a timer: no milk or water for as long as you can hold out.
- Rate the burn every minute until it fades.
Do it safely
- Wear gloves to handle dried or fresh pods, and keep them away from your eyes.
- Have milk, yogurt or bread ready; stop if you feel chest pain, vomit or feel faint.
- Not for children.
The Reaper products
Dried Carolina Reaper Peppers
Whole dried pods: the pepper itself, at an average 1,641,183 Scoville units in Winthrop University's tests. Grind a pinch into chili or make your own sauce.
PuckerButt Reaper Squeezins
Made by PuckerButt Pepper Co., the company of Reaper breeder Ed Currie. Reviewers describe it as more pepper and less vinegar than The Reaper Sauce, so more heat per drop.
We earn a commission on purchases through these links. eBay prices (item + shipping) read from our latest check; Amazon links open a search, so check the price there. Listed in no particular order. Each figure is the maker’s or the named source’s claim, as of 2026-11-09.
How hot is that?
Scoville heat units on a log scale: each step right is a multiple, not an addition.
Pepper Sauce or candy On this page
- Tabasco sauce
2,500 to 5,000 SHU · source - Jalapeño
about 5,000 SHU · source - Blair's Mega Death
550,000 SHU · source - Blair's Ultra Death
1,100,000 SHU · source - Carolina Reaper
1,641,183 (average) SHU · source - Blair's Crystal Death
2,000,000 SHU · source - Hot Ones The Last Dab
2,000,000+ SHU · source - Pepper X
2,693,000 average SHU · source - Lil' Nitro gummy bear
9,000,000 (extract rating) SHU · source - Mad Dog 357 Plutonium No. 9
9,000,000 SHU · source - Toe of Satan lollipop
9,000,000 (extract) SHU · source - World's Hottest Chocolate Bar
9,000,000 (extract) SHU · source - Blair's 16 Million Reserve (sold out)
about 16,000,000 SHU · source
Good to know
- Heat and record figures from Wikipedia's Carolina Reaper page (last edited 4 October 2026). Individual peppers vary; the 2.2 million SHU figure some outlets report was never confirmed by Guinness.
- PuckerButt does not print a Scoville rating on these sauces that we could confirm.
Watch the Carolina Reaper
▶Sean Evans and Chili Klaus eat the Carolina ReaperFirst We Feast · YouTube · 2015
▶How this guy made the world's hottest peppersWIRED · YouTube · 2019
▶Pepper X: the new world's hottest pepperFirst We Feast · YouTube · 2023Videos open on YouTube. We don't make or endorse them; they show what the challenge looks like.
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Sources
- Wikipedia: Carolina Reaper, read 2026-11-09: “Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper”
- YouTube: Hot Ones, Carolina Reaper with Chili Klaus, Dec 2015