Scorpions vs scotch bonnets vs reapers vs habaneros. A review.

I grew these four types of peppers this year and was pretty excited because I had never tried any of them fresh aside from habaneros.

I kind of figured what I could expect but came across a couple surprises.

I personally found the scorpions to be every bit as spicy as the reapers but hit in a more painful way. Reaper ignited my mouth, made me tear up, made me pretty miserable for around 10 minutes but was exhilarating. Scorpions however did all that but also gave me hiccups (first time ever getting hiccups from spicy food) murdered the back of my throat and plugged up my ears for a while.

I figure I probably have some tame reapers that are at the lowest end of the heat range for them. They were still insanely hot, don’t get me wrong but they were honestly more tolerable than the scorpions.

My other surprise was how much flavor the scorpions have. A little sliver, maybe 1/10th of the pepper was added to a bowl of beans, and these beans were seasoned heavily. By the time I let it simmer in the beans it had given the whole bowl an amazing flavor that definitely became the thing I could taste the most. The amount of heat it added to the beans was negligible.

The scotch bonnet was delightful. Not too spicy but could definitely feel it. It was quite pleasant much like a habanero. I’ve been eating super hots a lot lately so I have some tolerance built up and I found this pepper to be perfect for adding to a salad or sandwich when I want a little kick. It has a great flavor, kind of a little sweet almost like a hint of a tropical fruit and flowers.

Next year I think I will skip the reapers and grow ghost peppers instead. I really prefer ghost peppers and find them easier to use in recipes than the reapers. I’ll grow scorpions because they add so much flavor but also can give me as much heat as I want. On top of that I’ll be growing jalapeños and habaneros like I usually do but also I’m going to grow a few scotch bonnet plants because they are definitely a new favorite pepper of mine.

How do you all feel about these varieties? If anyone would like to recommend me some varieties to try out next year I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Rating for my personal enjoyment

Reaper: 5/10
Scorpion: 9/10
Scotch bonnet: 10/10
Habanero: 9/10

Hope you all have a spicy lovely day.