Everytime my wife and I went to World Market, I would see this on the shelves. But couldn't bring myself to spend $23 on 5oz of hot sauce. I had the Apollo before, and I wasn't impressed with the flavor. Two of my favorite peppers are the Reaper and the Scorpion. This. This is it. It's hot, it lasts, but it's not deadly. Really good flavor and something I'll be getting more often when I want to sweat.
by AtheistPlumber
8 Comments
I tried this one right after it came out a couple years ago. My dad and I ordered the whole box of that season’s Hot Ones lineup and ran the gauntlet together. It was fine! Not something I’d want very often. It made me sweat as hard as Da Bomb (which we skipped that time around because we’d tried it on a previous run through a different season and why do that to yourself twice?), but definitely tasted way better. Still, I think I’d pass most of the time. I prefer a more medium range spice intake for even semi regular eating.
I love the flavor as well but $25 a pop just isn’t feasible for me and I wish they’d lower it.
Has good flavor, don’t think it’s worth the gut bomb though!
I actually really like it too. My kids know I like hot stuff so they got me a hot ones box as a gag. I ended up using all 3 bottles lol
Straight up swindled. Supposedly 91% PepperX at 2.693Million SHU yet people OP included compare it to 100k SHU sauces….The sauce tastes good but it’s priced like we’re paying for some out of this world, insane, record breaking experience per the marketing around the bottle…and the sauce just isn’t what it claims. It tastes nice but it’s a shame the way Ed operates and milks the community for all we’re worth with releases like this.
…and now my boiler plate response:
Ed is well known in the chili pepper community for being a grifter and not one to foster community but rather to oppose anyone who threatens his fame and chili pepper empire.
When the reaper came out it was certified with a SHU rating from a single chili rather than a batch as per general industry practice. Any chili head who eats pods will tell you there have been much hotter peppers both now and back when the reaper was certified. Guinness is a marketing company at the end of the day, their certification brings hype and marketability but it’s something Ed pays for for the sake of hype and commercial success. It’s also feasible that his ratings and paperwork for the reaper and pepper X have been faked/modified to make his chili varieties appear spicier than they are. That claim is not pure lacking evidence propaganda because:
The SHU of independently tested reapers used by spicy chili product manufacturers to ensure a consistent and targeted SHU rating etc has been openly published and documented to be well below the guiness rating.
This discrepancy in SHU has also been noticed in the hot ones SHU ratings that Ed supplies chilies for. He’s openly said the bottle SHU rating on the bottle isn’t actually how spicy the product is but how spicy the chili that went imo the bottle is because it’s more intriguing and that the general public doesn’t understand science. See it for yourself in the linked video below.
Regarding him masquerading like his claim above about dilution is reasonable…of course the mechanics of dilution are real but, The last dab sauce has has tested at approximately ~70k SHU multiple times in independent tests yet it is marketed as over 91% pepper X. A pepper that’s supposed to be 2.63M scoville, even if that remaining 9% was 0SHU was we’d expect 2.63×0.91=2.4M SHU sauce yet it tests at 3% that value. Regardless the bottle sells for $20+ BECAUSE THE CHILI IS SUPPOSED TO BE SO HOT which it’s not! Pure scam. So many average price bottles are out there that are so much more hotter.
Refusing to ever release Pepper X seeds is a giant red flag. These seeds must be kept under lock and key IMO because it’s obvious if others could grow them his 2.63Million marketing campaign lie would be exposed.
Ed is disingenuous with his marketing and has lost respect amongst growers. He’s a character that’s built a little empire on putting others down, lies, and my few data points only scratch the surface of what respectable members of the chili community have accused him of and voiced concerns about.
Don’t get me wrong the reaper is f’n hot and the sauces ed makes are good I just don’t like that he’s openly misrepresenting his products and charging a premium for them while actively working to ensure other growers don’t get a piece of the market share. It’s slimy.
https://youtu.be/dutpBSKj8JY?si=hRujwp_-oNDCYAjJ
Oh you poor soul, of all the last dabs this one is by far the worst, in terms of flavour and heat. I was so disappointed with it.
Couple or seven of dabs of that bad boy in a ramen is🤌👌
I love all of them in the moment, the next day not so much hahaha!