The Orange Carolina Reaper is a rare strain of the Carolina Reaper pepper, which is currently the hottest pepper in the world that can be grown by the general public, according to Guinness World Records. In November 2013, the Guinness Book of World Records named the Carolina Reaper as the new hottest pepper in the world, replacing the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. The Carolina Reaper pepper averages 1,569,300 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) and some peppers have been tested over 2,200,000 SHU, and it is believed that the Orange Carolina Reaper is slightly less spicy than the original Carolina Reaper, but its fruity, sweet flavor is very similar. There’s a lot more flavor to the Orange Carolina Reaper than most extremely hot peppers as its citrus flavor is especially popular in tropical cuisine.
The original Carolina Reaper pepper was originally developed by Ed Currie, who crossed a Red Habanero with a Ghost pepper. Like Trinidad Scorpion varieties, the Carolina Reaper has a scorpion-like tail. The Orange Carolina Reaper starts off green and ripens to orange, reaching about 1.5 to 2 inches in total length. This is a new strain, so Orange Carolina Reaper peppers are still in the process of being fully stable. It is somewhat similar to the Orange 7 Pot Primo and Orange Trinidad Scorpion.
The Carolina Reaper pepper was crossed with Jay’s Peach Ghost Scorpion pepper to create the California Reaper, which was originally developed by Steve Bender at the Innovation Acre.
