The Year of the Ghost Pepper!

Did you know that 2009 is the year of the ghost? No, not on the Chinese calendar, on the Chile-head calendar.

It seems that there is finally enough of the incredibly hot Bhut Jolokia pepper commercially available not that a plethora of ghostly hot products have hit the market running.

The Naga Jolokia (also known as Bhut Jolokia, Ghost Chili, Ghost Pepper, Naga Morich) is a chili pepper that grows primarily in Assam state of India, but also in northeastern India (Nagaland, Manipur), Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. In 2006, it was confirmed by Guinness World Records to be the hottest chili in the world, replacing the Red Savina.

In 2000, scientists at India's Defense Research Laboratory (DRL) reported a rating of 855,000 units on the Scoville scale, and in 2004 an Indian company obtained a rating of 1,041,427 units through HPLC analysis. This makes it almost twice as hot as the Red Savina pepper. For comparison, pure capsaicin rates at 15,000,000–16,000,000 Scoville units.

In 2005 at New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute near Las Cruces, New Mexico, Regents Professor Paul Bosland found Naga Jolokia grown from seed in southern New Mexico to have a Scoville rating of 1,001,304 SHU by HPLC.

In February 2007, Guinness World Records certified the Bhut Jolokia (Prof. Bosland's preferred name for the pepper) as the world's hottest chili pepper.

Last year Dave’s Gourmet, famous for their Insanity Sauce released the first 2008 Ghost Pepper Private Reserve in the well know wood coffin caution tape wrapped packaging. This year the Return of the Ghost Pepper Private Reserve 2009 is making its debut and apparition like disappearance. Hundreds of the ghoulish hot sauce has been pre-sold prior to its release and current inventory is flying off the shelves. We anticipate that in a very short time you will have to hire yourself a ghost hunter to locate this spicy specter.

While we don’t have the actual Scoville rating of the 2009 Private Reserve the addition of Jolokia peppers insures that these will be some of the hottest reserves ever made by the spicemeister.

In other ethereal hot sauce news from Dave’s Gourmet, Ghost Pepper Naga Jolokia Hot Sauce, the newest member of the insanity line has just been released. This sauce is “So Hot It’s Spooky”, and it says so right across the top of the label. A quick review of the ingredient declaration shows that Jolokia peppers are the primary ingredient in this sauce, and if that’s not enough for you it’s spiked up with hot chile extract. In case your taste but are not completely flambéed roasted garlic is added to round out the flavor. Don’t be fooled though, the primary flavor in this new hot sauce is PAIN! This stuff should have no problem getting your endorphins rushing to ghost bust your horrifying agony.

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