Carolina Reaper, Burgundy

Description

Carolina Reaper, Burgundy (C. chinense) ripens to a deep, dark red — a saturated blood-red rather than the brighter scarlet of the standard Reaper, and the colour is what gives the variety its name.

The pods are big and blocky for a Reaper: broad-shouldered, squat, roughly 5 cm long and nearly as wide, with real weight in the hand. The surface is the most striking part — wrinkled and blistered across every face, more heavily convoluted than a standard red Reaper, with deep folds running down the shoulders. The stinger is short and sharply hooked, pronounced on some pods and barely more than a point on others.

The heat is full Reaper class. No Scoville figure has been published for this colour form, so the honest reference point is the red Carolina Reaper’s certified average of 1,641,183 SHU, measured at Winthrop University. Assume the same and handle the pods with the same respect.

This is a genuinely rare one — it circulates among very few growers, which is most of the reason to want it. Treat it as a long-season superhot: start it early, give it warmth and a full season, and put the pods into hot sauce, ferments and powder, where that dark red carries straight through.

Categories: C. chinense , Super hot , Easy to grow