Capsicum chinense pepper varieties

Capsicum chinense is the habanero side of the pepper family and the species behind almost every record holder on the Scoville scale, including the ghost pepper and the Carolina Reaper. It is also the species most often misread. Three of the ten chinense peppers in this catalog sit below the very hot band: Habanada was bred specifically to keep the habanero without the burn, and Biquinho and Aji Dulce both sit in the mild band. What the species reliably predicts is not heat but time. Every chinense record here needs at least 88 days from transplant, while Capsicum annuum records start at 60.

Varieties
10
Days to harvest (from transplant)
88–120
Fruit weight
0–1 oz (2–20 g)
Heat

7 Very hot

2 Mild

1 No heat

Compare all 10 side by side

All 10 Capsicum chinense pepper varieties

Ripe Aji Dulce pepper pods on the plant Aji Dulce Caribbean seasoning pepper: habanero aroma, almost no heat. 88 days (estimated) <1 oz (5–12 g) (estimated) Mild
Ripe Bhut Jolokia pepper pods on the plant Bhut Jolokia The original ghost pepper: first chile measured above a million Scoville units. 120 days <1 oz (6–12 g) (estimated) Very hot
Ripe Biquinho pepper pods on the plant Biquinho Brazilian teardrop pepper with a beak-like tip, pickled whole and barely hot. 92 days <1 oz (2–5 g) (estimated) Mild
Ripe Caribbean Red pepper pods on the plant Caribbean Red The habanero bred to be hotter than a habanero, with the same fruity flavour. 110 days (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) Very hot
Ripe Carolina Reaper pepper pods on the plant Carolina Reaper The Guinness record holder from 2013 to 2023, bumpy red with a pointed tail. 120 days (estimated) 0–1 oz (10–20 g) (estimated) Very hot
Ripe Chocolate Habanero pepper pods on the plant Chocolate Habanero The brown habanero, smokier than the orange one and slow to germinate. 95 days (estimated) 0–1 oz (10–18 g) (estimated) Very hot
Ripe Datil pepper pods on the plant Datil Florida's regional superhot, habanero heat with real sweetness behind it. 100 days <1 oz (5–12 g) (estimated) Very hot
Ripe Habanada pepper pods on the plant Habanada A habanero with the heat bred out: same tropical aroma, zero Scoville. 95 days (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) No heat
Ripe Orange Habanero pepper pods on the plant Orange Habanero The pepper most people mean by habanero: citrus, apricot and forty times a jalapeno. 105 days (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) Very hot
Scotch Bonnet The Jamaican bonnet-shaped chinense: habanero heat in a shorter red pod. 95 days (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) Very hot

How to choose

  1. Count the calendar backwards before anything else. These are the slowest peppers in the catalog, 88 to 120 days from transplant, and a short season is the usual reason a chinense pepper never ripens.

  2. Do not read the species as a warning. Seven of the ten peppers here sit in the very hot band, but the rest are mild or heatless, and the Scoville range printed on each variety page is what separates them.

  3. Check the listed Scoville range rather than the band alone when you are near the top of the scale. The band stops at 100,000 units and upwards, while the varieties on this page reach into the millions.

  4. Plant size is not the constraint here. Average heights on this page run from about 54 cm to about 84 cm, so the limiting factor is almost always the length of your season.

Compare side by side

Color Uses
Aji Dulce 88 (estimated) <1 oz (5–12 g) (estimated) Mild 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Fresh & salads, Snacking
Bhut Jolokia 120 <1 oz (6–12 g) (estimated) Very hot 2 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying
Biquinho 92 <1 oz (2–5 g) (estimated) Mild 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) Canning, Snacking, Fresh & salads
Caribbean Red 110 (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) Very hot 2 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying
Carolina Reaper 120 (estimated) 0–1 oz (10–20 g) (estimated) Very hot 2 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying
Chocolate Habanero 95 (estimated) 0–1 oz (10–18 g) (estimated) Very hot 2 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying
Datil 100 <1 oz (5–12 g) (estimated) Very hot 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying, Canning
Habanada 95 (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) No heat 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 1 (estimated) Fresh & salads, Snacking, Sauce & paste
Orange Habanero 105 (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) Very hot 2 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying, Canning
Scotch Bonnet 95 (estimated) 0–1 oz (8–15 g) (estimated) Very hot 2 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) Sauce & paste, Drying

Values marked like this (estimated) are estimates.

Frequently asked questions

Are all Capsicum chinense peppers very hot?

No, although most are. Seven of the ten in this catalog sit in the very hot band, above 100,000 Scoville heat units. The rest are Habanada, which measures no heat at all, and Biquinho and Aji Dulce, which sit in the mild band.

Why do Capsicum chinense peppers take so long to ripen?

Whatever the reason, the pattern is consistent in the data: not one chinense record in this catalog matures in under 88 days from transplant, while the earliest annuum records are ready at 60. Gardeners in short-season regions usually start these earlier indoors than the rest of their peppers.

Is the ghost pepper a Capsicum chinense?

Yes. Bhut Jolokia, better known as the ghost pepper, is a chinense, and so is the Carolina Reaper. Both are on this page, and both sit at the slow end of the calendar at 120 days from transplant.

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