7 Pot pepper plants

Trinidad's contribution to the problem: one pod, seven pots of stew.

By Debra Austin

Species: Capsicum chinense

What a 7 Pot is

The name is Trinidadian and it is a claim: one pod seasons seven pots of stew. The 7 Pot family are Capsicum chinense, golf-ball sized, deeply pimpled, and they sit in the same range as a Carolina Reaper without the marketing budget.

Brain Strain, Primo, Douglah and Barrackpore are all selections and crosses out of this line. Trinidad has been quietly producing the hottest peppers on earth for a long time.

Moruga, scorpion, 7 Pot, told apart

The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion took the world record in 2012 at 1.2 million SHU, measured by New Mexico State's Chile Pepper Institute. It is named for the Moruga district and for the pointed tail on the pod.

In practice the names blur. A Moruga is a 7 Pot type from a particular place, a scorpion is any pod with that tail, and sellers apply both names loosely. Pod shape is a weak guide and the seed trade has mixed these lines for years.

How hot a 7 Pot is

The family sits with Carolina Reapers and Moruga scorpions, past a million SHU on the famous measurements. Sweet Moruga is the odd name on our list: read that plant's own heat before you assume the word moruga means superhot. The scorpion page covers the ones with a tail.

Dragon's Breath sits out there too, though it came from Wales rather than Trinidad.

Growing them

Everything true of a Carolina Reaper is true here: long season, high heat, big pot, patience. These are not plants for a short summer or a cool windowsill.

The pods are worth the wait for anyone making sauce. A 7 Pot carries more fruit under the heat than most superhots, which is why sauce makers reach for them over record chasers.

The 7 Pots and Morugas we grow

Questions people ask

Why is it called a 7 Pot?

Trinidadian shorthand: one pod is enough to season seven pots of stew.

Is a Moruga the same as a 7 Pot?

A Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is a 7 Pot type from the Moruga district. The names overlap heavily in the seed trade and pod shape alone does not settle it.

How hot is a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion?

New Mexico State measured it at about 1.2 million SHU in 2012, which made it the world record holder at the time.

Are 7 Pots hotter than ghost peppers?

Yes, by a wide margin. Ghost peppers sit around a million SHU; the 7 Pot family runs well past that.