Heat is measured in Scoville units. A pepper with around 4,000-6,000 Scoville units will be mildly hot but not overpowering. Habanero/Scotch Bonnet peppers can be in the 40,000 to 60,000. These have a fiery "heat" but once you get past that there is a lovely almost floral note to the flavor.
There are thousands of different varieties of chilies, if not more, as peppers mutate spontaneously. Add to that they taste different when grown in different areas and the heat can vary tremendously as well. Growing conditions have a large influence but this happens even on the same plant. And here's something most people don't know: The flesh at the stem end is hotter than the tip. But peppers shouldn't be about heat because piquancy (the proper name for heat in this context) detracts from their flavor and that of the dish they're in.
Green peppers are unripe so they have a raw, grassy and bitter taste. As they mature, they change color and their fruity nature begins to shine.
People like to argue which is the hottest pepper but the most piquant you'll likely find at the market is the habanero, pictured here.
Theres alot of different variety of peppers out there, from bell peppers to the spicy jalapeno. The colors do have a different flavor profile, this is most noticable with green bell peppers (sorta bitter) and red bell peppers (sorta sweet) tasting, side by side.
The hottest pepper that is widely available is a ghost pepper or ghost chile. There is a hotter variety though and that one is called a scorpion pepper (this one is harder to find at your local grocery stores though).
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There are thousands of different varieties of chilies, if not more, as peppers mutate spontaneously. Add to that they taste different when grown in different areas and the heat can vary tremendously as well. Growing conditions have a large influence but this happens even on the same plant. And here's something most people don't know: The flesh at the stem end is hotter than the tip. But peppers shouldn't be about heat because piquancy (the proper name for heat in this context) detracts from their flavor and that of the dish they're in.
Green peppers are unripe so they have a raw, grassy and bitter taste. As they mature, they change color and their fruity nature begins to shine.
People like to argue which is the hottest pepper but the most piquant you'll likely find at the market is the habanero, pictured here.
The hottest pepper that is widely available is a ghost pepper or ghost chile. There is a hotter variety though and that one is called a scorpion pepper (this one is harder to find at your local grocery stores though).