Species:  Capsicum Chinense
Heat Level:  1,200,000 to 2,000,000 SHU (Scoville heat units)

When you first take a bite from the Moruga Scorpion pepper, the pepper doesn’t seem so hot, but the heat builds and builds until it is miserably hot. Aside from the heat though, the Trinidad pepper has a soft, fruit-like flavor. It has a unique sweet-hot flavor combination.

The Trinidad is native to Trinidad and Tobago in the district of Moruga. In 2012, the Trinidad was labeled as the hottest chili pepper in the world by the Chili Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. They gave it a ranking of 1.2 million SHUs. Some individual plants ranked as high as 2 million Scoville heat units. However, it was never certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest pepper.