I credit hot peppers for curing me."Ĭurrie says he developed 170 different types of peppers, some of which are sorted and stored next door at PuckerButt's chile sorting operation. That's important to me as a human being in general, but personally, too, since cancer runs in my family and I've had it more than once already. "There are studies underway that point to hot peppers as being a potential cure for cancer. "I give peppers away to cancer researchers," he explains. One of the most intriguing uses for Currie's peppers, though, is something surprising and inspiring. He also sells pepper seeds and stocks products made by purveyors who use his peppers for their sauces. "Anything more than that is, well, just plain stupid." "Just a drop on the tip of your tongue is more than enough," he says. He recommends customers use good common sense when taste-testing. The potential pain factor draws vengeance seekers looking to buy a little liquid retribution in a bottle, Currie said with a snicker.
People from all over the state and beyond bring their curiosity and hardcore palates to the shop to sample drops of serious sauces with whimsical names like "I Dare You Stupit," "Ben's Smokin' Hot Razz Booty" and "Voodoo Prince Death Mamba," each conveniently labeled with a heat index. His award-winning, tongue-torturing sauces have caught the attention of national media and are stocked at markets across the country.
An ambulance was called."įrom the pepper mash, Currie makes condiments that are super tasty as well as hot. Everyone thought I was having a heart attack. "It's an email and all I can see is ‘Congrats-you're amazing!' I opened it and read ‘You now have the hottest pepper in the world!' I fell to my knees. "I was arguing with a salesman and the phone goes off," Currie remembers. After years of preparation, Currie submitted the paperwork and, in 2013, Guinness officials declared the Carolina Reaper the cruelest taste bud torcher on earth. Here's some perspective: The jalapeno shrivels in comparison with a measurement of just 600,000 units.ĭoubters need only look to the Guinness Book of World Records for proof positive. The Carolina Reaper, then known as HP22B (the HP referencing "God's higher power," a nod to Currie's exuberant Christian faith) measured a spine-ripping, skull-splitting, gut-busting 1.56-million Scoville units. Researchers at Winthrop University undertook the lengthy, painstaking task. This is done using what's called the Scoville scale, a measure of the units of heat delivered by peppers. When the hallucinations subsided, he sought to have the heat level confirmed. "That's when I knew I had something really hot. "I ate one and hallucinated," Currie says of his infamous pepper progeny. Achieving this distinction required a "can do" attitude with a side of painful self-sacrifice. What looks like an ordinary hot sauce shop is actually the site of human taste bud and intestinal warfare waged at atomic levels by proprietor and mad hot pepper scientist Ed Currie, aka "Smokin' Ed." After years of genetic tweaking, this banker turned pepper farmer developed the hottest pepper on the planet-the Carolina Reaper. The giggle-inducing name of the business is your first clue. In the midst of quaint cafes and antique shops is the PuckerButt Pepper Company, where employees readily dish out warm welcomes. It's hard to accurately describe the taste as the heat will quickly envelop all your senses, but if you can make it through that there is a hint of the fruit flavours present in both Habanero and Naga chillies as well as a rich, ripe sweetness.The hottest thing in South Carolina-and the entire world, for that matter-is found on Main Street in downtown Fort Mill. The Carolina Reaper - currently the hottest chilli in the world! These chillies were originally cultivated in South Carolina by Ed 'Smokin' Currie, a grower who crossed the Naga chilli with a red Habanero to produce this stunning red chilli with an absolutely insane heat level.