Is Dorset Naga the hottest chilli ever measured? Possibly. Peppers by Post is a small market garden that grows and sells fresh chillies by post throughout Great Britain. Started in 1996 by us, Joy and Michael Michaud, it is favourably located by the sea in west Dorset. Our pride and joy is the Dorset Naga, an exceptionally hot Scotch Bonnet relative. It was originally selected from Naga Morich, a chilli that is highly regarded among Britain’s Bangladeshi community and is widely available in shops catering to their culinary needs. In the summer of 2005, a sample of Dorset Naga was collected and subsequently tested for heat by two laboratories in the USA. The average of the two results, measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), was an astounding 923,000 SHU. Confirming these results, our 2006 crop of Dorset Naga was measured by Certified Laboratories in the USA at 960,000 SHU. In 2007 the chillies, this time tested at Warwick HRI at the University of Warwick in the UK, had a heat level of 878,384 SHU; and most recently, in 2008 the crop was tested at 921,081 SHU. High as our results are, BBC “Gardeners’ World” recorded a much higher heat level for Dorset Naga. As part of its 2006 programming, the BBC gardening team ran a chilli trial looking at several varieties, including Dorset Naga. Heat levels were tested by Warwick HRI and the Dorset Naga came in at almost 1.6 million SHU, the hottest heat level ever recorded for a chilli. Until recently the results were posted on the BBC Gardeners' World website, but it is now unavailable. We are not fully confident of such an extreme figure. However, even after taking any possible errors into account the 1.6 million SHU measurement is still likely to be considerably higher than a million, and truly an amazing, and record breaking heat level. To put these figures in context, a Jalapeño chilli – considered hot by many people – has a heat level of around 10,000 SHU. Habanero chillies range in heat levels between 100-400,000 SHU. Until 2006 the Guinness world record for the hottest chilli was held by the Red Savina chilli, with a one-time measurement of 577,000 SHU. We do sell seeds of Dorset Naga. If you are interested please go to www.seaspringseeds.co.uk
Joy and Michael Michaud
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