Tag Archives: purple bhut jolokia

The Purple Bhut Jolokia – Buyer Beware

Does not exist!

Ok, to be fair a pepper does exist that is a called a purple bhut jolokia but in my opinion someone just named it a bhut jolokia so they could sell seeds.

1. It’s nowhere near as hot a bhut jolokia. Nowhere.

2. It doesn’t look a bhut jolokia, at all. Here’s a shot of some of my red bhut jolokias:
red bhut jolokia

And here’s a shot of the “purple” bhut jolokia:

3. The pods do turn purple but ripen to red. Here’s a shot of a purple bhut plant that clearly shows red pods on the plant:

No offense to anyone growing this pepper, from what I hear it’s a decent tasting pepper and the plants produce well. I’m just not sold on the name…it’s not a bhut and dos not finish to purple so should not be called a purple bhut. I believe the earliest mentions of this pepper were in mid 2010 from a user at TheHotPepper names JSKaiser. He’s been banned from the site for awhile and if memory is correct didn’t do right by a lot of folks in the pepper growing community and in general has a terrible reputation.

So there you have it. People can call peppers whatever they want but this is one of the cases where the name is completely misleading. I for one will not grow this pepper nor will I acknowledge that a true purple bhut jolokia even exists!

Bhut Jolokia aka Ghost Pepper Chili

In the world of hot peppers, while no longer the record holder for being the hottest, the bhut jolokia or “ghost pepper” is still the most popular super hot pepper. Is the ghost pepper as widely known as the habanero…not even close. Is it getting more popular…you bet!

Known Ghost Pepper Varieties
There are a number of bhut jolokia strains. Some much more stable than others…the least stable or “ghost pepper like” in my opinion are the purple, white and caramel bhut jolokias. That said, here are the types I know of:

1. Red Bhut Jolokia
2. Giant Red Bhut Jolokia
3. Chocolate Bhut Jolokia
4. Yellow Bhut Jolokia
5. Purple Bhut Jolokia (questionable)
6. White Bhut Jolokia (questionable)
7. Assam Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon
8. Caramel Bhut Jolokia (questionable)
9. Peach Bhut Jolokia

Ghost Pepper Picture Slideshow
(click or tap pictures to advance)


Ghost Pepper Videos

These videos will give you an idea of how ghost peppers actually taste and what to expect. You won’t find people rolling around on the floor in agony in any of these videos.

Ghost Pepper Popularity
The ghost pepper’s popularity has risen as fast in the United States as anywhere else in the world. In 2011, despite losing the record for world’s hottest pepper in June to the Butch T Trinidad Scorpion, the ghost pepper’s popularity continued to reach new highs.

A quick check of Google Insights shows which states saw the largest relative increase in searches for ghost pepper related terms:

1. West Virginia
2. Minnesota
3. Nebraska
4. Iowa
5. Texas
6. Ohio
7. Kentucky
8. Oklahoma
9. Michigan
10. Illinois

Another quick check of Google Insights reveals the the fastest rising search terms people are using to look for the bhut jolokia / ghost pepper:

1. ghost pepper chili
2. ghost chili
3. the ghost pepper
4. hottest pepper
5. hottest pepper ghost
6. ghost hot pepper
7. ghost peppers
8. scoville
9. ghost pepper sauce
10. ghost pepper scoville

Along with an increase in popularity comes an increase in commercial products that use ghost peppers. While I have not tried all of these I am aware of the following products related to the ghost pepper:

1. Seeds
2. Hot Sauces
3. Powders/Flakes
4. Fresh Pods
5. Dried Pods
6. Candy
7. Popcorn
8. Salsas
9. Plants (commercial an novelty)
10. Cloths

This post will be periodically updated with new ghost pepper related info.