Paqui tortilla chips just threw down the gauntlet in the chip wars by creating the hottest chip in the world. If Flaming Hot Cheetos are too much for you, turn back now, you don’t want to be anywhere near Paqui’s new Carolina Reaper Madness tortilla chips. They’re made with Carolina Reaper peppers which measure over 1.5 million SHU (Scoville Heat Units). For comparison, a jalapeno comes in at just 8,000 SHU.
“We’re always looking to push the limits to find fun ways for our fans and consumers to engage with us,” Jeff Day, Brand Manager of Paqui Chips, told Mashable. “When we decided that we wanted to make the world’s hottest chip, we first said, well, we need to find the world’s hottest pepper.” The company hasn’t revealed just how much of the pepper is in each chip, but just a little Reaper goes a very long way.
Carolina Reaper Madness tortilla chips are so hot they’re only available one chip at a time. “After you eat that one chip, trust me, you’re not looking to dig back into the bag and have a second one,” Chef Smokin’ Ed Currie, the Reaper’s inventor, says. “So, one chip is what we created to have the experience.” If you’re brave enough to handle the heat, Paqui is running a competition on its website where those who can handle the “one chip challenge” win a free bag of Pauqui chips.
How hot is the Carolina Reaper? Check out the video below and see if you still want to try these chips.