Chilli in the USA: Tabasco, the Scoville test and New Mexico
Edmund McIlhenny grew his first commercial pepper crop on Avery Island in 1868 and patented Tabasco in 1870. In 1912 the Detroit pharmacist Wilbur Scoville measured heat by diluting chilli extract in sweetened water. New Mexico State University released New Mexico No. 9 in 1913, and New Mexico later made 'Red or Green?' its official state question.
Checked October 20, 2026 · How we source facts
Timeline
- 1868
Edmund McIlhenny harvests his first commercial pepper crop on Avery Island, Louisiana. [1]
- 1869-1870
He ships 658 bottles at one dollar each wholesale (1869) and patents Tabasco sauce (1870). [1]
- May 1912
Wilbur Scoville of Parke, Davis & Co. publishes 'Note on Capsicums': one grain of chilli is soaked in 100 cc of alcohol, then added to sweetened water until a faint pungency is felt on the tongue. [2]
- 1913
Fabián García releases 'New Mexico No. 9', NMSU's first chilli cultivar, which introduced the New Mexican pod type. [3]
- 1996
A House Joint Memorial makes 'Red or Green?' New Mexico's official state question. [4]
- 2007
NMSU tests confirm bhut jolokia at about 1,000,000 SHU, earning a Guinness record. [5]
Customs and words
- 'Red or green?' is the question New Mexico diners are asked about their chile sauce, and it is the state's official question. [4]
- Tabasco was first sold in small cologne-type bottles with sprinkler tops, corked and sealed with green wax. [1]
- Scoville wrote that the tongue can detect capsaicin at 'less than a millionth of a grain', so a taste test beats the analytical balance. [2]
Peppers on ChilliFacts
Questions
How did the first Scoville test work?
In 1912 Wilbur Scoville soaked one grain of chilli in 100 cc of alcohol, then added the extract to sweetened water until a faint heat could be felt on the tongue.
What is New Mexico’s state question?
"Red or green?", asking which chile sauce you want. It became the official state question in 1996.
More chilli history
- Chilli in Mexico: where it began, and what the Aztecs did with it
- Chilli in Peru: 7,500 years of uchu
- How chilli reached Europe: Columbus, Spain and Portugal
- Chilli in India: from Portuguese ships to 40% of the world’s dried chillies
- Chilli in Korea: why kimchi wasn’t always red
- Chilli in China: a garden ornament that won Sichuan and Hunan
- Chilli in Thailand: the heat came from pepper first
- Paprika in Hungary: from Turkish pepper to a Nobel Prize
- Chilli in Africa: berbere, melegueta and the Mombasa chilli
- Chilli history myths, checked
Sources
- McIlhenny Company (TABASCO brand), company history: 1868 first crop; 1869 658 bottles at $1 wholesale; 1870 patent; cologne-type bottles sealed with green wax
- Wilbur L. Scoville, 'Note on Capsicums', J. Am. Pharm. Assoc. 1(5):453-454 (1912), DOI 10.1002/jps.3080010520: Method: 1 grain in 100 cc alcohol, added to sweetened water; tongue sensitivity; Parke, Davis & Co., Detroit
- New Mexico State University, Circular CR-706 'The Chile Cultivars of NMSU, 1913-2022': Fabián García released New Mexico No. 9 in 1913 (published 1921); first NMSU cultivar; introduced New Mexican pod type; longest-running chile breeding program
- State Symbols USA: 1996 House Joint Memorial naming 'Red or Green?' official state question (secondary source)
- ScienceDaily reprint of American Society for Horticultural Science release (2007): NMSU's Bosland tests; bhut jolokia ~1,000,000 SHU; Guinness recognition (secondary source)