Is Pepper X 3× Hotter Than the Reaper? No: 1.6×
Pepper X is about 1.6× as hot as the Carolina Reaper, not 3×. Guinness certified Pepper X at an average of 2,693,000 SHU and the Reaper at 1,641,183 SHU. The Scoville scale is linear, so the ratio is a simple division: 2,693,000 ÷ 1,641,183 ≈ 1.6×.
Data checked October 20, 2026 · How we rank and verify
Where "3 times hotter" came from
When Guinness announced Pepper X in October 2023, several news reports described it as about three times hotter than the Reaper and explained the gap by calling the Scoville scale logarithmic. It isn't. The Scoville scale counts heat compounds directly: 2,000,000 SHU means twice the capsaicinoids of 1,000,000 SHU.
Even the Reaper's older certified figure of 1,569,300 SHU only gives about 1.7×. The one way to reach about 3× is to compare Pepper X with a much milder superhot, like the ghost pepper (2.7×).
What we don't know about Pepper X
Guinness: 'rates at an average of 2,693,000 SHU, according to tests conducted by Winthrop University ... on 23 August 2023'. The Guinness news story says Winthrop tested specimens from the past four years. The number of samples, the spread and any peak figure were never published, and no independent lab has tested it. Read it as a breeder-commissioned average from a single university lab, certified by Guinness.
Sources
- Guinness World Records (record page, archived 19 Sep 2024): SHU average, tester, test date, origin, jalapeno comparison
- Guinness World Records news, 16 Oct 2023: announcement date; specimens from the past four years tested at Winthrop
- Guinness World Records news, 19 Nov 2013: 1,569,300 SHU average; parentage per Guinness; previous holder Butch T
- Guinness World Records (record page, archived 24 Dec 2014): record text: average 1,569,300 SHU, Winthrop tests throughout 2012, dated 7 Aug 2013