The best tasting pepper

[Taverner]

Now I'm not talking about heat, but flavor.

Granted, I love fire chilis, but sometimes the flavor matters too :)

[AllegroRondo]

1. Dr Pepper.

[Kali]

2. Serranos and anaheims

and sometimes those anaheims can have PLENTY of fire! (and sometimes they have no flavor either. I think growing/harvesting conditions really matter, almost like tomatos)

[Gormy Cuss]

9. You are correct about growing conditions.

There's a reason the best tasting anaheim/nu mex types come from the Southwest. Hot peppers grown under a hot sun are much more prolific and generally hotter than those grown in more temperate zones. They also tend to be hotter in lean soil (not too much nitrogen fertilizer) and with less water.

The SO grows about 20 varieties of hot chiles each summer. The big green varieties we grow are HOT because we live in a hot, inland valley. When we have a hot summer the chiles have a much bigger kick.

[Kali]

18. genetics too

I have bought hot and mild green chiles (labeled and generally true) from the same farm

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Oh yes. Beware of the Sandia variety.

It's about the hottest Nu Mex type there is.
We grow mildly spicy varieties like Nu Mex Joe Parker and Nu Mex Big Jim and pasillas. The SO even bought a propane-fired chile roaster for the fall harvest. Great for that once a year batch of tamales and the once monthly green chile stews.

[Kali]

21. ...

batch of tamales and the once monthly green chile stews. And now I am off to the store, hungry...

*drooling smiley* :9 Not good.

[Zookeeper]

16. The only hot peppers I've grown up here in the north...

that ended up being really hot, were very small varieties grown in a container on my sunny deck.

That seems to work better than mixing them in with the rest of the veggies.

[Dora]

3. What? YOU LEFT OUT HATCH GREEN CHILE?

I'm not replying to your poll.

[Kali]

17. anaheims by another name

[Dora]

20. Yes, but the Hatch anaheims aren't your average anaheim.

The difference is like comparing Connecticut pizza to other pizza: it is rumored to kick pizza ass.

[kwassa]

4. I think scotch bonnet and habenero are the same pepper.

[bearfan454]

7. They are nt

[Gormy Cuss]

10. Not the same, but close relatives.

They're both from the family C. chinense, unlike the Southwestern peppers. Scotch bonnets are flatter than habs. Habs are only slightly bigger

Habanero:


Scotch Bonnet:

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. Bell peppers are yummy.

Raw, cooked, etc.

[bearfan454]

6. Poblano nt

[Scarlett17]

8. Absolut Peppar in a Bloody Mary

:toast:

[MissMillie]

11. I wondered what pepper-flavored vodka would be used for

I must be pretty dense not to have thought of the bloody mary....

[RegimeChange2008]

14. That stuff must be hell on the throat when you puke it back up!

Nothing like the blend of hot peppers and stomach acid :puke:

[SteppingRazor]

12. Not counting peppers that have been fooled around with (like chipotles)...

I gotta go Cayenne. It's the only one on your list that belongs to the Capsicum frutescens family of chilis, which is the most flavorful in my extremely humble opinion.

[twilight_sailing]

13. Best tasting, is, IMHO, Cayenne

[MadHound]

15. Fish peppers!

Nice sweet taste at the beginning, with a great hearty afterburn.

[TheBaldyMan]

22. Scotch bonnets

I first tried them with a jamaican hot sauce called Encona; very hot, sweet and absolutely delicious.