'Catacomb Brown' Hot Pepper

Capsicum chinense

Origin: Cooley Springs, South Carolina

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~10

Germination tested 08/2024: 95%

Life cycle: Annual

From extremely hot pepper breeder Kevin Bane of Cooley Springs, South Carolina, this is the only pepper Kevin has released that has 'Chocolate Ghost' in its parentage. This pretty-much stable line (an F6 generation) resulted from a 3-way cross originally. Kevin says, "Most chocolate peppers that are this hot don't have the best taste, but this one is wonderful. Not earthy, not bitter, it tastes more like a red chili. It's also quite fruity like a habanero, which I've never experienced in another brown chili. The flavor is almost smoky, reminiscent of a Mexican mole sauce." Kevin's been happily working on this one for years. He says it still throws out some red fruits, but these are nice too. This is an extremely hot pepper. He hasn't had it tested with a trusted source yet, but believes it must be well over 1,000,000 Scoville units, "easy." Kevin likes it on popcorn.