Spicy food lovers in the United Kingdom better prepare their pallets for what's about to come, as major supermarket chain Tesco has just announced they'll be adding the Komodo Dragon pepper to their shelves in the next few days, the hottest chili pepper ever grown in the country!
While the Carolina Reaper continues to hold the title for the hottest chili pepper in the world with 1.5 million Scoville units (the scale used to measure hotness of meals), the British Komodo Dragon pepper is no picnic for the mouth a 1.4 million Scoville units - to compare how hot this is, a regular jalapeño has about 3,500 units, Mashable reports.
Tesco's Komodo Dragon chili is 400 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper https://t.co/yAtwo4szZv pic.twitter.com/SngUgqvtu8
— Mashable (@mashable) August 13, 2015
According to Metro, the Komodo Dragon pepper is the hottest chili pepper commercially grown in the country (the more artisanal ones are basically impossible to recount), and it's the most recent pepper venture Tesco has gone into, having sold in the past the Dorset Naga, the Bhut Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion, which was the hottest pepper in the world right before the Carolina Reaper came along.
There's someone at Tesco in charge of specifically testing and buying peppers for the supermarket chain, and her name is Eleanor Mansell, who spoke about the decision to add the Komodo Dragon pepper to shelves, speaking about what makes it special.
"[The Komodo Dragon pepper has a] delayed reaction that lulls you into a sense of false security. At first you can taste a wonderful hot fruitiness but then after about 10 seconds the full might of this little demon hits you and your whole mouth is aglow."
In other words, even fans of hot foods should tiptoe around this product, as its spiciness is very serious business.
According to The Daily Mail, 500 Tesco stores across the country will be sampling the Komodo Dragon pepper from August 11 until November, and it'll be on sale at £1 for a 45g packet - brave people in the UK, this is your time!
