If you are a fan of Hot Ones the YouTube show or a general fan of super-hot peppers, you most likely have heard about the Apollo pepper and probably have some questions. I have done my best to find answers to some of your burning questions, so I hope you enjoy this post!
Is the Apollo Pepper the Hottest in the World?
Unofficially, some have claimed that the Apollo pepper is the hottest in the world, ranking between 2.5 – 3.2+ million Scoville heat units. Others claim that Pepper X is the hottest at about 3.18 million Scoville units. As a comparison, the Carolina Reaper, the world’s official hottest peppers, ranks at 2.2 million Scoville units.
In either case, the Apollo pepper’s ranking is unofficial as it hasn’t been certified by the Guinness book of world records, which is the leading authority on the world’s hottest peppers.
Ed Currie, the creator of the Apollo pepper as well as the Carolina Reaper, probably won’t submit the Apollo pepper to get officially rated unless someone else creates a pepper that gets certified as hotter than the Carolina Reaper.
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Who Made the Apollo Pepper?
The maker of the Apollo pepper is Ed Currie. He is the creator of other well-known peppers like Pepper X and the Carolina Reaper. He started growing pepper at home in the 1980s but got serious about growing and producing them for sale when he founded the Puckerbutt Pepper Company in 2003.
Where do Apollo Peppers Come From?
The Apollo pepper comes from Fort Mill, South Carolina, on Ed Currie’s pepper farm. Ed Currie made the Apollo pepper by crossbreeding two of his other pepper creations, the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X.
Fun fact: Ed Currie says he creates over 100 crossbred pepper hybrids each year with the hopes of finding two stable varieties in the process.
Where do Apollo Peppers Fall on the Scoville Scale?
The Apollo pepper’s Scoville heat rating has never been officially disclosed, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying to guess! The Apollo pepper is estimated to range between 2.5 to over 3.2 million Scoville Heat Units.
From my personal experience, I’d say that 2.5 million to 3.2 million Scoville units is a reasonable approximation. I tried a dime-sized amount of the Last Dab Apollo hot sauce made with the Apollo pepper, and it was scorching!
I’d say I have a pretty good tolerance to hot peppers, but after consuming some of the hot sauce, my eyes immediately started to water, my stomach burned, and I felt like I was on the verge of severe heartburn and stomach cramps.
The burning sensation in my mouth lasted for about 30 minutes and over two hours in my stomach… this pepper is no joke.
If you want to try Apollo peppers, the only way you can is by buying the Last Dab Apollo Hot Sauce which you can purchase on Amazon and at certain hot sauce retailers. I recommend having something in your stomach before consuming this hot sauce.
Pro tip: Having some milk or yogurt on hand will help soothe the burn in your mouth and settle your stomach. I definitely reached for a cup of soothing, cold yogurt after my taste test!
Can you Buy Apollo Pepper Seeds?
You cannot buy Apollo pepper seeds anywhere – trust me, I’ve looked!
I don’t expect Ed Currie to release Apollo pepper seeds anytime soon, if ever. The reason is that he has built an incredibly successful brand with the Carolina Reaper and making some of his even hotter peppers available to the public would cannibalize his Carolina Reaper sales.
What Does the Apollo Pepper Look like?
No photos of the Apollo peppers have been released to the public.
One could imagine the pepper would look like a mix between the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X, the two peppers crossbred to make it. The texture is probably blistered and knobby like the Carolina Reaper. The exterior is perhaps a little glossy like most super-hot chili peppers. Based on the Last Dab Apollo hot sauces color; I’d expect the pepper to be an orangish-red color when mature.
This is just my best guess since I haven’t come across any photos or descriptions of the pepper or spoken to anyone with first-hand knowledge. Please let me know if you have run across such info; I’d love to hear about it!
Apollo Peppers vs. Other Hot Chili Peppers
The Apollo pepper heat is comparable to the intensity of the Carolina Reaper, Pepper X, and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. All these peppers can clock in at over 2 million Scoville units. If you can handle the heat from Carolina Reapers, you can handle the spice of Apollo peppers.
Flavor-wise I thought it tasted pretty good when trying the Last Dab Apollo hot sauce. There were some complex fruity and smoky flavors in there, similar notes to the Last Dab Pepper X sauce.
Closing Thoughts
If you are still curious about the Apollo pepper, I recommend you check out my other article covering some additional topics about the pepper including how best to use the Last Dab Apollo hot sauce. If you want to read more about the Last Dab Apollo hot sauce, click this link for an overview/review on it.
