Chili Spiciness Table / Scoville Scale

The classification of chili heat according to Wilbur Scoville

Hard-core 10+ : >200 000 Scoville Units

Extremely hot 9-10 : 100 000 - 200 000 Scoville Units

Very hot 6-8 : 15 000 - 100 000 Scoville Units

Hot 3-5 : 1 500 - 15 000 Scoville Units

Mild 0-2 : 100 - 1500 Scoville Units

The heat of your chili sauce depends, of course, on the type of chili used. The Scoville Scale gives the spiciness level in Scoville Units (0-16 Million Units).*
At the mild end of the scale are the sweet peppers in your garden, with a rating of 0.

The Scoville Heat Units of the various chili types

Anaheim, Cherry and Peperoncini are between 100 - 500 Scoville Units.

If you go a bit higher with 1 000 - 1 500 Scoville Units, you reach the Poblano variety, where you start to notice something. But never forget, our bodies get used to the spiciness.

Jalapeños are a bit spicier, however with 2500-5000 Scoville Units they are still at the lower end of the scale. This doesn`t mean that they aren`t spicy. However, in relation to Habaneros they are quite mild. Dried and smoked Jalapenos are called Chipotles, and have a value of up to 10 000 Scoville Units. Serrano with 10 000 - 23 000 Scoville Units und Cayenne with 30 000-50 000 Scoville Units lie on the path to the greats.

It gets serious with the Japanese Santake and the Thai Chillies with 50 000 to 100 000 Scoville Units. The really hardcore chillies are the Jamaican Hot (up to 200 000), Scotch Bonnet (up to 250 000) and of course the Habanero with up to 350 000 Scoville Units.

One of the spiciest chillies in the world is the Indian Bhut Jolokia (also called Naga or Bih Jolokia) with an unbelievable 1 000 000 Scoville Units.

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T with 1 463 700 Scoville Units was named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest chili in the world. In 2012 the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga with 2 009 231 Scoville Units claimed this title for itself. From 2013 until 2023 the Carolina Reaper has been the hottest chili in the world. It was replaced in October 2023 by the new variety from Ed Currie and the PuckerButt Pepper Company Pepper X .

^*The Capsaicin content varies with the location of cultivation, weather conditions, soil and many other aspects of growth. The soft inner parts around the core contain the highest content of Capsaicin. The drying of fresh chillies logically increases the content of Capsaicin.