♪ ominous music playing ♪
NARRATOR: Full disclosure:
We cannot afford to license footage
from Game of Thrones.
Even me doing this narration is taking us over budget.
But, if we could,
this is where we'd have Jon Snow
look right into the lens and say,
"Winter is coming."
♪ dramatic sting ♪
♪ intriguing music playing ♪
AUREA DE GUZMAN: When the leaves start turning here in Chicago,
that's usually my first warning sign that
I need to wrap things up in the garden outdoors.
JIMMY PICKLES: When the frost starts showing up here,
everything starts switching in more panic mode.
Probably by mid-November,
all the plants are scrapped.
When that cold front comes down,
it's a scrambling event for growers
because the next day,
your plants are gonna be dead,
and your pods are gonna be mush.
If I don't have 'em,
I can't make my products,
and then, financially,
you gonna have to get a job.
And then, I'm gonna be forgotten. [laughs]
♪ dramatic theme song playing ♪
[fire crackling]
♪ curious music playing ♪
NARRATOR: Winter is inevitable.
Something every pepper grower anticipates and plans for.
But, last night, a cold front barreled through Louisiana
weeks earlier than expected,
a curve ball that could seriously hurt Troy Primeaux.
♪ dramatic sting ♪
So, we're going over to my buddy Gary Montcom's place
in Shreveport, Louisiana,
check on the 7 Pot Primo grove.
Uh, we had a unseasonable cold spell come through,
and I suspect there's some tragic plant damage to our crop.
If that happened,
we're not gonna be able to sell 7 Pot Primo seeds,
and, uh, we have thousands of dollars
that'll be ruined, wasted, burnt.
NARRATOR: Troy has hundreds of 7 Pot Primo plants
on Gary Montcom's land near Shreveport.
And if they died after the freeze,
it would be a monumental disaster.
Nearly $40,000 of product gone.
TROY PRIMEAUX: I wanna leave a legacy, you know?
But, we gotta have some stability. And now that we have a child,
it's even more important.
A cold front with a freeze that goes below 32 degrees?
No bueno. Everything's gone.
That's, that's the end of your growth season.
And, uh, just start over next year.
Like football, you know?
You had your chance for the Super Bowl and missed your mark.
NARRATOR: This harvest season,
Troy's attempted to increase his yield by growing all over the country
on land belonging to allied growers
dubbed the Wrecking Crew.
If the crop in Shreveport is spoiled,
that plan would be laid to waste.
[fire crackling]
So something that we've never tried before
is to spray down the plants, uh, with water,
spray 'em down with water.
Seems backwards, huh?
So, so, when you spray your-your-- these plants,
you're hoping it takes more energy
to freeze that water before it gets to the plant.
To me, it was like flip a coin.
'Cause it's Mother Nature. You can't freakin'--
You can try to do what you-- what you will and,
you know, and-- but she's always gonna be the one in charge, you know?
I'll be able to look at the plants and know for sure.
Um, if the plants are necrotic,
they look like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree,
you know, you'll know right away.
But, we'll see.
♪ dramatic crescendo ♪
NARRATOR: Troy's got a few hours' drive before he'll know where he stands.
But, farther north in Chicago,
things are a bit more cut and dry.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know it's gonna be cold.
♪ dramatic music playing ♪
AUREA: Thank you.
NARRATOR: And after living here for years,
Aurea de Guzman, aka The Chilipino,
has made peace with the cold on its way.
[snipping] - Thank you.
Thank you.
Oh... [laughs]
I'm saying thank you to the plants.
I just wanna say thank you for their sacrifice
'cause they won't be able to go inside. [laughs]
So, I don't, I don't want 'em to feel bad that I'm getting rid of them.
They're gonna be in my camera roll.
I took tons of pictures.
So, when I start feeling
like it's, it's sweater weather,
I-I get a little bit, um, a bit sad
that I have to part ways with some of the plants
that have produced so much of the food
that nourished my family.
Oh, look at this-- lengths of this chard.
You're sort of parting ways with-with your children, right?
♪
This process is called overwintering,
uh, which means I'm going to bring the peppers inside,
keep them dormant. Don't-- I'm-I'm not gonna let them fruit.
I'm barely gonna keep them alive,
and so they have a head start next spring.
I make sure I wash off all the old soil
just to make sure that no hitchhikers
join the party indoors.
NARRATOR: While Aurea grows most of her chilies
inside her underground hydroponic pepper lair,
she's begun growing outside as well,
as she's expanded her operation to launch a new hot sauce.
Now, she's working to keep the momentum on her side...
[gasp] Hi, Chewie! [dog paws tapping]
NARRATOR: ...as she rides out the Chicago winter indoors.
AUREA: Hi, Bubba. Come on.
♪
[distant siren wails]
[thunder cracks] NARRATOR: As the weather cools,
chilihead life takes on a new sense of urgency.
For Johnny Scoville,
the cold means that time is running out
to find the hottest pepper on Earth.
Get ready to do some fun stuff down here in Jacksonville.
Can't tell you about it. You might see it. You know how that goes.
I'm Johnny Scoville, and this is Chase the Heat.
♪ dramatic sting ♪
This is the one I just ate, Reaper cross with a Peach Bhut.
So, have pods, will travel.
That's how we do it, people.
NARRATOR: This time of year,
Florida is about the only place left
where the weather's warm enough for fresh pods to grow.
So, Johnny's rushed here to use all the time he's got
before winter brings his quest to an end.
JOHNNY SCOVILLE: Here's the thing, it happens every year.
One day I wake up, I'm like, "But,
where are the peppers?" And they're gone.
And I mean, they're gone.
And then, you're not gonna have any more until the new year.
[sniffing] You smell that?
Peppers. I can smell them. They're in the area.
♪ adventurous music playing ♪
You know, but initially, like when I first started
and I really got into it and started, you know,
really seeking peppers out when things got cold,
you know, I'm sure people kinda looked at me like,
"What is this guy's problem?" But,
at this point, people understand, and they get it.
Like my mom, I spoke to her before I split,
she's like, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm going to Jacksonville."
She was like, "what? What's in Jacksonville?"
"Peppers." She gets it.
NARRATOR: So far this season,
Johnny's discovered a pantheon of contenders
for the world's hottest pepper.
From Bobby McFadden's Orange Gusher,
to Troy Primeaux's 7 Pot,
Jimmy Pickles' JP Piranha,
to Gary Montcalm's Nova Brain,
and Drew Goldy's Accidental Cross.
Here in Florida, he's hoping there's still one special pepper
waiting to be found among the only pods left in North America.
If I had the funds, I'd be on a plane every weekend
going somewhere where there was peppers. I don't care where it was.
NARRATOR: The first stop on Johnny's Sunshine State tour
is a little-known grower named Linda McNew.
JOHNNY: Alright, man. We're gettin' close. I can feel it.
♪
Linda McNew knows me, we've met before.
I know that she doesn't eat the pod she grows.
So, how amazing would it be to have her say,
"I don't know what this is, Johnny, can you just taste this one?"
And have it be something so ridiculously hot
that it's obviously the hottest right away?
That would be the coolest.
♪
♪ wary music playing ♪
NARRATOR: With the temperatures dropping, many in the pepper world are scrambling
to make the most of the time they have left.
But, on the outskirts of Dallas,
our old friend Zach Goot is already feeling
the deep freeze of a life without peppers.
We're gonna do some watering 'cause they do need to be watered.
♪
NARRATOR: Ever since he retired from the online community
to find balance with his wife and family,
Zach has all but vanished from the chili world.
[Zach sighs]
ZACH GOOT: Everything's looking good. You guys are looking strong.
You, too, back there. [dripping]
NARRATOR: And the absence of heat has taken its toll.
Alright. [sighs]
Right now, The Texas Hot Spot,
the-the spicy, the chili,
it's-it's a big book, but we've closed it.
Hello, everybody!
Welcome to The Texas Hot Spot: Family Edition!
Two and a half years of my life,
you could just come there and watch me do stuff,
and now you, now you won't be able to for a while.
I left every single spicy Facebook page,
I left all spicy YouTubes. [static sizzles]
My phone would go off every three and a half minutes
about someone going live and eatin' somethin' spicy,
and I would jump up,
and I would run into my studio,
put that video on, leave my wife on the couch,
and watch somebody eat somethin' spicy.
Because that's what we did in the chili community.
My phone has been silent.
♪ indistinct humming ♪
I'm already reaping the benefits
of prioritizing my responsibilities right, so...
I got to spend time with my wife all night last night.
We watched a few movies, we ate dinner together,
and there was no interruptions.
And my wife was grinning ear to ear,
and I'll take that over eating a pepper any day.
♪ pensive music playing ♪
I mean, it's just kinda-- Yeah, it's sad, man.
I-I spent a lot of time and effort on gettin' where I'm at now.
I'm very excited to be starting this new chapter of my life
with my family and--
You know, and even the two and a half years
that I've lived through this pepper
community is just--
will always live on in me, and that's what makes me happy,
and holding onto it.
NARRATOR: For those who are addicted to chili,
or anything else for that matter, quiet time like this
often feels like the calm before the storm.
Zach is doing all he can to maintain that calm...
Hi, baby girl.
NARRATOR: ...and avoid the storm.
- Kiss. - [mumbles] I love you!
[loud kiss]
NARRATOR: While Zach does all he can to fight the lure of heat,
♪
Johnny Scoville is frantically chasing it down.
Uh-oh, look at this.
NARRATOR: Cheating winter by migrating south,
like a bird with a braided beard,
to visit growers like Linda McNew,
who might just have the next superhot contender.
[knocking]
- I heard you got peppers. - I do.
[laughs] - Linda!
LINDA MCNEW: Hello! JOHNNY: How are you?
LINDA: Oh, I'm great.
♪ bright playful music playing ♪
[kissing] Yeah.
She-- She'll hiss at you, but then you pick her up and you hold her lap,
and within a minute she's-she's purring. JOHNNY: And she's fine.
NARRATOR: Only a few years ago,
Linda McNew moved to Florida from Pennsylvania.
Like Johnny, she was in search of warmer weather
and a longer growing season.
She also probably loves oranges.
That fact has not been checked.
Kinda nervous, the pod season's ending.
- Not for us. [laughs] - I know. That's why I'm here.
Linda McNew.
She's, she's passionate, she's--
Man, she's just a trip. [cat purring]
JOHNNY: Do you have any accidental crosses you got going on?
LINDA: I am working on my own cross. JOHNNY: Really? What are you crossing?
Secretive? - Yes.
Every pepper grower has a unique approach to it. Her approach is--
♪ mysterious music playing ♪
It's almost sterile, it's so clean and orderly.
Over here, I do all the processing of the peppers.
JOHNNY: I love your setup!
She's clinical about it,
and it's just... man,
there's so much order, it just makes sense.
You know what I mean? How she approached it was just brilliant.
I think the chance exists that you could have the hottest pepper
right there right now, and you just don't even realize it.
I'm serious! LINDA: [laughs] Yeah, you never know.
I'm gonna say hello to my gang here.
[chickens clucking]
JOHNNY: Hi, guys. LINDA: Come here, guys.
NARRATOR: By now, we all know that humans feel the burn of superhot
because of the chemical capsaicin.
LINDA: Hi, Mrs. Blue. NARRATOR: Well, fun fact,
birds don't have capsaicin receptors, [Linda giggles]
so Linda's chickens can snack on peppers pain free
whenever they like. [clucking]
JOHNNY: Any chicken that'll eat a superhot, that's my kind of chicken.
LINDA: [laughs] So, they're cool.
Um, this whole tent is basically Scorpions and Ghosts.
JOHNNY: Look how pretty that little guy is.
This is a third-year plant. Apocalypse Scorpion.
Yes. JOHNNY: Nice. [whistles]
- So, you-- you have to taste that. - Look at that color--
I gotta take a picture of this. Would you look at how much color is in the stem?
LINDA: Um, we got all these, this is all Jigsaws.
Chocolate Jigsaws. - Jigsaws are nasty.
Now, these are, uh, these are Dragon's Breath? LINDA: Yeah. Yep.
NARRATOR: Here in this tropical garden,
Linda grows dozens of varieties of fresh superhots.
But, there's one in particular she's Frankensteined
that Johnny's been dying to try.
She's dubbed it The Amnesia.
JOHNNY: Those The Amnesia? LINDA: Yes, they are.
JOHNNY: Yeah, they sure are.
LINDA: They'll probably knock you out pretty good.
I better grab one of those while I'm here.
♪ intriguing music playing ♪
[rooster crows]
[crunching, chewing]
[flames crackling]
♪ adventurous music playing ♪
I'd love know what the genetics are 'cause it's hot as can be.
LINDA: Yeah.
You can just smell the heat. JOHNNY: Yeah, you know, you really can.
NARRATOR: Like most of the superhots growers feed Johnny,
The Amnesia is sure to break one million on the Scoville scale.
But, despite its prowess,
it doesn't quite touch those already on the list of contenders.
I think I prefer a regular Fatalii more.
LINDA: Okay. Okay. - The heat's probably pretty similar.
But, I'll tell you what, I love the phenotype a lot.
LINDA: Yeah. It is a neat-looking pepper. JOHNNY: You gotta be kidding me.
LINDA: I was just glad that I had plenty of peppers.
Plenty. And they're gorgeous, you know? They're great.
My mouth is, like, sizzling still. - Cool.
I like when you sizzle. That's a good thing.
NARRATOR: Johnny usually takes his time in any pepper garden,
but not today.
This late in the season, the window to find fresh pods is closing.
LINDA: Thank you. [kisses]
Safe travels. - Absolutely. Thank you again, Art.
You guys are awesome. Be safe. LINDA: Say hi to Tom. Yep.
Have a good one.
NARRATOR: So while The Amnesia is a tasty treat,
it's time to move on, deeper into Florida,
to see if there are any scorchers out there
that can rewrite the record book.
[birds chirping]
♪ mellow music playing ♪
Back up north,
Aurea de Guzman has set up shop fully indoors
to keep her plants safe from the cold.
AUREA: Oh yeah. [giggle] [hydroponics gurgling]
NARRATOR: And now, this is the time of year
when Aurea digs into the process
of breeding new superhots.
Things are about to get pretty steamy.
I would cover the kids' eyes if they're around.
AUREA: You wanna find a, a bud
that's hasn't even opened yet.
And I'm gonna take the pollen
from a bloomed pepper flower
and essentially impregnate this other pepper
with the pollen from the-the father plant.
♪
NARRATOR: Welcome to the pepper birds and bees.
It's how Troy Primeaux made his 7 Pot Primo,
and how Bobby made his Orange Gusher.
Alright. Mommy meet Daddy. [laughs]
Come on. Get in there.
See? There you go.
NARRATOR: We're gonna keep things mostly PG.
NARRATOR: But beware. Aurea really gets into this stuff.
AUREA: Mm. Gently.
There you go.
♪ funk music playing ♪
[laughs]
I coach them a little bit. I'm like,
"You need to get in there more.
Gotta go in deeper a little bit." [laughs]
It's so weird saying this out loud, but-- [laughs]
Oh yeah. Nice.
Get in there, Daddy.
Oh, my God, I'm a--
I'm a porn director.
Hi, my name is Aurea, I grow peppers and I direct porn videos.
NARRATOR: This will be Aurea's daily task in the coming weeks,
in hopes that her new pepper baby grows the Chilipino Pepper Company
in the months and years ahead.
Mwah.
♪ funky music sting ♪
♪ intriguing music playing ♪
[birds chirping]
TROY: It's just like every year, there's somethin', man.
You know, it's like,
it could be a hurricane, or it could be,
you know, we had the pandemic, but we managed through that.
The monetary, uh, factors involved in this are immense.
I mean, worst-case scenario, we don't sell 7 Pot Primo seeds next year,
and-and, uh, we start again.
NARRATOR: Troy Primeaux's voice might not sound stressed,
but it's only because he's prepared for the worst.
A cold-front gripped Shreveport last night,
much sooner than expected,
threatening to kill almost half
of his remaining 7 Pot Primo crop.
[dog barks] TROY: There's Gary.
It's Gary!
NARRATOR: As he arrives at collaborator Gary Montcom's farm,
nearly $40,000 of product hangs in the balance.
TROY: Man, what's the good news, bad news?
GARY MONTCALM: I don't know. I'ma let you see and you tell me.
Alright, dude.
Well, this one bit the dust, huh?
Probably like you said, the ice and the wind.
GARY: Yeah. Right. TROY: You know, snapped him.
♪ dramatic music playing ♪
This plant got spanked, split.
GARY: I had to cut that one off.
♪ thoughtful music playing ♪
TROY: Gary constructed a sprinkler system
that would hose down
the whole Primo crop overnight all night.
The water will freeze first,
and the cell structure of the plants, which has water in it,
will freeze later,
so it somewhat insulates the crop.
So, we lost-- How many did you lose?
Plants? Total plants? I don't know. Six maybe.
TROY: That's not bad. I'm surprised, dude.
I mean, I guess the water trick worked.
They were drooping because of the weight of the ice,
but the plants are fine.
And that thing was absolutely covered with an eighth-inch of solid ice.
Plants survived because they were insulated
by that-that moisture barrier that froze first.
This is great. Look, and they're firm.
They would be mush. - Yeah. Right.
TROY: I think they'll be fine, man.
GARY: It's just one of those very well-learned lessons. [laughs]
TROY: You did good. GARY: Thanks, man.
NARRATOR: Gary's MacGyvering last night
saved most of the harvest from the unexpected cold.
But, when winter stakes its claim for real in the coming weeks,
fun little sprinkler tricks will not be enough.
This is the final stand for Troy and Gary
to maximize their season.
TROY: Could have been a lot of financial loss,
a lot of blood, sweat, and tears loss.
So, good job, man.
♪ bright music playing ♪
♪ upbeat music playing ♪
[quiet street noise]
NARRATOR: When Zach Goot retired from the chili community,
he did it to focus on family and adjust priorities.
But finding equilibrium without spice in his life hasn't been easy.
ZACH: She-- Yeah, she's already doubted that I'm gonna take a break,
and all-- I-I can't even reassure her.
I just have to show her.
And I am. I'm really-- You know, I just--
I don't wanna lose my wife over this.
♪
It is definitely a daily struggle for me
to be the best version of myself.
NARRATOR: Despite the struggle,
Zach has tried to find balance and routine.
ZACH: Buckle up for safety, Dad!
NARRATOR: Over the past few weeks, he's picked up his daughter, Tallulah,
from school every single day.
Oh, just another day. Gonna go eat some ramen.
♪
NARRATOR: Recovery from any addiction comes with bumps in the road
and moments you slip.
After you, missy.
NARRATOR: This lunch with his daughter
just became one of those moments for Zach.
Uh, up at the bar would be fine. SERVER: Okay, awesome. Uh...
So, what's-what's in this Reaper Ramen Challenge?
SERVER: Oh, I'll let you tell. - Yeah?
So, in this Reaper challenge, so we have a traditional...
Come 'ere, baby.
...spicy miso with the use of Carolina Reaper,
7 Pot pepper, Scorpion pepper... - [sighs] Yes.
...Habanero pepper, and a few other spices.
What's the-- Got time limit on it?
Yeah, so you have 12 minutes to finish it. Nothing to drink.
Let's do it, man.
- Yeah, let's do it. - I'm actually excited to do it.
Uh, is that a waiver I gotta sign? SERVER: Yes, sir.
NARRATOR: It's not the Zest Fest spotlight,
or even his Texas Hot Spot livestream.
This is the Rolling Stones playing in your grandma's living room.
It might not be much, but this Reaper Ramen challenge
is the taste of superhot he has been craving.
Are you gonna root me on?
- Yeah. - I hope so. I hope you're my biggest fan.
We're gonna have so much fun doing this.
Like, if your nose smells the good stuff,
your mouth keeps on goin'! - That's right.
"If your nose smells the good stuff, your mouth keeps on goin'."
That's the best advice I've ever had from anybody.
CHEF: Here you go, man. SERVER: Alright.
CHEF: So, the Triple Reaper Ramen. ZACH: [exhales] Awesome.
CHEF: Alright, ready? ZACH: Ready.
TALLULAH GOOT: Three, two, one, go! CHEF: Go.
ZACH: Alright, let's mix this up. TALLULAH: Oh, my God!
Dad's goin' hard on it. ZACH: Let's mix all this up
and get it nice and mixed up. Let's try some of this.
[chews and moans]
♪ playful music playing ♪
Mm, that pork is so good.
TALLULAH: Dad, are you gonna be mad if you don't do this?
- I am. - What are you gonna do?
Cry.
- Yeah-- - I think I'm doin' pretty good though.
Oh yeah, you're doin' really good!
Yeah. Starting to get a little hot, a little, a little warm.
We got a little psycho here! [Zach sighs]
[flames crackling] [spoon clanking]
[sighs]
TALLULAH [echoing]: Daddy, go, you have to do it.
[echoing crowd screaming]
[echoing crowd cheering]
ZACH: In any competition, when that crowd starts yellin',
it's-it's-it's a complete euphoric feeling.
You're, you're in it. You're in the moment.
[cheering] [chanting] Zach, Zach, Zach.
[giggles] Wow, he gonna suffocate if he--
He's gonna be-- - Here we go. We're goin' with the broth.
♪ intense music playing ♪
Alright, here we go.
♪ calm Zen music playing ♪
[gasps]
We're up to a six. TALLULAH: You can do this, Dad!
You know, the support from my wife slowly dwindled
throughout the two and a half years.
You know, my wife loves Zachary Goot.
She didn't fall in love with The Texas Hot Spot.
But, Tallulah's support never ran out.
[Zach sighs] - Roses are red, violets are blue,
I believe in you.
[drops bowl] CHEF: Monster! [laughs]
SERVER: There you go. [sighs, claps]
How many minutes did he have when he finished?
ZACH: I destroyed it. - Oh, my God!
ZACH: High five. NARRATOR: Addiction to heat
is very real for Zach.
Today, he's managed to indulge
without abandoning his priorities.
But as with all roads to recovery,
it can be a slippery slope.
ZACH: So, oh no, what am I gonna do?
How am I gonna get my spicy fix now?
Well, I got a whole rack of hot sauce at home
that I can get my spicy fix with at home.
Uh, there's restaurants that I will probably continue to visit
over and over again just to get that spicy fix. It's--
It's something that may be a part of me for the rest of my life.
If anyone breaks-- Hey, if anyone breaks my record,
I'm comin' back real quick, alright? Thanks, guys. Have a good one.
NARRATOR: While Zach Goot hopes this dose of superhot
fills a void for a while,
down south in Florida,
Johnny Scoville is attempting to keep the heat coming
as long as he can.
With time running out on the season,
a grower named Tom Broome might be his last hope
to find a contender for the hottest pepper on Earth.
JOHNNY: So, it's been a while since I've seen Tom.
He's been into plants since he was 8 years old.
That's been his passion.
Tom Broome.
You need a better fence, man, to keep us riffraff out.
Yeah, you do. JOHNNY: My brother.
- Man, what's happening? - Good to see you, dude.
How are ya? Happy birthday.
TOM BROOME: Thank you very much! JOHNNY: You look younger somehow.
- I-I feel younger every year. - Fantastic. You ready?
That's 'cause I learned another year's worth of stuff
since the last year. - Exactly.
Yeah, man, Tom Broome, he's just a mad scientist.
He's a lunatic, and he's got a sadistic part in him. Boy, he likes hurting people.
I'm lookin' forward to seeing what you got.
♪
Man, I got the best stuff there is.
- I hear that. - You know where to drive.
♪ soft crescendo ♪
[birds chirping] [wind blowing]
♪ playful music playing ♪
TOM: Take a look at, here's some African plants.
Encephalartos gratus from Mozambique.
JOHNNY: Really? TOM: Yeah. There's the female cone.
JOHNNY: Oh my gosh. It's huge.
NARRATOR: Tom Broome is the best kind of botanist.
An eccentric one.
He made his name growing a plant known as a cycad...
Look at this.
I mean, that's a cycad. That's actually my favorite cycad.
NARRATOR: ...and migrated into peppers only a few years back.
This is nubimontanus robustus.
NARRATOR: He's known for his insatiable knowledge
and love of talking about the plants he grows.
And when we say he loves to talk, my man,
dude loves to talk!
TOM: Now, this plant is extinct in the wild.
You know, cycads were the most abundant plants,
or cycadales, which is an order of plants,
was the most prominent plant group
during the time of the dinosaurs.
JOHNNY: Boy, it's a nasty plant, too.
Fell into that, you'd have a problem. TOM: Yes, it is!
Yes, it is.
[laughs] [Johnny scoffs]
NARRATOR: As Tom leads the way deeper into his vine-filled jungle of plants...
JOHNNY: Wow.
Boy, all kinds of fruit everywhere, man.
NARRATOR: ...all roads lead toward the peppers
that Johnny was beckoned here to see.
- Yeah, a little bit-- - What we got here?
TOM: That's the Chocolate Brain strains from Cabby.
JOHNNY: [whistles] Smells strong.
- You evolved. - And I ate-- Right? [laughs]
I ate a, uh, I ate one of these yesterday.
I'm curious to see how the heat's gonna be compared.
Alright. I'm sure it'll be hotter.
Right away hotter.
- Yeah-- - That's still-- That's got
a nice pulsating burn.
It's doin' one of these things. Yeah. - Still doin' it, huh?
♪ calm music playing ♪
TOM: For lack of anything better, I'm calling this Killer Yellow.
Yeah, try that out. JOHNNY: What a pretty pepper,
Killer Yellow.
My favorite peppers to eat for flavor
are yellow pods because they taste more citrusy.
They really do. They have citrus notes that are so strong,
almost like you're chewin' on a lemon rind.
They're really citrusy. I love that.
Smell that. So citrusy.
Oh yeah, not bad.
You got your smell-o-vision on? Smell that.
But, the drawback
of a yellow pod is they just aren't as hot
as the chocolate or the red pods of the same type.
So, if you have a, a Yellow Ghost,
is not as hot as a Red Ghost or a Chocolate, period.
Not debatable. Fact.
Alright, here we go.
Sweet.
TOM: Definitely, but hot. - Yeah.
♪ dramatic music playing ♪
[fire crackling] [mysterious rumbling]
- That's hot, dude. - Yes, sir.
JOHNNY: [whistles] Wow, that's a great pepper.
That's impressive, man.
That's crazy. TOM: Like Primotalii.
This is a Killer Yellow from Tom Broome.
Now, he initially thought this was a accidental cross
between a Prim-- a Primotalii and a Lemon Yellow Brain.
But, after he's done a little research and a little,
you know, thinkin' further about it,
Tom believes that that's not an accidental cross.
That's just a strange case
where a Red Primotalii plant
just happened to throw a yellow pod by happenstance.
Which,
it's like opening a-an oyster and finding a pearl.
It's an accidental beauty. It's like, "Whoa, you're kidding."
Wow, that pepper is impressive, man!
Now, you're gonna have to wait a little bit before you go?
Uh, just a couple, yeah. That's-- Listen, that's a hot pepper.
That surprised me. That caught me off guard.
And I'm telling you-- Here's the weird part.
We had it a couple months ago. It's literally the tail end of the season,
w-w-- approaching wintertime, and that pod was piping hot.
Pods-Pods are hotter in the summertime.
That yellow pod, you get it-- that Killer Yellow,
you get it in peak July or August--
There is no--
Th-There are very few red pods hotter than that.
I don't wanna pick just on the Reaper.
I mean, the idea that a yellow pod
can be hotter than a Reaper, than a Red Reaper?
♪
He needs to go to bed every night, just, like,
screaming excited because that's exclusive.
It's the only place on the planet that has Yellow Primotaliis.
My man. That-- I'm not joking you.
That has potential to be a record breaker.
It's burning me right in here. I haven't touched my face.
It's burning me right in here.
You alright? JOHNNY: Yeah!
This needs to be locked up somewhere. Seriously.
'Cause if I ever came to your house, I'm robbing-- I'm stealin' that one first.
This is a good one, dude.
NARRATOR: When you go looking for the end of the rainbow,
be prepared for a long trip with possibly no ending.
I mean, there's no guarantee you'll ever find it.
But, despite time ticking away
and the cold threatening to end it all,
Johnny Scoville has managed to find a pot of gold
to add to his pantheon.
And what a pantheon it is.
He probably has a little leprechaun leasing out some room
in that beautiful braided beard of his.
I'm just here to tell you that all these peppers,
it's anybody's game.
I want the one that makes me nervous to eat it.
I was so excited about when they released the-the Dragon's Breath
'cause they said it could kill a man.
Could kill a man! Like, sign me up for that one.
I knew it couldn't kill anybody.
The first time I ate one, I think I ate eight of them.
But, I-I-I get nervous when I hear about peppers like that
and that's, that's exciting.
[taps board] We'll see.
[crackling]
♪ inspiring music playing ♪
♪ music ends ♪
[whistling]