[fire crackles]
NARRATOR: When this whole thing began, we took the chili pill,
and we traveled deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole
into the world of the others.
Chili kingmaker Johnny Scoville
set out on a quest for the holy grail of heat.
To find the world's hottest pepper.
Bobby McFadden brought forth the Orange Gusher.
BOBBY MCFADDEN: Good luck. [chuckles]
NARRATOR: And Jimmy Pickles let us peek into the vault
at his Piranha.
JIMMY PICKLES: Presenting the JP Piranha.
JOHNNY SCOVILLE: Wow, that's a great pepper.
NARRATOR: The 7 Pot Primo and the Nova Brain
lit up Zest Fest.
[crowd clamors]
Before Drew Goldy surprised everyone, even himself.
Johnny Scoville said
that this could be the contender
for the hottest pepper, and it's a happy accident.
NARRATOR: As winter brought the season to an end,
Tom Broome threw one last hat into the ring of fire.
- That's hot, dude. - Yes, sir.
NARRATOR: Well, this is the end.
The moment we've all been waiting for.
Johnny's about to bring the whole conversation to a head.
At an event of his own making.
Welcome to the first ever
Johnny Scoville Chase the Heat Rodeo.
A competitive eating event
featuring the hottest peppers Johnny has found.
And some of the most renowned eaters on planet Earth.
You know, the bulls and bull riders of the chili world.
They're right here in the arena.
[explosion booms]
I found some of the gnarliest peppers on the globe, I have.
After finding the peppers and these growers,
what was the logical next step?
Getting them all together and let's burn some people up.
It would be the first time ever that the growers actually sat there
in front of the people eating them and watching the damage they inflict.
One of those peppers is the hottest.
It just is.
I'm gonna find out which one it is.
That's it.
NARRATOR: Spoiler alert,
Johnny's got some very big news ahead.
♪ dramatic theme music playing ♪
[pepper crunches]
[flame sizzles]
[bubbling]
[flame sizzling]
♪ enticing music playing ♪
[laughs] Gonna be a good day.
7 Pot Primo, I grew these.
You-you've been to this garden, where these came from.
I haven't spent three days away from my house in 12 years.
I don't have anybody I trust to, uh, take care of my stuff.
NARRATOR: The invite list for today's event
is a who's who of pepper people.
The worst effects happen the next day,
and then nobody sees. TROY PRIMEAUX: Yeah.
The gift that keeps on giving. [group laughing]
NARRATOR: Most importantly, the superhot Dr. Frankensteins
who have created the chilies Johnny has knighted.
TROY: Are you, are you selecting for-for the-the look,
that cool look of the Grumpanero?
BOBBY: Yeah, yeah, I gotta get more faces.
I'm at, like, 40%, 50%.
We're trying to get it to, like, 90%.
TROY: It's gotta have the face. - Yeah.
Since I'm a new guy and I'm still kind of growing,
I don't think as many people knew who I am.
But now I'm showing people, that are a big deal,
what I can do, I feel like I'm a part of the club.
NARRATOR: While most of Johnny's prize growers are on hand,
Jimmy Pickles is a notable exception.
When asked why, his answer was totally on brand.
JIMMY: I'm being very protective of the JP Piranha.
I'm not givin' it to anybody
until it's out for the general public.
NARRATOR: While Jimmy decided to keep things safe at home,
he wasn't the only one fearful of the cutthroat pepper world.
Tom Broom is here, but he's not taking any chances.
When they get distributed,
we gotta make sure they're gonna eat 'em
and nobody keeps any of the seeds.
No seeds. We'll pop the whole thing in their mouth.
If I grew, I'd be really concerned about it.
Especially if I had the hottest plant.
Some take it to the nth degree, like Tom Broome,
not wanting to let anybody touch his pods during a contest.
That's some paranoia right there.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,
guess what time it is?
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: There aren't very many events
that bring the growers and eaters together.
Johnny's plan for making it happen, to hype his quest,
and create the need for answers.
JOHNNY: So, for the past several months,
I've gone on a road trip and I've gone all over the US
in a quest to find the hottest pepper.
And I have stumbled upon some dandies
that we're gonna share with you.
[crowd cheering]
Now these peppers,
every one of them has potential to be the hottest pepper
ever, ever created.
So that's what these people are gonna be eating today.
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: When you're ready to serve up
a pantheon of the hottest peppers,
you need some serious mouths on hand.
JOHNNY: "Grizzly Heat" Griffin on the end.
Come on! [crowd cheering]
Jared Smith.
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: Well, Johnny has recruited
the toughest there are for the occasion.
KTB Saucy.
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: Hot sauce phenom Katie Banister has steadily made waves
in the competitive eating world.
But this is the first time she's sat amongst the heavyweights.
I do not wanna do this damn thing. [laughs]
But I'm going to.
I can only imagine what's gonna happen.
I'm probably going to surprise myself,
um, but I think they're gonna give us a curve ball.
NARRATOR: While KTB is here,
there are two notable faces missing from the stage.
The legendary Mike Jack, unable to compete
while recovering from his recent hot sauce world record chug.
[groans]
And underdog favorite Zach Goot
whose chili retirement is still keeping him out of the action at home.
ZACH GOOT: There are people out there that can,
they can do all of this at once.
They can, you know, make sure
that their family is treated right and their wife is treated right
and their communications are right,
and they can also come on in and eat some peppers and do this.
I'm just not one of 'em.
But there's a way to do it, and that's what I'm hoping on.
I'm hoping to find that way to do it,
get healthier, and then maybe one day do a comeback.
NARRATOR: Though some are MIA,
the biggest name in chili eating is not.
JOHNNY: You might notice that there's a space in the middle.
You guys notice that empty space?
Alright.
So we're gonna welcome Shahina "The UK Chili Queen" Waseem.
NARRATOR: The queen is in the building.
[crowd cheering]
With her 96 match win streak alive and well.
But can she keep it going against the hottest of superhot?
When Johnny says these are the hottest peppers you're going to have
in this competition,
it drives the fear of God into me.
Like, 100%, we know we're in for some pain there, you know?
[crowd cheering]
JOHNNY: Alright, so these are the gladiators.
Who's ready?
[crowd cheering]
Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I wanna bring up Gary Montcalm.
[crowd cheers]
Round one. These are chocolate Nova Brains.
They are wickedly hot.
Tell us a little bit about this pepper.
It's an accidental cross
between 7 Pot Brain Strain and Dorset Naga,
and I named it after my granddaughter Nova
who was helpin' me in the garden at the time.
JOHNNY: It is a vicious burn.
So they're, they're gonna burn you enough that you say, "I'm good."
NARRATOR: Johnny Scoville's Chase the Heat Rodeo is frankly
the pinnacle of chili eating.
It's the standard round by round competition.
If you finish the pepper, don't puke,
and don't drink any milk, you move on.
But this one might as well take place on the sun.
With each round focused on one of Johnny's pantheon peppers.
JOHNNY: Hold up your pod.
Before we eat this, who's nervous?
SHAHINA WASEEM: I'm nervous. SPEAKER: Me.
I'm nervous.
Alright, guys, eat that pepper!
[crowd cheering]
♪ upbeat rock music playing ♪
SPECTATOR: Come on, Shahina!
JOHNNY: Chocolate Nova Brain.
What a great pepper, huh?
We're starting with such scary peppers.
No pepper contest starts like this.
And it's just an evil burn.
Well done, Gary.
GARY MONTCALM: Thanks.
NARRATOR: As the pantheon peppers wreak their havoc,
you might be waiting for the eaters to render a verdict.
JOHNNY: Put up your score of how hot you are from one to 10.
Shahina. - Four.
JOHNNY: Four. Katie's at a five or six.
Seven. Wow.
NARRATOR: Well, Johnny hosted the event
to shine a light on the conversation,
but a judgment here is not really possible.
For starters, eating one after the next muddies the waters
for each that follows.
But more importantly,
anytime an eater says a pepper is the hottest,
it's nothing more than a personal opinion
based on how it feels.
♪ upbeat music playing ♪
Here's Zach Goot to explain more.
Spider-Man has the Green Goblin,
and Thor has Loki.
And just like these guys,
every chilihead has their nemesis.
This is why we call it the Nemesis Pepper.
It's all about the chemistry between you and the pepper.
No matter what the Scoville scale says,
certain peppers just taste hotter to some people than others.
[muffled breaths]
[exhales] Okay.
We've been talkin' a lot about what is the hottest pepper?
Maybe it's hard to find out
because everyone's nemesis is the hottest to them.
[slurps]
That's hot.
[muttering]
That's hot.
JOHNNY: The 7 Pot Primo. It's a deadly pepper for real.
Munch those peppers!
[crowd cheering]
TROY: Good luck, it's gonna be a rough ride.
And you might win, but in the end,
there's gonna be pain involved.
[retching]
[crowd cheering]
JOHNNY: It's not nearly as much fun as it looks, people.
- Don't look down there. - Oh, gosh.
Alright, Bobby McFadden, The Mighty Mustache.
Please come up here.
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: For Bobby McFadden, this is the moment he dreamed of
when he created the Orange Gusher back in New Jersey.
Yeah, I mean, there is a--
there's like a symbiotic thing between growers and eaters.
I grew these 7 Pot Orange Gusher Bubble Gum
as a gift from the pepper gods.
I love growing it. They love eating it.
We all kind of work together.
Stoked, man, let's burn some people. [laughs]
JOHNNY: Alright, guys, everybody ready?
[crowd cheering]
Eat that pepper!
[crowd cheering]
SHAHINA: Bobby's Orange Gusher was actually a beautiful pepper.
You almost get taken into this false sense of security.
It's not gonna be as painful as the others and--
but that's just not the truth because soon as you had it,
it was mind blowing.
That was really, really crazy.
- Hey, did you hear that? - Absolutely brutal.
That last one was really rough.
Well done.
Ooh!
JOHNNY: So I wanna invite up here Tom Broome.
This is so important to me that I didn't want
the possibility of anybody getting a hold of these.
So I wanted to bring 'em up personally,
and I'll pass 'em out.
NARRATOR: I guess Tom wasn't kidding when he said he would never let
his Killer Yellows out of his sight.
JOHNNY: Alright, guys, Killer Yellow pepper.
[crowd cheering]
Is everybody ready?
Lots of support. Let's cheer 'em on.
Eat that pepper!
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: Though this event is all about
the pantheon of contenders that Johnny's discovered.
Shahina Waseem has a way of seizing attention
on her road to 100 wins.
Today, she's facing the hottest of superhot
and more competitors than usual.
At least at the start.
[retches, coughs]
As Johnny's super-hot superhots
unleash round after round of torment...
JOHNNY: Good job, man.
[coughs, retches]
NARRATOR: ...the field begins to overheat.
I don't think I can do it.
JOHNNY: Hey, I'm proud of you.
Give her a big round of applause.
[crowd cheering]
If you watch a panel of people crumble
and-and melt like a snowman in July,
that to me is proof in the pudding.
Now I can-- Johnny can say all day long, these are hot,
but look what it did to Katie B.
NARRATOR: Some will argue that it was the Killer Yellow that killed them.
Others will say it was the 7 Pot that cooked them all.
Johnny's pantheon of superhot contenders
brutalizes the toughest mouths on the circuit.
And when all is said and done,
only two remain.
A heavyweight named Jared Smith.
And you guessed it, the UK Chili Queen,
one step away from win 97.
[crowd cheering]
What we've got here, we don't have a name for it yet, right?
We don't.
It's a Primotalii variant with a Gator Jigsaw.
It's an accidental cross.
He's got a few names you're workin' on. - I do.
But this is a absolute beast of a pepper.
Without a doubt, one of the hottest peppers I've had all year.
- Are we doin' it? - We are doin' it.
Are you guys ready?
Let's cheer 'em on.
Eat those peppers! [crowd cheering]
[pepper crunches]
CROWD [chanting]: Eat those peppers!
Eat those--
SHAHINA: The peppers were crazy hot.
That's when I started to feel, oh,
you know, "I'm in trouble here.
I don't think I can carry on."
My mouth was on fire, my head was blown.
And then I had the Naga Claw as well.
[crowd cheering]
My wrist completely buckled in.
And I was trying to pick the peppers up.
And at that point, all I wanted was my misery to be over.
Like, I wanted it to end. I was in so much pain.
And I was thinking, you know, "This is it.
I've got my record on the line here."
[heartbeat thumping]
[crowd cheering]
JOHNNY: Okay, guys, it's all come down to the wire.
Okay, what we're gonna do is we have seven peppers.
We have two Chocolate Nova Brain,
a red Chocolate Nova Brain, and four 7 Pot Primos.
Whoever eats those seven pods the quickest is gonna be the winner.
SHAHINA: When we got to that speed round,
the relief in that sense was there
that this is coming to an end now.
This competition's going to end.
So, my pain's going to stop soon.
I was just thinking, "No, at this point,
"let's just see how far
and just take it one pepper at a time."
JOHNNY: You guys ready?
PAUL OURO: Shan, quick.
Quick, Shan. JOHNNY: One, two,
three, go!
[crowd cheering]
PAUL: Shan, he's eatin' 'em quick. Really quick, you can do this.
I'm not joking. I'm not joking, he's fast.
JOHNNY: Guys, this is going-- PAUL: Come on.
JOHNNY: Anything can happen.
[crowd cheering and shouting]
PAUL: Come on, Shan. Come on.
JOHNNY: Shahina's looking strong.
♪ tense, dramatic music playing ♪
[coughs]
SPECTATOR: Come on, Jared, you can do it!
You can do it! You can do it!
♪
[retches] JOHNNY: Oh!
[crowd cheering]
JOHNNY: I think we may have had some spewage.
[retches violently] JOHNNY: Oh!
We have spewage.
SPEAKER: No way.
JOHNNY: But what we also have
is a champion!
That is the UK Chili Queen's 97th victory.
Three more to hit 100.
Amazing.
[crowd cheering]
NARRATOR: At this point, betting against Shahina Waseem
is like lighting your money on fire.
No matter the rules or the setting,
she somehow finds a way to win.
And today, she's walked through the hottest of fires
to claim her 97th consecutive victory.
JOHNNY: Here's your champion.
[crowd cheering]
So you want to give us a word, tell us how ya feel?
[panting] Pretty much dying right now.
Every single contestant on that table did so well.
I mean, they pushed themselves beyond
what they thought they could.
[crowd cheering]
Thank you, guys, thank you.
NARRATOR: Shahina, as usual, walks away a winner.
But for all of the eaters here, including the queen,
the pain isn't over.
While they crash, the pantheon growers are riding high.
JOHNNY: I want a picture of me and, uh, these growers real quick.
Oops, hold on. BOBBY: Oh, let's get in here, guys.
Everybody in? Troy, are you in here?
[camera shutter clicks]
Alright, now we have a little round table.
DREW GOLDY: Right here?
NARRATOR: It isn't often they're in the spotlight,
or even all together.
And their collective coronation by Johnny has them excited
to explore what comes next.
DREW: That was monumental. BOBBY: Yeah, yeah.
JOHNNY: That was just next level.
I've seen her suffer and still pull through
with you, ya know?
Right. Ugh.
Yes. TROY: But she said, "Let's go."
She ate 103 Carolina Reapers in one sitting.
At the time, it was a record.
She was hurting more from those 20 peppers
than she was from a hundred Reapers.
So that's gotta tell you guys somethin' about the quality
of those pods you guys grew. - That does. [laughs]
I'm serious, i-it's like it really was.
TROY: What's the next step?
The next step I've got-- You know, here's the deal.
Um, all your peppers, they're the hottest I've had.
They really are.
And I think it's time we officially test them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're gonna do like a little shootout.
We're gonna find out who's got the hottest pod.
DREW: Let's go.
To me, that's the logical next step.
We're gonna find out.
Let's end the talking, who's got the hottest?
And we'll see if my thoughts were right over this whole pantheon of peppers.
I-I think I know what's gonna happen.
And I believe every one of you guys has the potential, I mean it.
- Check 'em out, man. HPLC. - Yep.
Get the, uh, capsaicinoid breakdown...
- That's what I'm thinking. - ...to see what they got.
How else does this go?
This stops the chatter after that.
Yeah.
♪ dramatic sting ♪
♪ intriguing music playing ♪
NARRATOR: When a quest begins,
there's really no telling where it will lead.
But this one has brought us to a place
Johnny Scoville hoped it would.
After months searching for the hottest superhots on earth,
he has powder from each chili
ready to undergo laboratory testing.
JOHNNY: This is 13.25 million Scoville.
Hottest pepper in the world is a million and a half,
and this is 13.
It just adds a type of heat that is sort of surreal.
I got really lucky with this whole thing
because on this pantheon pepper journey,
I stumbled upon things that I was not expecting along the way.
What do they call it, serendipity? It's kind of what happened.
I got very, very fortunate along the way and found some really amazing peppers.
The next step is me and these growers,
we're gonna test a sample of their hottest.
We're gonna find out.
I wonder if, uh, he'll want some tincture in his coffee.
He's a coffee guy.
NARRATOR: While most of the pantheon growers
quickly packed up and shipped their pepper samples to Johnny,
there's one person who wouldn't dare put it in the mail.
[knocking on door]
Alright. [sighs]
Pickles. JIMMY: Johnny.
How you doin', brother? - What's goin' on? How you doin', man?
Good seeing you, man.
JOHNNY: Hey, you want some coffee, dude?
JIMMY: Yes. JOHNNY: I know you're a coffee guy.
Do you want some tincture in your coffee this morning?
JIMMY: Sure. Sounds intriguing.
Alright, man. So, uh, first time in Des Moines, huh?
- Yes. - Me too.
Yeah, never been here before.
Beautiful area.
So let's your powder, man. I wanna see it. See what you got.
♪ suspenseful music playing ♪
♪
Beautiful.
♪
Since you trust me,
Uh, I want you to be able to feel really confident when you leave here.
Look what I got.
♪ funky upbeat music playing ♪
We're gonna put this in the briefcase.
We're gonna make sure that this gets to the destination with no problem,
'cause I'm gonna be wearin' this bad boy.
Make sure it's safe.
JIMMY: Good man, good man.
Confident, I'm very confident. - Yeah?
Holy shit, they were some hot peppers, man.
The JP Piranha very well could be one-one--
if not, the hottest in the world.
The JP Piranha could very well take over the Carolina Reaper.
Alright, man, well, I'm excited, Jimmy.
This is good, man.
Just keep our fingers crossed and hopefully we got a monster here.
Yeah, I think so.
That's why I'm gonna get it tested.
That's why we're gonna do things in a documented fashion.
That's why I have Johnny Scoville.
Test results will tell the truth.
Okay. - Alright, dude.
Behave yourself, be careful, and, uh, I'll be in touch with you, man.
NARRATOR: Welcome to superhot heaven,
Des Moines, Iowa.
The Eurofins Lab here
is one of the most reputable testing facilities on earth,
and the spot Johnny's chosen to give him answers.
It is one of the few accredited labs endorsed by the American Spice Council
as an authority in the art of capsaicin testing.
JOHNNY: How are you? SPEAKER: Need you to sign in here first.
This is spe-- a special moment for me.
Yep, there ya go.
NARRATOR: Though this could appear to be a simple lab visit for most,
by now, we know what this means for our good friend Johnny.
JOHNNY: Pretty cool.
NARRATOR: It might as well be his birthday.
JOHNNY: I feel like I won the lottery.
We're in the cusp of goin', you know, "Eureka, this is it."
My name is Johnny Scoville. It's so good to meet you.
Well, nice meetin' you, Johnny.
Welcome to Eurofins in Des Moines.
Thank you. I'm very, very happy to be here.
This is kinda like Disneyland for us.
[laughs] So I'm very, very happy.
I heard you have some, uh, hot peppers.
I do, and I really am excited to see what these numbers are...
- [laughs] Yes. - ...'cause they're really hot.
Well, we will do our best to get the test
and give it a number for you.
JOHNNY: Fantastic.
ANDERS THOMSEN: Yeah, so you need to wear a lab coat.
♪ whimsical music playing ♪
Okay.
Fantastic.
ANDERS: Well, let's go back to the lab.
Excellent.
♪
ANDERS: Hi, good morning.
JOHNNY: Hi. Good morning.
NARRATOR: Scoville heat unit testing evaluates
the amount of capsaicin present in a sample.
This lab often tests bird feed,
which companies lace with capsaicin to fend off squirrels.
Birds are among the few that don't feel its effect,
but squirrels do.
So this testing is done every day on products for big business.
JOHNNY: Alright.
So we'll take about two grams
of this sample... - Mm-hmm.
LAB TECH: ...and we'll weigh it into this flask here.
And then we'll take that sample and dilute it with reagent alcohol.
And that's what the Scoville will dissolve into.
JOHNNY: Right. LAB TECH: In order to be registered
when we test it analytically.
Excellent. How long is it gonna take?
The whole test takes about six hours if you--
And you're not gonna be able to tell me, like, in the next two minutes
how hot this stuff is? - The way up.
No, so it actually has to heat and condense on a reflux for...
JOHNNY: So six hours? - ...five hours.
JOHNNY: Wow.
LAB TECH: And then after that, we have to run it
on the chromatography instrument.
So that takes an additional, like, two to four hours.
Cool. Alright.
The Scoville scale, essentially what it is, to dumb it down,
you have a dried product.
How many ounces of water do you need to add to that mixture
before a test group can't taste the heat anymore?
Now it's done a lot more high tech.
NARRATOR: Though it takes about six hours to run the tests,
it'll be a few days until he receives the official results.
It's a very long wait for Johnny
who believes there's more than one pepper here
that could exceed 1.641 million Scoville heat units.
The benchmark set by the Carolina Reaper in the Guinness Book of World Records.
JOHNNY: In a really weird way,
kinda feel like-- I-- this feels familiar.
I've got three children,
and I remember sitting around waiting.
And here's the thing, I-- you know what just occurred to me as I'm sitting here?
This, uh, this hasn't been a six, you know,
a few months, I've been-- this quest started seven years ago.
And this is the culmination.
So, you know,
to say I'm nervous sounds silly, but I'm a little-- I'm-I'm on edge.
And as nervous as I am, I'll tell you what,
the guys who grew, the people who grew these peppers,
[chuckles] go to where they are right now.
They're doing the same thing, I promise you.
But there-- it's their baby. I'm just the guy who delivered it.
This is, you know, their-- it's their creation. It's heavy.
♪ majestic music playing ♪
NARRATOR: Now the time has finally come
to reveal the winner of Johnny Scoville's pantheon.
The hottest chili belongs to
a grower we will reveal after the commercial break.
I hate that shit. I hate it.
I hate that I'm the one that had to-- I'm sorry, you have to wait.
I'm sorry.
♪ upbeat music playing ♪
♪
NARRATOR: Eurofins labs in Iowa processed each of the superhot samples
Johnny Scoville provided.
And in the words of the lab technician,
"These are all seriously hot."
But buckle up,
the Eurofins results reveal numbers
that eclipse the Guinness benchmark set
by the Carolina Reaper.
JOHNNY: I got some really exciting news for you.
I got the lab results.
And I'm excited about it. Brace yourself.
Your Piranha is 1,759,087
Scoville Units.
- Are you kiddin' me? - I'm absolutely serious.
- Wow, that's freakin' awesome. - Congratulations.
Thanks. Thanks, man. Wow.
That's freakin' awesome.
It's a game-changer.
Yeah, the tables have turned.
♪ dramatic sting ♪
NARRATOR: From his secluded basement in Bethel Park,
down the stairs in the dark,
Jimmy Pickles created a monster.
The JP Piranha Scoville score,
as tested by Eurofins lab,
is 1,759,087
Scoville Heat Units.
Surpassing the Reaper's Guinness benchmark
of 1.641 million
by more than 100,000 Scoville Heat Units.
Though adversaries came for his glory,
Jimmy defended his creation,
and now he's positioned to actually build the JP Empire.
Havin' the world's hottest pepper is really a lottery ticket.
And-And if it is, you win and it doesn't stop there.
That's only the beginning of the journey.
And that's, uh, that-that's a good feeling.
That-that's a good feeling.
So, I'm doin' somethin' right in the pepper industry.
Boom, I got a whole lot more work to do.
So now this is the opportunity. Just keep goin'.
You know, when it's a passion, the work is never done.
♪ dramatic music playing ♪
[bubbling]
NARRATOR: If this was the end, most would be pretty satisfied, right?
The journey would've been more than worthwhile.
But we ain't done yet.
You ready for this?
Jimmy's Piranha was not the hottest Johnny tested.
What?! Yeah, it wasn't.
JOHNNY: I got some very cool news.
Um, so... we tested it three times.
Your 7 Pot Primo was
the hottest we tested by far.
TROY: Seriously? - Absolutely.
TROY: Really?
JOHNNY: At Eurofins, they're saying it's hotter than the Guinness record.
That is awesome. Dude.
Thank you.
It's hard to say that sometimes.
JOHNNY: It's alright. You've earned it. - Thank you.
NARRATOR: Troy Primeaux's 7 Pot Primo
has been a legendary chili for more than a decade.
There are many who assumed it might rival the Reaper,
but truthfully, even its biggest fans could not have guessed
that Eurofins would clock it
at 1,790,150 Scoville Heat Units.
That is 150,000 more than the Reaper's Guinness record.
Besting the Piranha score by 30,000.
JOHNNY: I'm telling you, you grew a hot pepper.
Again, that should add more gas to the...
Yeah, no, no, you-- JOHNNY: ...fire in the belly.
You should be excited. - Well, you see my gears turnin'?
JOHNNY: I am. TROY: Where's it go?
Hotter. TROY: Hotter?
NARRATOR: Johnny Scoville set out to find
the hottest of superhot,
the holy grail of heat.
And in the end,
both Troy Primeaux and Jimmy Pickles delivered.
The rest of the pantheon peppers also scored impressive numbers.
Though none that would challenge any records.
Next in line was Tom's Killer Yellow,
followed by Bobby's Orange Gusher,
Gary's Nova Brain, and Drew's Accidental Cross.
I can't wait to see what you do with it next
because you're the OG.
Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
You got your mojo back, bro.
TROY: [laughs] Yeah.
JOHNNY: No, I mean it.
You got your mojo back. - Yeah.
You're not on pause anymore. TROY: Yeah.
But you got that fire in your belly.
TROY: I got it.
This is huge. It could be worth millions.
But to me, it's more about leaving a legacy for Hudson.
I've seen a-a Troy Primeaux. [Troy chuckles]
No, I'm serious. Rejuvenate with a fire in your belly.
- I'm excited, I really am. - I-I know.
If I'm a pepper grower and my name isn't Primeaux,
I'm nervous now.
TROY: Along the way, I've made mistakes and that I didn't as a--
you know, I didn't think I would.
It would-- I didn't think my pepper would be this big, man.
You know? No way in hell. No way.
So I'm glad it-- I-I mean, I'm glad it is.
I just-- I'm just humble, man. You know?
♪ upbeat music playing ♪
NARRATOR: Like the circle of life,
some things end just where they began.
After requests that stretched thousands of miles,
he has tasted some of the hottest superhots on the planet.
But somehow, for Johnny Scoville,
the end is just the new beginning.
♪ funky rock music playing ♪
♪
[machine hissing]
[people chattering]
So by now, you know that my life's about chasing heat.
It's just what I do.
My quest took me to Florida, the Carolinas, Pittsburgh.
I found some staggering peppers.
The hottest peppers that I believe exist, for now.
And that's the key, for now.
Can I get a cherry bomb to go?
Thank you. Here you go.
No pepper's gonna be the hottest pepper forever.
Why?
There's always gonna be more peppers.
So look, this is the end of the show, but not for me.
I'm never gonna stop.
So I'll see you when I see you, but you'll know where to find me.
♪ rock music continues ♪
♪
♪ dramatic theme music playing ♪
[flame sizzling]
♪
[whistling]