CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!
Carolina Reaper Chile Powder tastes extremely hot, but it is also very sweet too, if you can stand the heat! Some tasters even note a hint of a chocolate flavor.
 
As with all chile powders, this one is delicious with chocolate but when used in small amounts. You don’t need much to pack a powerful flavor punch! Using just a dash, like you might with salt, is a good way to initiate yourself in the world of the Carolina Reaper Chile Powder when you are eating it on something like a black bean soup or a beef stew. Do not feed this to children. It is dangerous and can cause bodily harm, so it should not be used for pranks of any sort. Wash your skin if you accidentally touch this spice and ensure that you are washing away the oils from the spice. If you find that you’re still having a reaction after contact with the Carolina Reaper Chile Powder, use some butter, yogurt, or milk to stop the burn. The casein protein in dairy will bind to the capsaicin in the chile powder and will help neutralize the burn. If you eat this and find it unbearable, drinking milk or eating a yogurt will do the same thing for your insides as it would for your skin. Drinking water or beer won’t help much, despite the common misconception that beer is a solution to chile heat. Beer and water will just continue to wash the capsaicin around your mouth and throat, giving the compound more opportunities to attach to the heat receptors in your mouth.

When handling whole Carolina Reapers, it is recommended that you wear gloves and avoid contact with the eyes or skin. We suggest handling the powder the same way, as it is just as hot as the whole chiles. They have a sweet flavor that hits your mouth immediately, and then is rapidly followed by a searing heat, so this is a powder that needs to be handled carefully. When it makes contact with your eyes, it could potentially do some real damage. Some people have had severe headaches and bodily reactions after eating a whole Carolina Reaper Chile, so it is safe to assume the same could be said with this powder, so it is best to be cautious.

The Carolina Reaper was developed by Ed Currie after he went searching for a way to breed chiles that were both hot but also extremely sweet. After learning that populations who have less instances of cancer in their history were also frequent consumers of chile peppers, he wanted to add more to his diet. He was looking for cancer preventatives as his own family history was indicative of his higher chances of developing cancer. The Reaper was named the world’s hottest chile pepper by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013, beating out the previous record holder, the Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” Chile. It has since been challenged by two chiles- the Dragon’s Breath and Pepper X but remains the official hottest chile in the world until laboratory tests can confirm one of the other chiles is the hottest.