This was a regular stop for the 3 years we lived in Atlanta. Mostly on the weekends when it was absolutely jam packed. If I was trying my hand at something that required good seafood, cheeses, bread or somewhat hard to find ingredients, this was the place. Not a bad wine and beer selection either.
I'd say I do habanero or scotch bonnets, sliced or minced w/ seeds in, in dishes several times a month. Much north of that it's tough to say. Eat a ghost pepper salsa but it must be the powder or extract or something. Never done a carolina reaper. South of a habanero is child's play as far as I'm concerned.
Hard to give a great description, I’ll try to give you an idea of how I think about hot.
I don’t eat ghost peppers, scorpion peppers, etc raw.
I like heat until it crosses into a pain threshold.
I’ve been to India, but never had true Indian hot or Thai hot food.
For me, that brand of vindaloo is super flavorful and really hot but not painful. Hope that helps- if you try it, I’d enjoy hearing what you thought about it.
From 8/25/17 on Ymm, Beer:
"Ginger Reaper Variant (draft)-Bond Brothers Brewing Company
This was a 2 ounce taster of what I guess is their standard imperial stout but brewed with ginger and c*rolina reapers (Don't Fear).
What's a c*rolina reaper?
Here ya go:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Reaper
After reading this, I'm amazed I made it through my sample:
"Bred in a Rock Hill, South Carolina greenhouse by "Smokin" Ed Currie, proprietor of the PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, the Carolina Reaper has been certified as the world's hottest chili pepper by Guinness World Records since August 7, 2013. The original crossbreed was between a Bhut jolokia (a former world record holder) and a red habanero, and is named 'Reaper' due to the shape of its tail. The official Guinness World Record heat level is 1,569,300 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), according to tests conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina. The figure is an average for the tested batch; the hottest individual pepper was measured at 2.2 million SHU.
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I'm fortunate the (almost) omniscient fuse was with me so I could ask what it was and when I was edjumacated, at least I had the sense to ask for a taste before the purchase, which, of course, never occurred.
That's a lot of bloviating for a 2 ounce sample which was dark brown, slightly foamy and had aromas of chocolate, heavily toasted grains and a bit of coffee. Tastes were pretty similar with hints of ginger and a moderate heat/burn from the peppers. Not as fiery as the Evil Twin Mini Dingo, but warm enough to say no thanks to a 10 ounce snifter for $4.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
For those looking for new hot sauces to try, the YouTube series "Hot Ones" by First We Feast just announced the sauces to be used in Season 11. The series is press junket interviews of celebrities looking to plug their projects. Instead of the standard interview, however, they are asked questions while progressing through buffalo wings (or tofu or cauliflower) of increasing Scoville heat units.
Ken Jeong's Hot Ones interview featured Duke basketball (not embedding it due to NSFW language)
I grow some stuff from seeds (okra, beans, squash) but also use starter plants which are reasonable priced if you go to a local establishment and avoid the big box stores. In my area, Norfolk County Feed and Seed is the place. A tray of three plants costs around $1.65 compared to $3.50 or higher for one plant at Lowe's, Home Depot or Walmart.
Bob Green