Man Behind the World-Famous ‘Carolina Reaper’ Shares His Mission to Make Even Hotter Peppers

Professional pepper farmer Ed Currie of Puckerbutt Pepper Company explained to a Wired reporter how he got into pepper growing, his very particular method for growing these peppers, and exactly how he created the Guinness record-setting, world-famous Carolina Reaper.

Curry also shared his mission to create ever hotter and hotter peppers.

When I first ate the reaper it knocked me to my knees. I was like 3 years clean I hadn’t felt that feeling in a long time. I knew that was hot, you get this like euphoric feeling and that’s your body trying to overtake the pain that the chemical reaction is giving and eventually the endorphin rush overtakes the pain. And when you get into the higher pain you get the more pleasure, so it’s just chasing the dragon.