Green Ghost pepper: lab-tested Scoville rating and flavor
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The Green Ghost in our Ghost Kit tested at 360,498 Scoville heat units (SHU). That puts it between the other two peppers in the kit, Red Ghost at 527,676 and Yellow Ghost at 285,998, and below our numbered ghost grinder: no. 5 Ghost tested at 417,166, so the Green Ghost came in at about 86 percent of it.
Reading the number
360,498 is just inside our Superhot tier, which starts at 350,000. It is about 2.1 times as hot as no. 4 Habanero at 171,446, and a little under Pineapple Ghost at 387,246.
The lab figure is for one lot. The kit label gives a range, 300,000 to 450,000, because heat moves between harvests and batches of the same pepper, and the lot we tested sits in the middle of it. The flakes in the SpiceQuest chili grinder are pure pepper, with no salt and no preservatives, and the number comes from an HPLC lab test. Our lab-tested Scoville chart has every result.
Picked green
A green ghost pepper is a ghost pepper picked before it ripens, while the pod is still green. Ghost pods stay green for a long time before they turn, and the heat is already most of the way there. What the green pod has not yet built is the sweetness and the smoky, fruity depth of the ripe red pod.
So the flavor is grassy and herbal, with a faint floral note, closer to a green chile than to a dried red one. The heat does not hit at once. It builds across the tongue and stays. Try it on tacos, guacamole, a tomatillo salsa, grilled corn, brisket or anything that already has lime and cilantro in it. Start with one press. How the three colors differ is in Red vs. Yellow vs. Green Ghost.
Who it suits
Green Ghost is sold in the Ghost Kit with Red Ghost and Yellow Ghost, each in its own SpiceQuest push-button grinder. The product page shows whether it is available.
It suits someone who cooks with fresh green chiles and wants that taste with superhot heat, and anyone who wants to taste what ripening adds to a pepper: open Green, then Red, on the same food.
Questions people ask
Is a green ghost pepper milder than a red one? In our tests, yes. The Green Ghost tested at 360,498 Scoville units and the Red Ghost in the same kit at 527,676. The green pod is the same pepper picked before it ripens.
Is the Green Ghost a superhot? Just. Our Superhot tier starts at 350,000, and it tested at 360,498.
How does it compare with no. 5 Ghost? No. 5 Ghost tested at 417,166, so the Green Ghost is about 86 percent of it.