Orange Habanero pepper: lab-tested Scoville rating and flavor
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The Orange Habanero in our Habanero Kit runs about 175,000 to 225,000 Scoville heat units (SHU), the middle range of the three habaneros in the kit. The lot we sent to the lab tested at 149,987, under that range and below our numbered habanero grinder: no. 4 Habanero, also an orange habanero, tested at 171,446, so this lot came in at about 87 percent of it. On the SpiceQuest scale the tested lot sits between no. 3 Bird's Eye at 104,085 and no. 4 Habanero.
Why a range and a number
Heat changes from batch to batch. The same pepper from the same grower will test differently from one harvest to the next, so the range, about 175,000 to 225,000, is what to expect from the grinder over time, and 149,987 is the exact result for the lot we tested. This time the two do not agree: the tested lot came in under the range, and we print the result as it came back. No. 4 Habanero, the same kind of pepper from a different harvest, tested at 171,446. Both lots and the whole range sit in our Hot tier, which runs from 100,000 to 349,999.
The tested lot is about 3.9 times no. 2 Scotch Bonnet at 38,868. In the kit, Yellow Habanero tested at 158,206, about 5 percent above it, a gap too small to feel, and Red Habanero at 237,663, about 1.6 times. 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.
The one you know
Orange is the habanero most people picture, the one in the grocery store. The flavor is apricot and bright citrus with a floral note, and the dried flakes add a warm, woody edge. The heat reaches full strength almost at once, fills the whole mouth and holds through the meal.
Try it on avocado toast, tacos with lime, eggs, a mango or pineapple salsa, or as the everyday table grinder. Start with one press. How the three colors differ is in Red vs. Orange vs. Yellow Habanero.
Who it suits
Orange Habanero is sold in the Habanero Kit with Yellow Habanero and Red Habanero, each in its own SpiceQuest push-button grinder. The product page shows whether it is available. Sold on its own, the orange habanero is no. 4 Habanero.
In the kit it is the reference point: taste it first or second, then see what Yellow and Red change.
Questions people ask
Is the Orange Habanero the same pepper as no. 4 Habanero? Both are orange habanero. They are different lots, and they tested at 149,987 and 171,446 Scoville units, about 13 percent apart. Why two peppers of the same variety test differently explains gaps like that.
Is the Orange Habanero the mildest in the Habanero Kit? By range, no: Orange runs about 175,000 to 225,000 and Yellow about 150,000 to 200,000. The lots we tested came in the other way round, Orange at 149,987 and Yellow at 158,206, a 5 percent gap that batch-to-batch variation easily covers. Red, at 237,663, is the hottest either way.
How does it compare with a jalapeño? The top of a jalapeño's published range is 8,000 Scoville units, so this lot is about 19 times that.
Sources
- Chili Pepper Madness, The Scoville scale, for the jalapeño range