Elysium Oxide Scotch Bonnet Pepper Review

I had heard a good deal about the Elysium Oxide Scotch Bonnet over the past couple of years, but was never able to find seeds for the variety – until about this time last year from a grower via Instagram. This particular seed provider has been hit and miss with some of the plants I have grown this season, but that’s content for a later post.

As for this review, I think the seeds turned out to be correct. The Elysium Oxide is a cross 7 Pot Douglah and a Fairie Scotch Bonnet – neither of which I have crossed paths with in the past. The fruit typically ripen to a dark red or rust color, which I was expecting. The pods on my plant are definitely more in the red realm.

Visually, this fruit do resemble their scotch bonnet heritage with smooth skin and lobed appearance. Inside, there isn’t anything surprising to find within the thin-walled compartment. A small bit of placenta sits near the stem end of the pepper. A few bubbles of oil ooze from the spongey material.

The aroma is earthy and not as floral or as pungent as scotch bonnets that I have grown in previous season. It’s got a fairly subdued smell. The flavor, thankfully, is more pronounced with an earthiness, light sweetness and distant fruit notes. A hint of floral notes linger as you chew through the crunch, juicy pepper.

The heat builds swiftly, producing a moderate, stinging burn across the whole tongue. I sits at the peak for a good while as the face flushes and a light sheen of sweat forms on the brow. This heat must be from the Douglah side of the cross. It eventually fades after a fairly long duration at the plateau.

The pods from my particular plant were’s the most full flavored, but they certainly were not bad by any measure. The subtle flavor and stinging burn make it a fairly versatile pepper that would be a decent addition to any powder blend or sauce.