Peach Bhut Jolokia Pepper Review

This past growing season, there was one particular plant that I was really looking forward to growing out. I had purchased the seeds for this Peach Bhut Jolokia from Puckerbutt Pepper Company last fall and was lucky enough to get a couple of plants fruiting by late August. I’m a huge fan of the Bhut Jolokia to begin with and I had heard great things about this varian — not only did the peppers look great, but they were damn tasty, as well. And hot.

As you can see above, these peppers look gnarly as all get out. They had some of the best shapes of all my plants this past season and were quite consistent — size, shape and flavor were pretty much the same across each pepper I tasted. I was thoroughly pleased with both plants by the time the season was a wrap.

The particular pod selected for this review was roughly three inches in length with a gnarled, wrinkled and bumpy texture from stem to tip. I would say I picked the scariest pepper available for review, but to be honest, they all pretty much looked just like this one.

Inside, placenta runs just about the entire length of the pepper. Plenty of seeds and small collections of oil puddled here and there. For the most part, the interior of the Peach Bhut Jolokia resembles a paler version of the standard strain of this popular plant. The aroma also smells just like your run of the mill Bhut, but with a bit more of a subdued character. It’s not all in your face with a lightly floral and almost delicate nature.

Each bit leads with a solid crunch of pepper flesh before an array of floral flavors, a light sweetness, distant fruit and grass arrive. Again, the pods tastes almost just like a standard Bhut Jolokia, but with a more delicate and subtle character. I like it a great deal.

The heat, unlike the flavor, is on par with its red brethren. It hits almost immediately, quickly engulfing the entire tongue with a good focus of burn along the sides and bottom. A few hiccups arise but quickly subside as the heat spreads to the roof of the mouth and slowly down the back of the throat. My eyes welled a bit as the pepper peaked and leveled out for a good few minutes before fading wonderfully slowly.

The Peach Bhut Jolokia did not disappoint. The plants grew well and produced a good number of pods through the season. The burn is solid, hitting quickly but not quite as aggressively as some examples of the standard red Bhut Jolokia. Needless to say, I will be growing out more of these in 2018.