Some time back, it must be half a year ago, I bought a small can of Carolina Reaper powder from Chili-Shop 24 (Austria).

It’s definitely spicy. The package contains pure dried & powdered Carolina Reaper chillies and absolutely nothing else. The flavor is packed with sharp, immediate heat with a strong backdrop of fruity and sweet undertones with almost zero pungency, tartness or citrus flavor. The closest description would be a cross between floral sweetness, mango and a papaya with some rum, cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander and a punch of paprika flavor wrapped in strong, but not overbearing heat that leaves your tongue almost as quickly as you can taste it. It doesn’t linger or give much of a deep burning sensation on your mucous membranes like more oily and pungent chili varieties do, but the pain is strong, sharp and quickly retreating.

With the Carolina Reaper, it’s easy to overdose because the heat itself masks everything else on your plate. About a tip of a teaspoon is very much enough for a seasoned chili-head or a tropical individual, or a family of four WASP’s. Hence, a single jar may last an exceptionally long time in regular use. Actively used as a table spice, a can may last a year’s worth of dash-on-lunch, or up to a month in a busy restaurant. Served for others, I’d recommend to dilute it with flavors that fit its profile, such as sweet paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, habañero, chiltepin, ancho, espelette or similar varieties, or a savory but not too warm masala based on coriander and cumin, such as xacuti. Garam masala almost asks for a smokier variety.

Carolina Reaper is great for adding into curries, crockpots, hotpots and stews, as well as in home-made salsas, with the fruity-savory flavor profile in mind. The most suitable fruits it goes along with may be banana, mango, papaya, coconut and pineapple. It goes surprisingly well in Middle-Eastern cuisines, especially if mixed and diluted with mild, sweet varieties.

I’ll give it a 9.5/10.