chinense Which Habanero Is The "Best"?

     I agree with many folks here. My tops (in no particular order) are P. Dreadie standard, Caribbean red, Pepper Lover's peach Congo and her giant chocolate hab. I like Bahamian goats a lot, but peach Congos are similar and edge them out on sweetness, flavor and productivity (the plant I grew was more pod than plant!).
     Mustard hab is up there, too. What the heck, put it in the top five.
 
 
 
 
edit: Grow those five varieties and you'll have one of each color and I promise you won't be disappointed!
 
El Scorponero Red and Orange phenos
 
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There are a lot of great tasting peppers in the habanero heat range. Paper Lantern Hab, Bahamian Goat and yellow Scotch Bonnets are all very tasty, and are popular choices. I also really like the West Indies Red habanero. It has large pods and a good flavor. CGN19211 is a very citrusy-tasting pepper on the lower end of the habanero heat range, with pods that are a bit on the smaller side. Fidalgo Roxa is tasty and has a unique look. Scotch Brain is another good one, with a nice yellow chinense taste and (usually) gnarly pods. But if you have just one spot to fill, I would suggest the Carbonero. It has a great flavor that is a little more complex than most habs, and a slower-building, smoother burn as well. The pods often have a bumpy/gnarly appearance, and the plants are quite productive. And you can buy Carbonero seeds directly from its creator, Tony Sherwood, for pretty cheap prices. What more could you ask for?  :D
 
D3monic said:
I really like paper lantern.
 
BUT IF YOU LIKE HABANEROS I SUGGEST CARBONERO.. 
 
or I can send you a few types if you want. My El Scorponero Orange pheno is really good and hab like. 
 
Sounds in interesting. I sent you a PM.



Never heard of the Carbonero before. Sounds interesting. Thank you! I will check it out.
 
Mustard Habanero should not be in the conversation.  It's a solid pepper, but when space is of the essence, it doesn't make the cut. 
 
Chocolate is the tastiest; I think most would agree.  But, it doesn't produce a classic "habanero" hot sauce.
 
For the purest, truest essence of habanero, I think you have to go with a red, if you only have one spot to fill.  Red Savina, Caribbean Red, or the Antillais varieties are pretty much the definition of habanero in my book!
 
Despite my love for strawberries and such, i gotta say, I´m not into the choco Habs, but then, i´m not into choco pods in general.  I´m probably going to grow three or four different types of orange Habs next season, and try to pick a favorite. In my view, the ¨classic¨ hab is orange, and free of any gimmicks.... I grew a bunch of plain-Jane orange habs this year, and i was quite happy to have´m. My go to red hab-type will probably remain the Congo Trinidad.... or maybe i´ll just stick to strawberries. 
 
Choco habs, definitely a polarizing pepper and seems to have the cilantro effect. I do wonder though if different strains of choco habs taste different because I think the ones I grow taste great. Or, is anyone eating them when they're green inside...if so, that isn't ripe yet. I do want to try chocolate scotch if I can find some that keep the bonnet shape.

Hot lemon hab or west indian yellow hab worth growing?
 
Justin at White Hot Peppers grew some perfect-looking Chocolate SBs...check´m out on page 7.
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/63544-white-hot-peppers-2017/page-7
Genetikx said:
Choco habs, definitely a polarizing pepper and seems to have the cilantro effect. I do wonder though if different strains of choco habs taste different because I think the ones I grow taste great. Or, is anyone eating them when they're green inside...if so, that isn't ripe yet. I do want to try chocolate scotch if I can find some that keep the bonnet shape.

Hot lemon hab or west indian yellow hab worth growing?
 
 
Genetikx said:
Choco habs, definitely a polarizing pepper and seems to have the cilantro effect. I do wonder though if different strains of choco habs taste different because I think the ones I grow taste great. Or, is anyone eating them when they're green inside...if so, that isn't ripe yet. I do want to try chocolate scotch if I can find some that keep the bonnet shape.

Hot lemon hab or west indian yellow hab worth growing?
I have grown and tasted Bhut Jolokia Chocolate, Habanero Chocolate, Jamaican Hot Chocolate and Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate. Most of the ripe fruits had a bitterness that I only sensed as I swallowed them. The growing season here is long enough that left on the plant long enough they lose the brown pigmentation. I suspect that the additional pigment that results in the brown colouration is what I pick up as bitter at the base of the tongue when swallowing.
 
Ares Schizas said:
I am getting Jamaican Hot Chocolate and there is room for one Habanero.

I had the privilege to have some Habanero powder in the past and I really loved it, but I didn't asked which variety it was from and the guy I bought it from does not work for that store anymore so I cannot ask him. It doesn't matter though.

I did Googled it but I found nothing about different varieties and tastes. Forum's own search function, didn't turned up anything relevant; strange... Anyway.
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I will not claim that there is such a thing as a "best" Habanero. We are different persons and we have different tastes. So if you could share our experiences about the Habaneros you have tasted and what Habanero you think is the "best" and why, it would be great!
If we can gather information about all of them I can make a PDF and/or JPEG for the forum.
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The C. chinense that won a permanent placement in the garden here (South Australia) that are in the heat range of a Habanero include:
- Beni Highlands
- Habanero, Orange
- Limón
- Scotch Bonnet TFM
 
The fruit of Beni Highlands and Scotch Bonnet TFM have a similar flavour. Orange Habanero and Limón are the only varieties that I grow that reliably produce fruit with citrus tones.
 
Ares Schizas said:
Chocolate Habanero and Bahamian Goat are on the lead for far.
(I counted any positive comment as a vote)

P.S.
Anyone for Europe has any Bahamian Goat seeds? Sent me a PM.
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My experience with Habanero Chocolate and Jamaican Hot Chocolate was similar to Malarky's in that I couldn't distinguish between the two grown side by side. If you haven't already found a European source for Bahamian Goat Pepper than take a look on Peter Merle's semillas.de. My source of Bahamian Goat Pepper in Australia was Junglerain (also my source of Beni Highlands, Habanero Chocolate, Jamaican Hot Chocolate and Scotch Bonnet TFM), I'm having a go at growing Bahamian Goat Pepper again this season.
 
SavinaRed said:
If I had to pick just 3 it would be the following
 
1- MOA or p dreadie take your pick.
2- JHC, Jamaican Hot Chocolate
3- Caribbean Red 
 
Each one of the above have very different yet delicious flavors and are much hotter than the plain old orange hab. 
 

I got a few MOA Yellows and about 10 Caribbean Reds to ripen this year. The Reds were wonderfully sweet but not as hot as i expected. The MOAs were noticeably hotter and started much earlier. I sampled just 2 out of the 10 sofar but i found it odd they were not much hotter.
 
I need to find out from the guy who gave me the plant where it was from. He grew the seedlings locally but i have no idea where he got the seeds or if its from plants the previous year.
 
Frankly, I do not know which Habanero I like and which I don't and I cannot imagine how they taste like. I know that I liked the powder that I bought from that store but I have no idea which variety or mix it was; or even if it was actually Habanero. I will have to grow them and find out. ;)

I do not really care if I don't like them. Family and friends might like them.

semillas.de has a great variety and good prices (they also have Bahamian Goat). I will order some seeds from them and some from pepperseeds.eu (mostly Carolina Reaper). My budget is tighter that I would like so I will have to keep orders to a minimum but I will try to get at least a Scotch Bonnet and either a Red or Orange variety.

D3monic very kindly offered some El Scorponero seeds, so I will be starting these as soon as they arrive. (Thank you, deeply appreciated!!! <3)

Also, if the seeds that I ordered from eBay arrive and they are actually pepper seeds I will germinate them and plant one or two dozen of them. Hopefully, they will be Jalapeno and Cayenne. But most likely they are going to be linseed! :D
 
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