by
Jim Duffy
Apocalypse Scorpion-(Capsicum chinense)- This is an extremely hot Scorpion pepper created and developed by the Italian growing organization known as AIASP. It is over 5 years old as of 2015, and how they were created is unknown.
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Trinidad 7 Pot Primo (Capsicum Chinense)-Back in 2005 a man named Troy Primeaux (Nickname Primo), a Horticulturist and member of the Southern Rock band called Santeria from Lousiana, grew out some of the first seeds of the Naga Morich in the United States. These seeds were obtained from his friend Mark in the U.K. who got the seeds from a market in Bangladesh.
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Jim Duffy
Golden Treasure-(Capsicum annuum)-A very tasty Italian Heirloom variety that grows peppers about 9 inches long. It is very sweet and can be stuffed or used as a frying pepper. Also delicious raw as a snack or salad pepper. Some people make deep fried chips from them. Much more sweeter than the more common Corno di Toro. The Golden Treasure chile plants can get between two to three feet tall and are very productive. Golden Treasure peppers ripen from green to a golden yellow and then golden orange.
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By Jim Duffy
Giant White Habanero-(Capsicum chinense)-This pepper was originally obtained by a renowned chile farmer from Italy named Luigi Mauriello. The Habanero White Giant or Giant White Habanero is a variety that he obtained from an Italian trader 20 years ago (1992-1993), this variety comes from an unknown area of the Caribbean . The trader has no more of this variety because he has failed to regenerate the seeds, so now Luigi possesses the true original variety. Luigi distributed the seeds of this variety all over the world, but few people have managed to cultivate it, because it is not easy to grow. A few people have renamed it the White 7 Pot or 7 Pod White. When you cut open this pepper it does not have the thick membrane of a 7 pot or superhot chile.
Read moreby Jim Duffy
My name is Jim Duffy and I am the owner and founder of Refining Fire chiles. We started off in 2003 as a small Hobby business that made salsa and sold peppers at local markets top raise money to help at risk youth in East County San Diego. The centers these kids went to after school and on weekends are called Youth Venture. Now we have grown to a business that sells retail and wholesale chile seeds, chile plants, dried chile powders, dried peppers and also fresh seasonal wholesale peppers. We sell on an International level everything except Chile plants. We are involved in growing operations in 6 States and 4 countries. Our goal is to raise awareness on the diverse varieties of Chiles many have never grown or tasted. Our other goal is to use a portion of our profits earned to help others in need. That can be people in the chile community, small business and youth at risk.
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For those who do not know it, the district of Moruga is a sovereign state which lies on the central south coast of Trinidad at the western end of the Trinity Hills. The village is close to Trinidad’s oil reserves, and that and fishing are the area’s main economies. The people are also proud to be in the recent news this past year with some of the huge record breaking hottest chile pepper announcements.
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Jim Duffy, a grower of the rarest and hottest chiles and owner of Refining Fire Chiles, grew the hottest chiles on record in 2010.
Scott: So why no official record with the Trinidad Scorpion?
Jim: It’s a long story and time to tell it. After sending one of my Trinidad Scorpion Peppers to Dave DeWitt in New Mexico in 2009, the journey began. Dave DeWitt is called “Pope of Peppers” and is the author of many chile pepper books. Dave gave the pepper to his long time friend Marlin Bensinger, a chemical engineer and one of the foremost experts on capsaicin science. Marlin tested it and it came in higher than the Bhut Jolokia.
So in 2010 I grew some Trinidad Scorpion and Trinidad 7 Pot plants for Marlin to put into the fields in New Mexico.
Marlin drove out to Lakeside, California just east of San Diego to meet me and see my new chile garden project…
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