Developed by American breeder Ed Currie, the pepper is red and gnarled, with a bumpy texture and small pointed tail.

[1][2] Sorting through hundreds of hybrid combinations, Currie was finally successful at crossing a "really nastily hot" La Soufrière (Saint Vincent) Habanero pepper from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and a Naga pepper/Ghost pepper(locally known as bhüt jolokia) from Assam".

According to Currie's website: "The reporter ate a small piece of the pepper, rolled around on the floor, hallucinated, and then shared his experiences with the national media.

[6] Testing was conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina during the certification process which showed an average heat level of 1,641,183 SHU for a given batch.

[7][8] It was later claimed through media outlets such as the Associated Press that an individual Carolina Reaper had a heat level of 2.2 million SHU.