Ancho (dried Poblano)
broad shouldered, tapering to a round end
4 to 5 inches long
brick red to dark mahogany
1,000 Scoville Units
Medium thick flesh. mild fruit flavor with hints of coffee, licorice, tobacco, dried plum and raisin.
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Guajillo
elongated, tapering to a point
about 4 to 6 inches long
shiny deep orange-red with brown tones
5,000 Scoville Units
Natural, sweet with hints of berry, used in sauces, salsas, soups and stews.
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Habanero
lantern shaped
about 2" long
dark green to orange, orange-red or red
300,000 Scoville Units
Generally regarded as the hottest pepper and has a fruity, citrus fresh flavor.
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Jalapeno
tapering to a rounded end
about 2 to 3 inches long
medium to dark green
10,000 Scoville Units
Thick flesh, green vegetable flavor, probably the most well known hot pepper.
New Mexican
elongated and tapered
about 5 to 7 inches long
bright scarlet
1,000 Scoville Units
Sweet and earthy flavor, used in certain traditional red chile sauces.
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Pasilla (dried Chilaca)
elongated and tapering
about 5 to 6 inches long
dark raisin brown
2,500 Scoville Units
Thin flesh, has some grape, berry and herbaceous tones, hint of licorice, used in mole sauce.
A Scoville unit is basically a unit of measurement indicating the heat level in chile peppers. The person responsible for creating this method was none other than Wilbur Scoville, who, back in 1912, was working for Parke Davis (the drug company) to develop a muscle cream called "HEET", which used capsaicin, a substance derived from chile peppers, as a main ingredient. The problem that "Willy" faced was that the peppers he used had inconsistent heat levels, which made it difficult to judge amounts needed. After trying several different laboratory tests, Wilbur decided that the best heat-o-meter was the human tongue, which could detect capsaicin dissolved in solution a million times it's volume. Because capsaicin is soluble in alcohol, Wilbur would soak the peppers overnight, then take a precise measurement of the extract and add sweetened water until the heat was barely noticeable on the tongue. The number of portions or "units" of sweetened water it took to dissipate the heat of the extract determined the heat level or "Scoville units" for that particular pepper. With progress and the advent of High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), the tongue has become an antiquated way to rate pepper heat, but it's still the best and only true way to test your tolerance of Scoville units.
