What Do Chocolate Peppers Taste Like?

What Do Chocolate Peppers Taste Like?

If you came here to see if chocolate peppers actually taste like chocolate, then I’m sorry to disappoint you – they taste nothing like the sort.

The name sounds deceiving, but the term “chocolate pepper” is used to describe its ripe outer colors which range from a dark red, auburn, and even a purplish brown. Different types of chocolate peppers achieve these colors at various growing periods, depending on their maturity times.

There are so many types of chocolate peppers out there with different tastes and flavors to suit your palette. A lot of them usually have more heat than other peppers do, and for non-pepper lovers, this may sound frightening. But they do boast a wide variety of important vitamins and minerals that have many health benefits and are great for cooking or adding a little *zing* to your food.

Let’s jump into the different flavors of chocolate peppers and how you can try them out yourself!

Chocolate Pepper Tastes & Flavors

So, if they don’t taste like chocolate, then what do chocolate peppers taste like?

Most chocolate peppers retain the flavors of their original strains but contain additional earthy flavors that their parent peppers wouldn’t have. For example, the Chocolate Habanero pepper has similar flavors to regular Habanero peppers – very sweet and rich flavors – but they also have a smoky flavor when you take a bite that regular Habaneros don’t have. These new flavors can be attributed to the continuous crossbreeding of pepper strains and lengthier maturity periods that make these peppers riper than others.

We can categorize chocolate pepper tastes into two types of flavors: sweet chocolate peppers and hot chocolate peppers.

A photo of Chocolate Beauty Peppers.

Sweet Chocolate Peppers

Sweet chocolate peppers do not have as much heat (if any) as other chocolate peppers do but contain those fruity and treacly flavors that make them so darn addicting! Upon first glance, these peppers look fuller and smoother than spicier peppers and have a variety of chocolate hues to them. With every bite you take into these sweet chocolate peppers, you get that delectable sweetness topped with a crisp texture that goes well with so many foods and can be served either cooked or raw.

Chocolate Bell Peppers are great examples of sweet chocolate peppers that actually taste sweeter than normal bell peppers. With a mild flavor and versatility with food, most people use chocolate bell peppers as a topping in salads and cuisines.  

Another sweet chocolate pepper is the Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry Pepper, a unique strain that has brown and red stripes on its outside. These peppers start out green with white stripes, until they mature to their final brown and red colors. Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry peppers can be eaten at any stage in the maturity cycle and can be paired with a lot of different dishes.

Photo of Chocolate Moruga Scorpion Peppers.

Hot Chocolate Peppers

While some people prefer the sweet over the heat when it comes to chocolate peppers, others prefer the face-melting sensation that hot chocolate peppers have. These chocolate peppers look more dried up and menacing – as if they want you to see how hot they really are!

Some of the hottest chocolate peppers out there include the Chocolate Bhutlah, Chocolate Moruga Brain pepper, 7 Pot Lava Chocolate pepper, and of course the Chocolate Reaper, the counterpart of the Carolina Reaper. The heat levels on these hot chocolate peppers can get as high as over 2,200,000 SHUs – woof!

Chocolate Habanero peppers are a unique blend of sweet and spicy chocolate peppers. However, because they pack so much heat (300,000-450,000 SHUs) with every sweet bite you take, we classify this as a hot chocolate pepper.


3 Ways for You to Taste Chocolate Peppers Yourself

1. Powders/Flakes

You can discover the different tastes of chocolate peppers through chocolate pepper powders and flakes. Our pepper powders were made from grinding up some of the freshest and hottest chocolate peppers out there, which turns them into a fiery dust so spicy that you could ignite it and BOOM! – heat explosion. These pepper powders will easily blend with your cooking to give your favorite meals some major heat.

Chocolate pepper flakes are made by crushing chocolate peppers into some of the hottest edible flakes on the planet. Seriously, a pinch of these flakes in your cooking is enough to set your mouth ablaze! Take chocolate pepper flakes to your next potluck and sprinkle them on your grilled food or mix them in with marinades and hot sauces.

Pepper Joe’s offers some great chocolate pepper powders and flakes if you’re daring enough to try them out:

2. Live Plants

Growing chocolate pepper plants can be very rewarding, plus you get to literally taste the fruits of your labor in no time! Seedlings provide little effort for you to start your growing journey as you get to watch your plants bloom fresh chocolate peppers more quickly than you would with just the seeds. Chocolate pepper plants can add some nice variety to your garden.

Pepper Joe’s offers three kinds of chocolate pepper plants for you to grow on your own:

3. Seeds

If you want to start from scratch, are a great way to test your pepper plant growing skills. Don’t be worried if you haven’t planted these seeds before – whether you’re beginning to grow hot peppers for the very first time, or an enthusiast with years of experience, growing pepper plants is a hobby that anyone can do.

What’s great about chocolate peppers is that they aren’t difficult to grow. Just like any other pepper seed, you’ll want to make sure you know everything you can about growing these pepper plants from seeds and nurture them every step of the way. Pepper Joe’s offers some great fertilizers and nutrients that can help you boost your plants’ ability to grow and produce the best chocolate peppers possible.


Try out our  chocolate pepper products and let us know what YOU think they taste like!

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