New hottest chili pepper in the world is Pepper X

The Carolina Reaper has been dethroned. Yes, there is a new, hotter pepper in the world, thanks to Smokin’ Ed Currie, founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company. I know, we are learning so much, here.?

Rather than get into the torrid details on the Scoville Heat Units (SHU) metric, I invite you to think about the product side of things for a few moments.?Specifically, on having a focused, authentic vision.

Currie’s vision wasn't to make an anomaly; he’s after experience. Through research and past spicy experiments (Apollo, Carolina Reaper), he’s learned what wonderful humans want when they eat these super-hot peppers, “It’s more about the flavor and the experience, rather than the Scoville.”

The product vision also has authenticity to it, even if it sounds a little twisted. Speaking on people's delayed reaction from eating Pepper X, Smokin’ Ed says, “They get really scared. I like the way people look when they are eating my hot sauce. It’s just a lot of fun.” There is no doubt this vision has connection and meaning to the product.

Sounds good in theory. What about the how of this vision? Well, even for this kind of culinary throat-punch, making the vision come to life is about nuance. While there are three major capsaicinoids in most peppers, Currie spent more of his development time focusing on the minor ones, because that’s where the flavor is at. He looked for nuance, over and again. “You can make something really really hot, but if it tastes like crap, you can’t do anything with it."

The how of this vision is often elusive. Truth: fast learning and feedback loops are two proven ways to help find the nuance in products and experiences. Yet these tools are only as good as the curiosity and passion of those looking at the data.

Maybe it's harder to do this authentic, nuanced work when we don't own the company or the product. So if that's true, is there another way? What if we focused on what we do own: our curiosity and our willingness to learn? It's possible this affirmative stance could be enough to help reveal the nuance, the difference.