Habanero Pepper Nomenclature:

In Spanish, the word Habanero means 'Havana like,' or possibly 'from Havana,' referring to Havana, Cuba as a possible origin for the pod. It is the only chile growing in the Yucatan which has no Mayan name, leading to speculation that it was imported there from Cuba. However, this chile is now unknown in Cuba. Other names for the Habanero are 'Scot's Bonnet' or Scotch Bonnet,' commonly used in the English-speaking Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, and 'Bahamian' or 'Bahama Mama' in the Bahamas.

Legend and Lore:

The Dominican priest Francisco Ximenez wrote in 1722 of a chile from Havana that was so strong that a single pod would 'make a bull unable to eat.' Its reputation as the hottest chile is making the Habanero both infamous and sought-after. Méxican chile expert Arturo Lomeli observes: "It is a great passion of those who love the heat because without doubt it is the hottest variety known. It has an unmistakable flavor - very characteristic.

Sauces and more:

We have several hot sauce products in production at this time. We look forward to being a part of the capsaisin lovers community. We at habanerojim.com live for the heat and look forward to trying something new. We, like MANY others, are also collectors of anything hot, capsaisin hot that is...

More Capsaicin...

A person first tries chile peppers because of curiousity or maybe someone talked you into it. Then you think "Wow, that was hot". Your next thought is "I will never do that again". Only minutes later you start asking questions about the pepper you ate. You become intrigued with hot something so small and innocent looking could pack such a wallap. You want to try it again but you are a little scared. You think "maybe I can find something just a little bit milder and try that again". If your first taste of a hot chile pepper was in the form of hot sauce then you look for something just a little bit milder, if it was an actual pepper then you will begin to notice other peppers and what peppers are in different bottles of hot sauce. You gradually try something hotter and hotter until finally you are addicted to the capsaicin burn. For some this takes weeks or months, for Habanero Jim it took days.