"Smokin" Ed Currie is an American

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus '' Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

breeder, who is the founder and president of the PuckerButt Pepper Company. He is best known for breeding the hottest chili pepper in the world, the

Carolina Reaper The Carolina Reaper is a cultivar of the ''Capsicum chinense'' plant. Developed by American breeder Ed Currie, the pepper is red and gnarled, with a bumpy texture and small pointed tail. In 2017, ''Guinness World Records'' declared it the hotte ...

, as recognized by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

Background

Currie was born in

West Bloomfield Township, Michigan West Bloomfield Township, officially the Charter Township of West Bloomfield, is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan, within the Detroit metropolitan area. It is one of the most expensive places to live in Oakl ...

. He graduated from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

In 2001, Currie moved to

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

, where he began growing his own peppers in the yard and experimenting with crossbreeds. He was featured in the episode "Chili Eating" in the 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

documentary series, ''We Are the Champions''.

PuckerButt Pepper Company

Currie started The PuckerButt Pepper Company in

Fort Mill, South Carolina Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of 2020 census, 24,521 people live inside the town's corporate limits. Some businesses and resid ...

in 2003. The company has over 500,000 pepper plants and sells peppers considered to be extremely hot. He sells seeds, pepper mash, and hot sauce to more than 95 countries. PuckerButt has annual revenues close to $1 million, and it is the largest organic pepper farm in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Currie's hot sauce "The Last Dab" became known when it was featured on the YouTube show ''

Hot Ones ''Hot Ones'' is an American YouTube talk show, created by Christopher Schonberger and Sean Evans and produced by First We Feast and Complex Media. Its basic premise involves celebrities being interviewed by Evans over a platter of increasingly s ...

.'' Currie crossbreeds his pepper plants by taking the pollen of one plant with a paintbrush and then delivering that pollen to a different plant. To create the

, he took a pepper from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and combined it with one from Saint Vincent. In 2017, ''

'' gave the title of World's Hottest Chili to the Carolina Reaper.

References

External links

Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Ed Living people Farmers from South Carolina People from Oakland County, Michigan Year of birth missing (living people) Farmers from Michigan Central Michigan University alumni Place of birth missing (living people)