TEXAS TORTILLA-CHIP PURVEYOR Paqui has a decade-long reputation for making snacks that singe the tongues of even die-hard pepperheads. The devilish coating on the Carolina Reaper Madness tortilla chip combines the dust of three different chilies to make the world's hottest chip. Chipotle imparts a relatively pleasant smoky flavor but has only enough capsaicin-the compound that triggers our mouths' heat receptors-to reach 8,000 on the Scoville heat scale. That's about as hot as a jalapeno. Ghost pepper powder cranks the Scoville intensity to 1 million. The real pain comes from the Carolina Reaper, the current hot-pepper champ. At roughly 2 million Scovilles, it's about as scorching as the NYPD's pepper spray. That explains why Paqui sells the chips one at a time. A single crunch causes enough pain to leave your tongue and tummy tingling for hours-even after an ice cream chaser.
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