Description
Chilli Name: SCOTCH BONNET SWEET
Chilli Species: Chinense
Chilli Origin: Unknown
Chilli Heat: Unknown
A rare pepper from Jeff Nekola's collection and one for the serious chili enthusiast. As the name suggests this is a Scotch Bonnet pepper without the heat. Short bushy plants bear little wrinkled orange peppers with an amazing fruity taste. The smell from a single cut pepper will permeate the whole room! The flavour is hard to describe, but is unlike any other pepper, and really nice - makes incredible pasta sauce.
Scotch Bonnet Sweet Chilli — The Flavour Without the Fire
The Scotch Bonnet Sweet is a non-pungent variety of the famous Scotch Bonnet, bred specifically to retain the chilli's iconic tropical fruit flavour while removing the intense heat. Belonging to the Capsicum chinense species, it looks just like its fiery cousin — with squat, ribbed, bonnet-shaped pods — but delivers all the aroma and taste without the burn.
The pods ripen from green to a vibrant yellow or red, depending on the strain, and grow on a compact, productive plant that thrives in warm conditions. While the classic Scotch Bonnet can reach 100,000–350,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), the Sweet version typically has little to no detectable heat, often registering below 1,000 SHU — sometimes effectively zero.
What makes this variety so appealing is its rich, fruity flavour, often described as tropical, citrusy, and slightly floral — perfect for Caribbean-style cooking, hot sauces (without the heat), salsas, and marinades. It’s ideal for those who love the Scotch Bonnet flavour but want to enjoy it without the burn, or for households where not everyone can handle serious heat.
While not a traditional landrace, Scotch Bonnet Sweet has been developed and stabilised by growers in both the Caribbean and Europe, and is increasingly popular among hobby growers and chefs alike.
In short: all the flavour of a Scotch Bonnet, none of the fire.
