This article is about the chili. Unripe habaneros are scotch bonnet pepper, and they color as they mature.

The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, or purple. The habanero’s heat, flavor and floral aroma make it a popular ingredient in hot sauces and other spicy foods. The habanero is named after the Cuban city of La Habana, known in English as Havana, because it used to feature heavily in trading there. Despite the name, habaneros and other spicy-hot ingredients are rarely ever used in traditional Cuban cooking.

The habanero chili comes from the Amazon, from which it was spread, reaching Mexico. Today, the largest producer of the habanero pepper is the Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico. The Scotch bonnet is often compared to the habanero, since they are two varieties of the same species, but they have different pod types. Both the Scotch bonnet and the habanero have thin, waxy flesh.

They have a similar heat level and flavor. In 1999, the habanero was listed by Guinness World Records as the world’s hottest chili, but it has since been displaced by other peppers. The heat of the habanero does not immediately take effect, but sets in over a period of a few minutes and lasts up to an hour in the mouth. The heat can sometimes be felt in the esophagus some hours after consumption. Habanero bushes are good candidates for a container garden. Several growers have attempted to selectively breed habanero plants to produce hotter, heavier, and larger peppers. Most habaneros rate between 200,000 and 300,000 on the Scoville scale.

In 2004, researchers in Texas created a mild version of the habanero, but retained the traditional aroma and flavor. Black habanero is an alternative name often used to describe the dark brown variety of habanero chilis, which are slightly smaller and more spherical. Some seeds have been found which are thought to be over 7,000 years old. The black habanero has an exotic and unusual taste, and is hotter than a regular habanero with a rating between 425,000 and 577,000 Scoville units. British traders, so it was simply named “black habanero”. Caribbean Red, a cultivar within the habanero family, has a citrusy and slightly smoky flavor, with a Scoville rating ranging from 300,000 to 445,000 Scoville units.