From http://www.primidi.com/2005/05/09.html
According to the Telegraph, this chilli is so hot, you'd have to
drink 250,000 gallons of water just to put out the fire. It's
called the "16 Million Reserve" and is 8,000 times stronger than
Tabasco sauce. In fact, it's not really a sauce, it's a food
additive made of pure capsaicin. Its creator, Blair Lazar, from
Extreme Food, describes his experience when he tried it: "It was
like having your tongue hit with a hammer. Man, it hurt. My tongue
swelled up and it hurt like hell for days." Another "chilli head"
-- as are named the lovers of these extra hot sauces -- put a
single grain into a pan of tomato soup and reported his wife's
words after she tried the soup: "She threatened divorce once she
could speak again." If you're interested, there will be only 999
bottles for sale, with prices ranging between $159 and $199. Read
more...
The article of the Telegraph is very entertaining, so I'll let you
read it. Here are some short excerpts of the history of the
product, named "16 Million Reserve"because it's made of pure
capsaicin, which scores at 16 million units on the Scoville scale
developed in 1912. (For more details about this scale, read this
page at Wikipedia.)
It takes several tons of fresh peppers to produce 1lb of capsaicin
for the 16 Million Reserve, and the work takes months. First,
moisture is removed from the fresh peppers until a thick tar-like
substance remains.
The means by which all further impurities are eliminated, leaving
pure capsaicin powder, is a trade secret, but the work takes place
in a laboratory where Mr Lazar and his team wear sealed suits with
masks to avoid inhaling the dust.
Five years ago Mr Lazar created "2am Reserve" in honour of the hour
at which he once closed his bar. It was hotter than any other
chilli product on the market, measuring up to 900,000 Scoville
units.
He then distilled even stronger chilli extracts, including the
scorching "6am Reserve" at 10 million units. Most of the signed and
numbered bottles of "16 Million Reserve" will be bought by
aficionados known as chilli heads.
