Spice, or rather the levels thereof
Spice, or rather the levels thereof
There's worldwide ratings, notably the Scoville scale, and then there's personal ones.
The Sam Scale
Pithier title pending.
# | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
0 | No perceptable spice | Water, plain white rice, country-club Butter Chicken |
1 | Takes active attention to notice | Costco-brand Butter Chicken sauce |
1.5 | black pepper | |
2 | Easily notable but not uncomfortable | Canadian Pepperoni, Costco Tikka Masala |
2.5 | Royal Jamaican Ginger Beer, Dill Chips | |
3 | Mildly uncomfortable but bearable | Kettle-brand Pepperoncini chips, The garlic sticks from that one punjabi pizza place (although that might have been some kind of cross-contamination from the curry pizza? It seems weird for garlic sticks to be spicy but this is me we’re talking about), Calabrese Picante Salame |
4 | Uncomfortable but offsetable by other factors | Tostitos Salsa Con Queso ("Medium"), Lays Jalapeño Cheddar |
5 | Would not choose to eat, a challenge | That Butter Chicken @Nat20 made from scratch once, Kettle brand Habanero Lime chips |
5.5 | Frank’s Red Hot | |
6 | Unbearable, impossible, could not eat | A Raw Jalapeño |
- Last Author
- • sam
- Last Edited
- Thu, Jul 24, 2:48 PM
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The Nat Scale
Note: This scale excludes things that can be perceived as spicy but produce a different chemical reaction due to Allyl Isothiocyanate, piperine, or other compounds other than Capsaicin. Capsaicin is an easier and more predictable measure. Things like horseradish or ginger, for example, produce an entirely different reaction and are therefore not comparable to Capsaicin based spices.
# | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
0 | No perceptable spice | Mild or medium salsa, Kettle-brand Pepperoncini chips, Buffalo sauce, ground cayenne pepper, ground chili powder, Tabasco (even though it's gross), Cholula, poblano peppers, Doritos "Sweet Chili Heat" |
1 | Takes active attention to notice | "Hot" salsa, Sriracha, pepperoncini peppers, banana peppers, Takis, Sambal Oelek |
2 | Easily notable but not uncomfortable | Habanero based Hot sauces, a straight up jalapeno* (with one exception, refer to note below), most Buldak noodles, scotch bonnet pepper based hot sauces, thai chilis (cut up in a sauce) |
3 | Mildly uncomfortable but enjoyable | Buldak hot sauce, Ghost pepper based hot sauces, Carolina Reaper based hot sauces |
3.5 | Mildly uncomfortable but bearable | Paqui Haunted Ghost Pepper Tortilla Chips, Buldak Noodles (the black package one) |
4 | Uncomfortable but offsetable by other factors | The Last Dab Hot Sauce, Suicide Wings (the kind you need to sign a waiver to eat) |
4.5 | Very uncomfortable, produced tears, would still eat again | The "make it how you would make it" Thai food I asked for in the food court in Chinook mall one time, *a jalapeno I ate for a spicy food challenge for students that was incredibly potent (I was filmed as well, which was embarrassing to get wrecked on camera by a silly little jalapeno) |
5 | Would not choose to eat, a challenge | An entire carolina reaper pepper, The One Chip Challenge |
6 | Unbearable, impossible, could not eat | Straight up Capsaicin |