TABASCO HOW HOT? SCOVILLE SCALE/SCOVILLE HEAT UNITSAND

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TABASCO

HOWHOT?

How hot is Buffalo Style
Hot Sauce?

TABASCO® Buffalo Style Sauce has a Scoville Unit Rating of 300–900, which means it has a milder heat.

What are Scoville Units?

Scoville units are a standardized way of measuring the heat of peppers. A "Scoville Unit" is actually a measure of capsaicin (the chemical in hot peppers that is responsible for their heat).

• SCOVILLE SCALE/SCOVILLE HEAT UNITsAND ALL

  • What makes peppers so hot?

    The substance in peppers that makes them spicy is called capsaicin. It is most highly concentrated in the white placental tissue to which seeds are attached, and in smaller concentrations in the other fleshy parts of the pepper. Even though seeds do not contain capsaicin, it often gets on the surface of seeds when they contact surrounding tissue. Capsaicin stimulates nerve endings in your mouth, causing the sensation of heat when ingested.

  • What are Scoville Units?

    A pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville invented the Scoville Scale in 1912 to measure the heat of peppers. A "Scoville Unit" is actually a measure of capsaicin (the chemical in hot peppers that is responsible for their heat).

    Scoville's test was a comparative taste test that is considered subjective by today's standards. A more sophisticated method is in use today, but in honor of Wilbur Scoville, the unit of measure is still called the Scoville.

  • Who invented the Scoville scale, and how does it work?

    In 1912, Wilbur L. Scoville, a pharmacist, devised the first modern technique for measuring a pepper's bite. Scoville tried first to measure pungency by studying how pepper extract reacted with other chemicals but concluded that none was sensitive enough to offer readings with any degree of precision. He found that the tongue, on the other hand, was far more sensitive, capable of detecting capsaicin (the chemical in hot peppers that is responsible for their heat) dissolved in a solution a million times its volume; no laboratory test could detect such a low concentration.

    Scoville's method was simple. He soaked each variety of pepper separately in alcohol overnight. Because capsaicin is soluble in alcohol, the soaking extracted the pungent chemical. Then he took a precise measure of the extract and to it added sweetened water in incremental portions until the presence of pungency was barely detectable on his tongue. The amount of extract added for each kind of pepper to be detected determined its numeric Scoville Unit rating.

    Today, a High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) machine is often used to determine capsaicin levels. The American Spice Trade Association, an industry trade group, is a strong proponent of the machine. And the HPLC machine measurements are expressed in ASTA units, the acronym of the trade group. But Scoville's name has become so well established that companies that do employ the modern instrument use a conversion scale to express ASTA units in familiar Scoville units. Such is Scoville's legacy.

  • How hot is each TABASCO® Pepper Sauce flavor?

    From hottest to mildest:

    • Habanero Sauce: greater than 7,000 Scoville Heat Units
    • Original Red Sauce: 2,500-5,000 Scoville Heat Units
    • Chipotle Sauce: 1,500-2,500 Scoville Heat Units
    • Garlic Pepper Sauce: 1,200-2,400 Scoville Heat Units
    • Green Jalapeño Sauce: 600-1,200 Scoville Heat Units
    • Buffalo Style Hot Sauce: 300-900 Scoville Heat Units
    • SWEET & Spicy Sauce: 100-600 Scoville Heat Units