All depends on what you plan to do with certain varieties -- pickled, fresh, sauces, salsas, dried, etc

Also, what type of cuisine you eat a lot of.

Kevin

Yeah that was a little vague...sorry. I LOVE making salsa, jerk chicken, chicken tortillas...any spicy chicken dish. I also love adding them to homemade pizza and spaghetti sauce...and of course eating them fresh (love the heat of cayenne and Thai Dragon).
Jerry

Well, Jalapenos and Serranos, and Anaheims(mild) are salsa workhorses, but I make a fire-roasted salsa where all the veggies are fire-roasted and I use The above 3 fresh and dried guajillos and chiles de arboles(toasted and reconstituted). .. with some dried and ground Nagas for the "hot" batch. Damn good stuff.

There are lots of "milder" chiles that have "some" heat but bring tons of flavor.

Thais are very versatile, have plenty of heat and usually good flavor. Cayennes... just heat --- not impressed with the flavor or the versatility. But, I have heard nothing but good things about GOLDEN cayennes.

From the list above, It appears you have the heat(and some tasty) side of things. I, myself, would get some good drying types and some tasty mild or sweet varieties.

My suggestions, especially if you like Mexican food and salsa---

Jalapenos and/or Serranos (used mainly fresh green or red... red Serranos get kinda mushy though
Anaheims(used mainly fresh green, but can be dried red)
Guajillos(used mainly dried red/brown--- fresh, you would call it Mirasol)
Chile de Arbol(dried red is the only way I use it.
Japones(Japanese)(very much like a Thai Hot) -- can be used fresh green or red, holds heat when green Dried red
Chile Negro( dried blackish)
Poblano( fresh green or red or dried brown/blackish-- when dried, it's called Ancho

I'd also include some Orange and/or yellow and/or Red bells -- no heat, great flavor. I've also heard great things about the Giant Marconi for "sweet" peppers.

These are all pretty common chiles. But the reason why they're common is because they're great chiles.

Don't get me wrong. I love me some plenty of HEAT, but I can get that with any superhot.(Not a big fan of Habaneros though -- By the time I get to the heat level I want with them, I've added so many, that the flavor of the habs ruins the dish).

What I look for in a pepper is FIRST FLAVOR, then versatility. Then the heat.

I'm going to have to give Chimayos a shot one of these days. And Manzanos. I have the same problem as you though --- so many varieties, so little space

Kevin

Kevin:
"By the time I get to the heat level I want with them, I've added so many, that the flavor of the habs ruins the dish"

Not that I doubt you in the least, it's hard for me to imagine that; habs to me are like the superhots are to you, I guess.

I've never grown a superhot; which one would you recommend for just the heat in your above application, Naga?

I;ve really little idea of the difference between Nagas, Seven Pots, Savinas, Ghosts, Jolokias, etc.; maybe it's time I learn so I can grow one or two next year. :-)

Sid: It's really just a matter of "to each their own." With habs, I just find them to be very "medicinal" in flavor, while others simply love them.

I'm in no way a superhot afficionado. I'm just a fan of the the heat. But, in the end, the dish has to TASTE good.

This is only my second year of growing superhots. This year I have Bhut, Naga Morich, 7 Pot, and 1 plant from seed that I grew last year that the guys here described here as a "Naga-cross" --- the plant was labeled just as a "Ghost" at the nursery, though.

This is, by far, the best of the bunch. Very fruity and tons of heat. Last year's salsa batches were the best HOT salsas I've ever tasted with those peppers.

With the others I'm growing, I didn't label the plants so I don't know what I'm eating...LOL The Naga and Bhut pod shape are very similar. I did a taste test on what I thought were one Morich and one Bhut, but they both tasted similar. They could have been the same variety. They didn't, sadly, taste like that one mentioned above though. Maybe i need to do another taste test again with riper pods and when I stock up on cheese, yogurt, and ice cream...LOL I do have a runt plant that's finally putting out pods that i remember was a definitely a Bhut -- so I can get a better picture then.

The 7 pot still needs testing.

To sum it up, MY favorite(very limited ample size) is those Naga crosses that were labeled Ghost. (I'm saving seed again) But, I've never heard nothing but good things about the most popular of the superhots -- the Ghost(Bhut Jolokia).

Maybe others can give us some info on what their favorite is

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Fri, Aug 30, 13 at 11:50

personally although I like the bhut, I think I like the brain strain 7pot more. now granted those are the only 2 superhots I have any experience with. I like that the heat hits you faster, and I like the smell of a fresh cut brain more than the smell of a fresh cut bhut. that's not to say I don't like the bhut, I just like the brain more.

in terms of opinions about habaneros, Kevin and I are polar opposites. I LOVE hab flavor. love it. and I've got about 30-40 of them beginning to change color, so I'm one happy dude right now.

gfinnil, grow tabasco as well, it's crazy prolific, decent heat (much hotter tasting than the expected SHU would lead me to believe it would be), tastes good, and produces early in the season. those are the 4 important categories in my opinion when choosing a plant, and it checks all 4 boxes.

Tabasco is one that I really want to try due to how prolific it is. Any good ideas for a seed source as I don't know what vendors to use?
Jerry

I'm like Kevin - not a big fan of hab flavor. I don't dislike it, just like the fruitier, more floral flavors. For that my current favorite is "St. Peter", apparently a peter cross. It smells like my tea roses when opened! See a nearby post about it nearly making me gay. Unfortunately I may be the only source if seed.

Of the superhots, ghost, douglah, chocolate scotch bonnet or chocolate hab. The scorpion, naga, savina, don't really have much flavor to me. Nearly super-hot, I like the red fatalii even more than the yellow.

I've got some tabasco seeds if you want them. love the plant. I've gotten well over 100 ripe pods from it already, and mine is barely a foot tall!

care to trade for some of those hot paper lanterns? email me.