Scotch bonnet Fresh, ripe Scotch bonnets can change from green to yellow to scarlet red; however, other varieties of this pepper can ripen to orange, yellow, peach, or even a chocolate brown. Scotch bonnet Scotch bonnet, also known as bonney peppers, or Caribbean red peppers, is a variety of chili pepper named for its resemblance to a tam o' shanter hat. It is native to the Caribbean islands and Central America. Most Scotch bonnets have a heat rating of 80,000–400,000 Scoville units. For comparison, most jalapeño peppers have a heat rating of 2,500 to 8,000 on the Scoville scale. However, completely sweet
Scoville scale experienced with eating hot chilis. In the Scoville organoleptic test, an exact weight of dried pepper is dissolved in alcohol to extract the heat components (capsaicinoids), then diluted in a solution of sugar water. Decreasing concentrations of the extracted capsaicinoids are given to a panel of five trained tasters, until a majority (at least three) can no longer detect the heat in a dilution. The heat level is based on this dilution, rated in multiples of 100 SHU. A weakness of the Scoville organoleptic test is its imprecision due to human subjectivity, depending on the taster's palate and number of