The world’s hottest hot sauces are definitely not for the faint of heart, but you’ll never know your tolerance level unless you try the hottest hot sauces of all time. Where does your tolerance fall on the Scoville scale? If you’re up on your hot sauces, then you know the Scoville scale is a unit of measurement that ranks the heat of chili peppers, and therefore, for hot sauce. Scoville heat units (SHUs) are determined by the concentration of a pepper’s capsaicinoids—mainly, capsaicin, which is the active component in peppers that makes them spicy AF. Still feeling saucy? Grab a glass of milk. You’re gonna need it! If you think you can handle the spiciest hot sauces, we double-dare you to try the top 20 world’s hottest hot sauces on this list.
Meet the Hottest Hot Sauces in the World
1. Mad Dog 357 No. 9 Plutonium
There is no way in hot and fiery hell there’s a human alive on this planet who can take the heat of Mad Dog 357 No. 9 Plutonium. But still, plenty of thrill-seekers are willing to try. With a record 9 million SHUs, Mad Dog 357 No. 9 Plutonium is like eating an actual piece of Dante’s Inferno. As in, it will burn and you will be admitted to the hospital. Don’t believe us? The actual hot sauce itself comes with a warning to sparingly add it to your food. Literally, it’s not to be consumed directly and should be only added to food for taste in teeny-tiny drips and drabs. It’s that serious.
2. The Source Hot Sauce
Without any flaming-hot red, orange or yellow messaging on its label, you might mistakenly view The Source Hot Sauce as non-threatening. In fact, you may even mistake it for soy sauce, TBH. But don’t be fooled. It may have non-descript packaging and a seemingly innocent bottle, but this hottie registers 7.1 million SHUs. Its makers even issue a similar warning to the one plastered on Mad Dog 357 No. Plutonium: Do not consume directly. Only add to food as an additive and do so conservatively.
3. The End Hot Sauce
As in, it’ll feel like the end of your life when you’re choking post-sauce. Ha, we’re kidding (not really). With reaper peppers, The End Hot Sauce registers 6 million SHUs, making it PFH—pretty freakin’ hot. Those who are brave enough to try it can later show off their victory (or maybe stupidity, depending on how you look at it?) by flaunting the company’s “I Survived The End” T-shirt.
4. Get Bitten Black Mamba 6 Hot Sauce
Yikes! If you want your mouth to feel attacked from the inside out, like your lips have just been bitten by a deadly snake, then help yourself to a drop of Get Bitten. After all, all it takes is a drop. With 6 million Scovilles, you’ll be capacitated for at least 15 minutes. Then—eventually—you’ll be able to breathe again.
5. Bumblef**ked Hot Sauce
TBH, we would have loved to rank this one higher simply based on the hilarious name. While we give Bumblefked extra brownie points for brand name innovation, truth is 6 million SHUs is 6 million SHUs. You’ll get that with The End, Get Bitten, and with Bumblefked, too. We’re not saying they’re created equal though. For a slightly less sharp taste, Bumblef**ked features other key flavor ingredients including honey mustard, Caribbean fruits and ginseng—all of which make it a hair’s breadth more bearable than some of the other 6 million SHU hot sauces.
6. Mad Dog 357 Pepper Extract
Coming in at #6 is another Mad Dog specialty: Mad Dog 375 Pepper Extract. It may be sixth on the list, but don’t get comfortable because a drop of this hot sauce is anything but. A total of 5 million SHUs target every corner of your mouth, summoning the flames of Hell itself to make you choke, heave and of course, enjoy a dash of 357 with your food.
7. Meet Your Maker Death Sauce
Are you seeing a theme here with the names of the hottest hot sauces? Yeah, they all have a theme of death! Well, it’s no wonder Meet Your Maker Death Sauce is called what it’s called. After all, it’s got three different methods of ghost pepper in there (fresh, ground, and extracted), and thanks to its 5 million SHUs, it (very appropriately) comes in a coffin container. May you rest in hot sauce peace.
8. Mad Dog 44 Magnum
We think it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing over at Magnum when it comes to hot sauces. After all, several of them have made the hottest of the hot sauce lists. The 44 Magnum packs the heat of a big-a** gun (hence the name) with 4 million SHUs. Sure, it’s got significantly less than hot sauce weapon of mass destruction—the Mad Dog 357 No. 9 Plutonium, but it’s not to be underestimated. Four million SHUs is still pretty killer.
9. Z Nothing Beyond Extremely Hot Sauce
IMHO, the product description has it right; “It won’t kill you but you’ll wish it did.” We may be at #9 in the list but we’re still at that only-use-one-drop-at-a-time-as-a-food-additive level. Yup—more than one drop and you’ll be crying for Mommy.
10. Hottest Sauce in the Universe: The 2nd Dimension
Just one look at this hot sauce and we are literally terrified. It’s got 3.5 million SHUs and a bright-blue hot-wax seal that looks as menacing as it sounds. Sure, the label’s font may be reminiscent of Toy Story’s Pizza Planet, but we’re not buying it. This thing? A hospital trip in a bottle!
11. Pepper Palace’s LD50
From the makers of The End Hot Sauce, in 11th place is the LD50. It may pack significantly less punch than their hottest bottle, but it still uses the four hottest peppers in the world: Ghost, habanero, reaper, and scorpion. And if you’re concerned about SHUs, it’s still pretty up there. The LD50 has 3 million SHUs—not one of which your tastebuds will be immune to.
12. Reaper Squeezin’s
The aptly-named Reaper Squeeezin’s comes from the hot sauce makers over at PuckerButt Pepper Company—also aptly named and features a whopping 92% Carolina reaper peppers. The formula’s got some vinegar in there, too, but trust us, you won’t taste the vinegar. Only the hotness that registers at 2.2 million SHUs.
13. The Last Dab XXX
If you’ve ever seen Hot Ones, then The Last Dab XXX might look familiar. That’s because it’s a staple sauce on the show given that host Sean Evans always feeds it to his guest last. Why last? Because it burns at 2 million SHUs, that’s why.
14. Stinger Scorpion
Pepper Palace, back at it again with another stinger. Literally. The Stinger Scorpion is named for its slow, multi-layered burn that quite honestly tastes like edible fire.
15. Smack My Ass and Call Me Sally—Chet’s Gone Mad
Um, we’ll let the label (and the sauce’s 1.5 million SHUs) speak for itself.
16. Hydra 7-Pot Primo
Also with 1.5 million SHUs is the Hydra 7-Pot Primo by CaJohn’s. The Hydra 7-Pot Primo only uses one chile—the 7 pot primo, obviously, but one taste and you’d never know it. Like a 1.5 million daggers targeting your tastebuds at once, this one still is for expert-level hot sauce-lovers only.
17. Da Bomb The Final Answer
With extract, apricot nectar, habaneros, and other various spices, you may think that Da Bomb The Final Answer is a pretty safe bet. But thanks to its 1.5 million SHUs, you’d be wrong. Sure, it’s no Mad Dog 357 No. 9 Plutonium but it’s certainly not an alternative to Frank’s Red Hot Sauce either!
18. Blair’s Ultra Death Sauce
Between the name (Death Sauce) and its label (um, there’s a skeleton on the front?), it’s no wonder Blair’s is one of the hottest hot sauces ever made. It’s got 1.1 million SHUs and in this formula, cayenne, serrano, habanero and hot Jolokia peppers do the brunt of the work.
19. Reapercussion
From Heartbreaking Dawn’s Reapercussion is 1.5 million SHUs in the form of pure 7 pot primo peppers. For solidarity, Heartbreaking Dawn added Trinidadian scorpion peppers and a bit of garlic, too. But the garlic (and lime, agave and apple cider vinegar also in the formula) do very little to hide the fact that Reapercussion features two of the world’s hottest peppers. Whatever you do, don’t add this directly to your tongue. Mix it (sparingly) into recipes to avoid a severe meltdown.
20. CaJohn’s Magma Hot Sauce
Its label looks slightly more innocent than some of the other more menacing hot sauce labels on this list (after all, it looks like a lava lamp), but it’s still damn hot. CaJohn’s Magma Hot Sauce features 1 million SHUs and a lava-esque blob of capsicum in the middle of all that translucent vinegar. So, yeah, it physically may not look so hot thanks to the clear vinegar, but it’s up there. It’s definitely up there. Next up, 100 of our favorite Weight Watchers recipes.
