The Carolina Reaper is the world’s second hottest pepper. Michael and I were going to eat the tenders from Dave’s Hot Chicken that used the Reaper as its spice. Once we actually had the tenders, the spice was clear even just from the smell of it. There was a stench so strong coming from it that we didn’t even think it was edible. The tenders we had in front of us were three shades darker than the mild tender, and looked like a dark red brick. The two of us eating the tenders were too afraid to go first. We needed three tries for both of us to commit to the first bite. We had milkshakes ready; we were not taking any chances with the spice because we had heard that someone had died from a similar spice challenge with the Carolina Reaper. Our expectations were low. We thought we would be rolling on the ground in a whole new world of pain, heat, and spice.
When it came to actually eating it, we were surprised and thought it was a little overhyped. Before taking a bite, we came up with a challenge to wait fifteen minutes before drinking anything; but we completely abandoned this the moment the spices hit our tongues. We all instantly reached for our milkshakes and they were half empty before our timer even hit fifteen seconds. After the initial wave of spice dissipated, we realized that it wasn’t that bad. It was more of a monotone burning rather than an intense pain and there wasn’t really a taste beyond spice. Either that or the pain in our mouths made all the flavor meaningless. From the first bite, there was little more than the burning sensation, and though the cold of the milkshakes numbed our mouths, there was nothing we could do besides just wait out the pain. We made sure to do the Reaper challenge before we ate so that if we threw up, there would be less food coming up, but with the spice barely present in our mouths we were left hungry with no appetite. Even so, Michael bought another burger to fill up, and I finished another milkshake to fully wash away the spice. On the way home, we all agreed that the Reaper wasn’t as bad as everyone said, and that it was more difficult to actually work up the nerve to put it in your mouth than to bear the pain.
If we had to do it again, there are a few things we could have done better. First, we would have done it earlier in the afternoon so that we wouldn’t mess up our dinners. The milkshakes we had were so heavy in our stomachs that eating much more wasn’t for enjoyment, but just to get the taste out of our mouths. Second, having a lighter drink, something like chocolate milk or even iced tea would have been better than milkshakes. Finishing the milkshakes with the chicken was probably harder than eating the actual tender. Finally, we would definitely try to go fifteen minutes without drinking anything. Just eating the bite felt like we got the experience, but not the full one-hundered percent.
