A case of "Wet Paint" syndrome...

Here at J&W, there's a guy named Joe who deals with warehouse issues. On the side he likes to grow things, and apparently nobody told him you can't grow things in Alaska so there are different kinds of tomato plants all over the place, as well as one habanero bush.

Now, I've seen people eat habanero peppers straight before, though they're supposed to be really damn hot. But the ones on the plant looked really ripe and juicy, so I decided to try a small one and see if it was really as bad as everyone said. I picked one off the plant, took a small bite, chewed and swallowed. Painful, but hardly unbearable. So I put the rest in my mouth and chewed.

I think capsicum (the substance in pepper oil that causes the heat) must be an exponential reaction rather than an additive one. Because even though the second bite was only maybe a third again as big as the first one, it felt about fifty times hotter. So I chewed it a couple of times and then swallowed it quickly.

Big mistake.

As bad as it is having your mouth on fire, having a ball of flame bloom in your stomach is about ten times worse - it felt to me like it was going to eat right through my stomach lining. I suddenly had to pee, and take a dump, and throw up all at once (and very nearly did). My face turned bright pink, I was sweating, and I swear there was smoke shooting out my ears. And no matter what I did, it wouldn't go away and just kept getting worse. I seriously wondered for a while if I was going to have an allergic reaction and die.

Until about a minute later, when the chemical reaction ran out of steam and I was back to normal, if a bit shaky and cold from adrenaline withdrawal.

While I can see why some people like eating habaneros straight - there's the high from the adrenaline, and then the relief when the pain is over, both of which are disproportionately pleasant sensations - I think I'm going to be staying away from them from now on. But at least I can say I've tried it, right?

A case of "Wet Paint" syndrome...

Here at J&W, there's a guy named Joe who deals with warehouse issues. On the side he likes to grow things, and apparently nobody told him you can't grow things in Alaska so there are different kinds of tomato plants all over the place, as well as one habanero bush.

Now, I've seen people eat habanero peppers straight before, though they're supposed to be really damn hot. But the ones on the plant looked really ripe and juicy, so I decided to try a small one and see if it was really as bad as everyone said. I picked one off the plant, took a small bite, chewed and swallowed. Painful, but hardly unbearable. So I put the rest in my mouth and chewed.

I think capsicum (the substance in pepper oil that causes the heat) must be an exponential reaction rather than an additive one. Because even though the second bite was only maybe a third again as big as the first one, it felt about fifty times hotter. So I chewed it a couple of times and then swallowed it quickly.

Big mistake.

As bad as it is having your mouth on fire, having a ball of flame bloom in your stomach is about ten times worse - it felt to me like it was going to eat right through my stomach lining. I suddenly had to pee, and take a dump, and throw up all at once (and very nearly did). My face turned bright pink, I was sweating, and I swear there was smoke shooting out my ears. And no matter what I did, it wouldn't go away and just kept getting worse. I seriously wondered for a while if I was going to have an allergic reaction and die.

Until about a minute later, when the chemical reaction ran out of steam and I was back to normal, if a bit shaky and cold from adrenaline withdrawal.

While I can see why some people like eating habaneros straight - there's the high from the adrenaline, and then the relief when the pain is over, both of which are disproportionately pleasant sensations - I think I'm going to be staying away from them from now on. But at least I can say I've tried it, right?