Whether you call these dried chiles, dried peppers, or dried chili peppers, these are the stuff of magic. From the exclusivity of being a chilehead and torturing yourself with the hottest of hot chiles to the joy of watching someone eat a chile for the first time, you are engulfed in a new, hotter world once you have got a hankering for these. Chiles are believed to be indigenous to the Andean region of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru dating back more than 10,000 years. They were a key ingredient in the diets of the Mayans and the Aztecs and have since become a staple in diets from around the world.

If you are really into chiles, you desire not only the delightful heat, but also the unique flavors of the different chiles all around the world. Chiles can be used to add color, flavor, visual appeal, and of course heat to many cuisines. They are especially popular in the United States, the Asian Islands, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Mexico, South America, and in Southeast Asia.

Dried chile peppers have many different flavors, ranging from earthy, floral, fruity, hot, smoky, and sweet. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, and there are more than 3,000 known varieties around the world. There are five species within the Capsicum (C.) genus, but the two that produce the most popular chiles are Capsicum annum which tend to be larger and have more complex flavors and Capsicum frutescens which tend to be smaller, with simpler flavors and more heat. The heat of all chiles is found inside of their innards and seeds, so it can be lessened by their removal if desired.

With all of this talk about chiles, you are probably curious about chile powder versus chili powder. Chili powders are a Tex-Mex style seasoning blend that is typically made with cumin, chile powder, garlic, and oregano. Chile powders are ground chiles and nothing else. The distinction between the two is easy to remember if you think about chili being a stew of many ingredients and a chile being a single pod.

If you want complex flavors provided by the chiles, you want to look for food from the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and South America. Chefs in these regions utilize both the heat and the background flavors of the chiles to make their dishes as flavorful and rich as possible. If you are looking to have your face blown off from the pure heat a chile can give, look to the cuisines of Africa, Asia, and India, where heat is even more important that the underlying flavors of the chile.

We aim to deliver the largest variety of top quality dried chiles, chile flakes, and chile powders to our customers. It helps that we are firmly entrenched in the chilehead culture ourselves, so we know what to look for, especially since we are always looking to expand!

Carolina Reaper Chile Powder

Scorpion Chiles

Granulated Calabrian Chiles

Kashmiri Chile Powder

Chiles by SHU (Scoville Heat Units)

How Well Do You Know Your Chiles?

You Might be a Chile Head...

 

What Makes a Chile a "Chipotle?"

Chiles You Haven't Heard of But Soon Will

Chiles by Flavor Profile

• African Birdseye - Clean spiciness.
• Aji Amarillo - Raisiny aroma and offers a lot of fruitiness for its heat. The fruity flavor has hints of mango and passion fruit.
• Aji Panca - Light and fresh.
• Aleppo - The flavor is complex, fruity and raisin-like with an undertone of earthy cumin and just a hint of salty vinegar.
• Anaheim - Pungent and slightly sweet.
• Ancho - A mild fruity flavor with undertones of plum, raisin, tobacco and a slightly earthy bitterness.
• Carolina Reaper - Burn your face off heat.
• Cascabel - A mild fruitiness with undertones of plum, raisin, tobacco and a slight earthy biterness.
• Cayenne - A sharp heat.
• Chilaca - A rich flavor that is tangy, pungent with undertones of chocolate and raisins.
• Chiltepin - A smoky bite with an upfront heat that dissipates quickly.
• Chipotle "Meco" - Smoky with a slightly spicy, grassy fruitiness.
• Chipotle "Morita" - Smoky with a somewhat sweet, chocolatey aroma and flavor.
• Costeno Rojo - A nutty complexity with fruity notes, green, soapy undertones and an intense, lingering heat.
• De Arbol - A grassy flavor with a hint of nuttiness and a searing, acidic heat.
• Domestic Paprika - Slightly sweet with an almost fresh, green quality to it.
• Ghost Chiles - SO MUCH HEAT.
• Guajillo - Slightly hot, but not overpowering with a simple dried chile flavor and a hint of smoky tartness.
• Habanero - Tropical fruit flavors of coconut and papaya, with berry undertones and an acidic and intense fiery heat.
• Hatch - Varies by variety. Can range from rich, savory and intense to earthy and sweet with undertones of cherries to extra hot.
• Hungarian Paprika - A mild heat.
• Jalapeno - Has an earthy and grassy flavor with a sharp heat. Less common red jalapenos also have a hint of sweetness.
• Japones - A very clean and biting taste.
• Kashmiri - Moderately spicy.
• Korean Chili - Smoky and somewhat sweet with a small amount of heat.
• Maras - The taste is slightly acidic with hints of deep earthy flavors and an aroma of dried fruit.
• Mulato - A sweet flavor with hints of smoky chocolate, licorice, cherries and coffee.
• New Mexico - Includes varieties such as Hatch, Lumbre, Big Jim and others. Flavors and heat level can be drastically different between these chiles.
• Nora - Sweet and earthy.
• Pasado - Taste like roasted green chiles.
• Pasilla de Oaxaca - A sharp, smoky flavor with hints of tobacco and a biting heat that lingers.
• Pasilla Negro - Pungent and tangy with chocolate and raisin notes, a rich flavor and woodsy undertones.
• Pepperoncino - Spicy with fruity undertones.
• Pequin - An earthy flavor with hints of roasted peanuts.
• Poblano - A mild flavor that brings to mind a spicy bell pepper.
• Puya - A light and fruity flavor profile with licorice and cherry undertones.
• Red Pepper Flakes - Sharp, biting flavor.
• Sandia - A milf fruity sweetness that brings to mind the Anaheim chile.
• Scotch Bonnet - A sweeter of the hot chiles with a flavor profile that is reminiscent of tomatoes with hints of apple and cherry.
• Serrano - A crisp, smoky, fruity flavor with citrus undertones and a heat that lingers.
• Smoked Paprika - Rich in flavor and complexity with deep smoky undertones.
• Thai - Slightly fruity with a strong spiciness.
• Thai Bird - A clean spiciness.
• Tien Tsin - Musty and pungent.
• Urfa Biber - Has a smoky, earthy edge with undertones of coffee, chocolate, tobacco and raisins.
• Wiri Wiri - A subtle yet rich fruitiness with hints of chai and teryaki.