Death Nut Challenge: 5 levels of burn at Salsa Night Market

Saturday’s Salsa Night Market brought out throngs of people to Copper Sky Regional Park to see live entertainment and sample products from dozens of local businesses.

A brave few sat down and tried their luck at the “Death Nut Challenge 3.0,” a hot-nut challenge sold by Blazing Foods with many warnings.

The “Death Nut,” the fifth and final fiery morsel, is made with a new super-hot pepper distillate spray-dried into a powder form to deliver a whopping 16 million Scoville Heat Units. But the challenge is spicy from the start.

Each of the five levels starts with a base peanut made with a dose of Carolina Reaper to establish consistent flavor and heat. The small-batch nuts are then made progressively hotter with a load of the world’s hottest peppers. Here’s the breakdown on the active ingredients for each level:

• Level 1 – Datil Peppers and West Indies Scotch Bonnet
• Level 2 – Ghost Peppers and 7-Pot Brain Strain
• Level 3 – Double shot of Ghost Peppers and 7-Pot Douglah
• Level 4 – Double shot of Carolina Reaper Peppers, a double shot of 7-Pot Brain Strain and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Peppers
• Level 5 – Triple shot of Carolina Reaper Peppers, a double shot of Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Peppers, the explosive 7-Pot Primo Pepper and the 16 million-Scoville Capsaicin Crystals

You can buy some at Death Nut Challenge Version 3.0 – Death Nuts

City spokesman Luis Vila said an estimated 5,000 people attended the event, where the main attraction was salsa – lots and lots of salsa. March’s Salsa Night Market excluded salsa-tasting portion due to COVID-19. A panel of judges awarded the biggest prizes in the event’s history. Read about the Salsa Contest winners here.