Mad Hatter Pepper

Mad Hatter Pepper

Mad Hatter is a C. baccatum with an odd three-lobed shape that looks a little like a hat. Hence the name. The peppers start green and eventually ripen to a bright red.

Flavor is sweet with a little of the fruity, floral taste you get from many baccatum peppers. The flesh is crisp and surprisingly substantial. These are good peppers to eat fresh, but the shape also makes them fun to stuff.

How Hot Are Mad Hatter Peppers?

Not very.

We put Mad Hatter around 500 to 1,000 SHU. Some peppers may have a little heat near the center, while the outer lobes can taste almost completely sweet.

That makes Mad Hatter much milder than a Jalapeno, Sugar Rush Cream, or Poblano.

What Do You Do With Them?

Fresh eating is an easy one. The peppers are sweet and crunchy enough to snack on or chop into salads and salsa.

They also work well grilled or roasted. The weird hat shape gives you several little pockets that can hold cheese or other stuffing. I am generally in favor of any pepper that gives me another excuse to put cheese inside it.

Growing Mad Hatter

Start the seeds somewhere warm using a good seed-starting mix. I use Burpee seed-starting mix from Menards. Sorry, non-Midwesterners!

Keep the mix evenly moist while they germinate. Once the seedlings are up, give them plenty of light.

Do not get too excited and plant them outside the first warm week of spring. Wait until the threat of frost is over. Better yet, wait until overnight temperatures are consistently 50°F or higher.

If you started them indoors, harden them off before putting them outside full time.

Mad Hatter is a baccatum, and the plants can get pretty large. Give them some room. A stake or other support is also a good idea once they start loading up with fruit.

20+ seeds per pack