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Hot peppers, chili culture, and spicy food
Your guide to growing, cooking, and enjoying hot peppers.
Variety profiles, growing tips, hot sauce reviews, and recipes for anyone who likes their food with heat. No gatekeeping, just good peppers.
What we cover
- Chili variety profiles and heat ratings
- Growing guides for all climates
- Hot sauce reviews and comparisons
- Spicy recipes and cooking techniques
What you can expect
- Honest reviews from a real grower
- Practical advice that works in Australian conditions
- Heat level context (not just Scoville bragging)
- Content for beginners and seasoned chili heads alike
Latest posts
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Carolina Reaper Cultivation: Why Pod Consistency Remains a Challenge
Even with established seed lines, Carolina Reaper plants produce highly variable pods in heat level and appearance. Understanding why helps set realistic expectations for growers.
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Hot Sauce Oxidation: Why Your Fermented Sauce Turns Brown and How to Prevent It
Color change in fermented hot sauce isn't always a problem, but understanding oxidation helps you make sauces that maintain their vibrant color longer.
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Identifying Common Chili Plant Diseases: A Visual Guide
Learning to recognize bacterial spot, anthracnose, powdery mildew, and other common chili diseases early helps prevent crop loss and spread to other plants.
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Overwintering Chili Plants in Australia: Is It Worth the Effort?
Keeping chili plants alive through winter can give you a head start next season, but success depends on your climate zone and the specific varieties you're growing.
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When Chili Flowers Drop: Pollination Problems and Solutions
Chili plants flowering heavily but not setting fruit usually have pollination issues, environmental stress, or nutrient imbalances you can fix.
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Overwintering Chili Plants in Australian Climates
How to keep your chili plants alive through winter for bigger harvests next season, with strategies for different Australian climate zones.
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Fermented Hot Sauce: What the First Few Batches Taught Me
Making lacto-fermented hot sauce at home involves more variables than you'd expect, and the learning curve includes some questionable batches.
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Pepper Seed Storage: What Actually Affects Viability Long-Term
Pepper seeds can remain viable for years under proper storage, but environmental factors degrade germination rates in predictable ways.
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Capsaicin Extraction Methods: Alcohol vs. Oil vs. Salt
Different extraction solvents produce different heat profiles and applications, with alcohol extractions being more concentrated but oil extractions having better culinary versatility.
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Ghost Pepper Fermented Hot Sauce: Marco's Method
Fermenting bhut jolokia creates complex flavors that fresh pepper sauces can't match, though temperature control and salt ratios are more critical than most recipes admit.
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Hot Sauce Fermentation Timeline: When to Actually Bottle
Fermented hot sauce needs time to develop flavor complexity, but how long is optimal? Understanding the fermentation timeline helps you decide when sauce is actually ready.
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Rocoto Peppers: The Most Underrated Capsicum in Australia
Rocoto peppers deliver unique flavor and manageable heat, but they're rarely grown in Australian gardens despite thriving in cooler climates where other chilies struggle.
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Fermented Hot Sauce: Why I'll Never Go Back to Vinegar-Based Sauces
Fermentation transforms hot peppers into complex, probiotic-rich sauces with depth that vinegar alone can't achieve.
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Growing Trinidad Scorpion Peppers: What I've Learned After Three Seasons
The Trinidad Scorpion is notoriously finicky, but with the right conditions, you can grow these superhots successfully in Australia.
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Preserving Your Chili Harvest: Drying, Smoking, and Freezing Compared
You've grown more chilies than you can eat fresh. Here's how to preserve them properly — and which method works best for different varieties and uses.