Cherry peppers refers to a collection of types of peppers, spherical or round shaped resembling cherry fruits albeit bigger in size. Cherry peppers measure about 1.6 inches in diameter, starting off green and shifting to bright red when ripe. They generally range in heat on the Scoville scale from mild to medium hot. The peppers are fairly easy to grow and are popular among home gardeners.
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What are Cherry Peppers?
Cherry Fruit 
Cherry Tomato Cherry Pepper
Cherry peppers are a type of pepper of the genus Capsicum. Capsicum is a Greek word Kapto or “to bite”. Cherry peppers belong to the broader pepper botanical name of Capsicum annuum but under the Cerasiforme Group of Capsicum annuum. The scientific name of Cherry peppers is thus Capsicum annuum var. cerasiforme.
The Cherry pepper plant belongs to the Solanaceae or Nightshade family, a diverse family which includes tomatoes, potatoes and a wide range of blooming flowers.
Other common names of Cherry peppers are Sweet Cherry Chile Pepper, Cherry Bomb Pepper, Hungarian Cherry Pepper and Red Cherry Chile Pepper.
Cherry Pepper Characteristics
The Cherry pepper is typically small, rounded in shape, and looks uniform to the other pods on the plant to which it is attached by dark green stems covered in miniature fibers. Cherry peppers hold close resemblance in shape to the fruit cherry and in shape and size to the cherry tomato.
One of the most marvelous aspects of the Cherry pepper is the color shift that occurs in its smooth and glossy skin from green and then deep red when it is fully ripened. This, in fact, is common to many Capsicum annuum peppers. Examples include Cascabella peppers, bell peppers, and jalapenos among others.
The general interior of Cherry peppers when cut open, is characterized by thick wet flesh resembling the outer color of the cherry and a central light looking cavity filled with numerous light colored seeds.
Cherry Pepper Flavor and Taste
The actual flavor and taste of Cherry peppers will depend on the cultivar in question (see more on varieties below). Nonetheless, in general terms, the peppers are mild and lean towards spiciness with a distant hint of sweetness. Certain varieties have a more pronounced sweet flavor with mild spiciness. The flavor of the variety will also determine its culinary application be it canning, pickling, or stuffing among other preparations (see Cherry pepper recipes below).
Cherry Peppers Scoville
Cherry peppers generally have a Scoville range of between 1000 and 15000 units. Scoville scale measures the spiciness or pungency of peppers in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Capsaicinoids found in peppers are responsible for the heat found in Cherry peppers. The overriding capsaicinoid is capsaicin which in its purest form has 15000000 SHUs.
Many Cherry pepper cultivars are found within the 1000 to 15000 units range. However, as may be observed below, there are outlier varieties that exceed the 15000 unit upper end in heat level. Furthermore, heat levels may differ depending on the stage at which the pepper is in its development or the point at which it is harvested.
All in all, the Scoville Scale although very useful for standardization purposes, remains subjective as heat levels will depend on individual palettes and tolerance to capsaicin pungency.
Nonetheless, the following is a short list indicating Scoville heat units of some of the well known Cherry peppers.
- Cumra Cherry Pepper – 5000 – 20000 units
- Cherry Bomb Pepper – 2500 – 5000 units
- Fireball Hot Pepper – 2500 – 5000 units
- Filius Blue Cherry Pepper – 40000 – 58000 units
- Cascabel Cherry Pepper – 1500 to 2500 units
Cherry Pepper Varieties
As earlier stated, Cherry pepper is an all encompassing name that refers to a diverse number of Cherry pepper cultivars. In this section, we consider a few better known Cherry pepper varieties in some detail.
Cumra Cherry Pepper
The Cumra Cherry is an heirloom variety which has origins in a small farming town, Cumra, in Turkey. The correct Turkish name of this variety and its town of origin is Çumra. However, the English version which is most used is Cumra.
The pepper is a thick walled cultivar which lends itself to grilling and also pickling. This cherry variety can grow fairly larger than an average Cherry pepper to the size of a small apple. The Cumra cherry has Scoville units of between 5000 and 20000. This range encompasses spicy, hot, strong and fiery heat levels according to this Scoville scale.
The Cumra Cherry pepper is described as having no bitterness but a sweet flavor with a gradual burn. Seeds of this cherry variety can be purchased from HRSeeds.
Fireball Hot Cherry Pepper
Fireball Peppers 
Fireball Candy
The Fireball Hot pepper is an F1 hybrid cherry pepper cultivar. This variety gets its name from the popular Fireball candy (pictured right). As if to fully resemble the candy ball, this cherry also paints the mouth red when eaten. Furthermore, it initially gives a sweet-like taste before descending into searing heat. On the Scoville scale, Fireball Cherry pepper rates between 2500 and 5000 units.
For the grower, this Cherry pepper variety is also known to be resistant to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a devastating disease that causes yellow-green mottling on leaves and stunted growth among other effects. In the United States, seeds for this variety can be ordered from Fedco Seeds.
Cherry Bomb Pepper
This is the Cherry Bomb pepper, one of the most popular Cherry peppers in the United States. This pepper is sometimes referred to as Red Cherry Hot (video). It has a Scoville rating of between 2500 and 5000 units.
The Cherry Bomb is a round shaped thick walled pepper used for pickling, grilling and stuffing. It is spicy albeit not extremely spicy. Once it has fruited, the pepper rides a quick transition between green to brilliant red. The Cherry Bomb plant is also high yielding, a common feature among different Cherry pepper varieties.
Filius Blue Cherry Pepper
The Filius Blue Cherry pepper may be unfamiliar to many. Nonetheless, this is an open-pollinated pepper cultivar which matures from green to dark-blue or purple to bright red.
When ripened, the Filius Blue is sweet and mild. However, in its immature state it is notoriously hot ranging between 40000 and 58000 units on the Scoville scale.
This pepper can be successfully grown in pots and containers of 3 gallon or 10 liter sizes. It matures in 80 days delivering a spicy hot flavor. Seeds for the variety can be purchased from West Coast Seeds.
Cascabel Pepper
Cascabel Cherry pepper is sometimes called Cascabel chili. It is a round and smooth cherry that turns from green to red when it ripens. It has a heat level of between 1500 and 2500 Scoville heat units. When dried, the Cascabel pepper rattles which is the source of its other names: rattle chili or little bell.
The Cascabel name is so close to another pepper called Cascabella to which it is often confused. Cascabella itself is, however, not a cherry pepper.
Cascabel cherry pepper is a popular Mexican pepper which can be roasted or dried. When dried, it is plain water rehydrated for use as a sauce or paste.
Below is an example of this cherry pepper as dried product.
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| Dried Cascabel Chili Pepper See on Amazon This is a product made of dried Cascabel cherry peppers. When the peppers are dry, they have this dark brown color as shown. The peppers are rehydrated in warm water before use into a paste or sauce. They can also be ground into powder depending on user preference. When rehydrating, to avoid them becoming bitter, the peppers are soaked for less than 20 minutes. |
Cherry Peppers Recipes
Cherry peppers are primarily used in culinary applications. Uses include stuffing with cheese and sliced meats, for example. Grilling, marinades, pickling, soups, steps, casseroles and tamales are also other viable uses. The following is a compilation of some scrumptious recipes that make use of Cherry peppers.
| Quick-Pickled Cherry Peppers Recipe – This recipe makes pickled peppers that can be served immediately or at a later time after storage in the fridge. It calls for 12 cherry peppers, white vinegar, peppercorns and garlic as the main ingredients. |
| Stuffed Hot Cherry Peppers Recipe – This is a finger food recipe taking 40 minutes to make scrumptious stuffed cherries. A filling herb & garlic cheese is prepared and stuffed into the peppers before they are roasted for some 20 minutes. The recipe calls for 280 grams of hot cherry peppers. |
| Bacon-Wrapped Cherry Peppers Recipe – This is a mouth watering stuffed peppers recipe calling for 6 peppers that are cut in half and seeds removed. Each cherry is stuffed with a heaped spoon of cream cheese before being wrapped with some bacon. The peppers are then put in the oven for some minutes. |
Pickled Hot Cherry Peppers Recipe (Video)
This video demonstrates how to make pickled hot cherries step-by-step. The cherry peppers are picked fresh from the garden and washed before cutting off the steams and slicing them up. They are put in sterilized jars together with some garlic cloves. Simmered brine is added to the peppers in the jars. The jars are placed in a hot water bath for some 15 minutes as part of the preparation process. View Video.
Growing Cherry Peppers
Cherry peppers (Capsicum annuum var. cerasiforme) are grown largely the same way as other pepper varieties (Capsicum annuum). Three main things to remember are that peppers thrive in warm soils, warm environment and good watering or irrigation. This is because peppers are intolerant to frost.
To gain time in the season, peppers are usually started indoors 8 weeks prior to the arrival of warm night temperatures. The University of Minnesota Extension recommends transplanting cherry pepper seedlings outdoors when nighttime low temperatures hover above 50°F or 10 degrees Celsius.
Covering your planting area with black plastic for up to two weeks before planting creates the right soil temperature for pepper seedlings when they are eventually transplanted. Furthermore, the plastic can also be left in place and holes cut through for planting the seedlings. This is effective in reducing weeds, keeping the soil warm as well as preserving soil moisture. Soil pH when growing cherry peppers should be between 6.5 and 7.0.
Some growers are caught by surprise when pepper plants start aborting fruit by dropping their flowers. This is caused by raising temperatures which go high above 80°F or 26 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, the pepper plant will resume normal production once the temperatures return to regular levels.
Harvesting Cherry Peppers
Cherries are ready for harvest anytime between 75 and 80 days. Harvesting the peppers in of itself activates increased production of the peppers. The plant produces flowers and sets more fruit. Thus the peppers are to be harvested as a way of stimulating more production. Harvest the pods as and when they are ready with this in mind.
The right time to harvest is when the whole cherry pepper has turned bright red. Harvesting is generally avoided when the peppers still have some green unripened areas. These unripened areas usually follow in ripening after a few days of waiting.
Conclusion
Cherry peppers refer to a collection of peppers of similar resemblance in size, shape and color when ripe. They generally resemble other cherries in the fruit and veg world such as flesh and tomatoes cherries. These peppers are a special group of peppers under Capsicum annuum. They have a variety of culinary applications and are popularly pickled for preservation in part because cherry pepper plants are highly productive. The peppers have different heat levels, falling between 1000 and 15000 Scoville units, depending on the variety in question.
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