Dunkin’ is heating things up with a limited edition ghost pepper donut

First there were the (ongoing) chicken sandwich wars; then McDonald's came out with its Spicy Chicken McNuggets. Now Dunkin' Donuts is throwing its hat into the ring with a limited edition Spicy Ghost Pepper Donut that's hitting menus nationwide as of today until December.

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2020's thrown a lot of what's normal out the window. Halloween is definitely going to be different this year, so why shouldn't donuts get to mix things up a bit too?

The coffee and doughnut company's making the claim to fame that it's the "first-ever pepper-packed donut available nationwide", and—while the jury's out on that on that first part—the donut admittedly sounds pretty good: it's their classic donut ring topped with a strawberry flavored icing with a blend of cayenne and ghost pepper, and finished with red sanding sugar for a fiery, crackling appearance.

For reference, ghost peppers have a Scoville score of 1,041,427 SHU (Scoville Heat Units), and were known as the world's spiciest pepper until it was replaced by the face-melting Carolina Reaper. That makes it roughly 400 times hotter than Tabasco, 200 times hotter than jalapeño peppers.

On top of it all, the First We Feast series Hot Ones host Sean Evans is going to put himself in the hot seat for the first time on October 19 to try it out himself and answer questions alongside a bunch of hot sauces to kick it up notch by notch.

“We’re excited to show our spicy side with a donut that packs a touch of heat with something sweet and can be enjoyed any time of day," says Jill Nelson, VP of Marketing Strategy at Dunkin’. 

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