Chipotle
The Chipotle Pepper is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili, a cornerstone of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. It delivers medium heat with a signature rich, smoky, earthy flavor that elevates sauces, marinades, and stews.
Chipotle peppers are smoke-dried red jalapeños, typically 2–4 inches long, wrinkled and leathery like raisins or prunes. Two main varieties exist: morita (smaller, reddish-purple to dark brown, softer, common in the US) and meco (larger, grayish-tan with dusty surface, smokier, preferred in Mexico). The smoking process (using pecan wood traditionally) concentrates flavors while retaining the heat of the fresh ripe jalapeño (2,500–8,000 SHU).
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Backstory
The chipotle tradition dates back to the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples who smoke-dried jalapeños (and other chiles) for long-term preservation centuries before European contact. The process — smoking ripe red jalapeños for days over low heat (often pecan wood) — reduces moisture dramatically (10 lbs fresh yield ~1 lb dried) while infusing deep smoky flavor. Production remains centered in Mexico, especially Chihuahua for the popular morita variety. Chipotles revolutionized Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking and are now available whole, in adobo sauce, powdered, or as flakes worldwide.
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Reach out →Flavor
Rich, deep smoke with earthy undertones, subtle sweetness, and a balanced medium spiciness. Morita varieties tend to be slightly sweeter and fruitier; meco varieties deliver a more intense, complex smokiness. The heat lingers but remains approachable compared to superhots.
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