There are some folks who like the simpler things in life, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that… then there are those that love to add that extra kick (or 10 kicks) into their diet to satisfy their constant craving for spicy foods.I know several folks that love, love, love spicy foods, and they just cannot get enough of it. Ketchup on eggs and burgers are an obsolete memory of the past. Ketchup has now been replaced by the likes of liquid smoke, tabasco sausce or other combinations of sauces that add fireworks to an otherwise ordinary meal. If you are a cheese lover, there are a number of cheeses out there that are a kick or ten above the rest, one of which is so hot that the few restaurants that serve it on their burgers require that you sign a waiver release before eating the burger and that you wear latex gloves to prevent spice burns. Yes, it is that serious and the cheese is that spicy. Without further adieu, let’s take a look at some of these spicier cheeses.

The fact is, most cheese is naturally made mild as milk usually acts as a soothing agent to thwart the “burn” in your mouth and throat left behind by spicier foods. Here are the few exceptions…

Jalapeño

One of the most “garden-variety” chili peppers available across the globe, often get integrated into cheese to give it that extra kick. Jalapenos, believe it or not, has a fairly low spice level, compared to another cheese that makes this list as well. There is actually a scale in which the spice level of a chili pepper is measured, called the Scoville scale, where the level of hot in a chili pepper is measure in units called Scoville units. In this case, the Jalapeno falls at around 2,500 to 10,000 units. Finding a store that sells “Jalapeno Cheddar” is not a difficult task as Jalapeno Cheddar is more of a household cheese for those that love the spice.

Habañero

If consuming Jalapenos raw, by the handful as snack and without any soothing agent like milk or water, perhaps you’d like to take the stakes a little higher and give Hot Habanero cheese a try. Habanero is markedly spicier than the aforementioned Jalapeno chili pepper, coming in at a staggering 100,000 to 350,000 units on the Scoville scale. This pepper will weed out the fainter taste buds in a heartbeat. Cheese infused with Habanero Chili Peppers is still relatively easy to find in larger grocery stores and specialty foods stores.

Ghost Chili Pepper

If you are one of the rarer breeds who loves the hot level off the charts to where you cannot feel you mouth, lips, nose, tongue, throat, or pretty much your entire upper half, then perhaps Ghost Chili Pepper-infused cheese is up you ally. Ghost Chili Pepper is the second hottest cheese on Earth, yes, on the face of our planet. It comes in on the Scoville scale as being about 200 times hotter than the Jalapeno. Yes, this cheese can be legally bought, but very few have the sanity to buy it as, well, you value the life of your taste buds, mouth and lips. Restaurants that do make cheeseburgers with cheese that is infused with Ghost Chili Pepper cheese, and there are very few that do, require paperwork to be filled out by the challenge eater and latex gloves to be worn to prevent spice burns on the hands.