michaelpaoli

Love the tastings! And the wonderful wide selection of varieties! Every time I do a tasting, it generally means I end up buying another one to four yummy bottles of sauce. :-)

Dang, sounds like a "problem" I'd like to have! :-)

Definitely an acquired taste. First time I tried Tabasco, one drop and that bit of my tongue was numb for a while, but to me now, that stuff's highly mild. Nowadays, I typically go up to around the habanero range, give or take a bit, and do also cook with peppers up through fresh habanero peppers.

Also, on the heat tolerance, I think after lots of repeated exposures and over time, one doesn't have to hit those higher levels as regularly to retain much of that tolerance ... at least that's been my experience (may vary for others).

Yes, I find freezing works very well. I often do that for the higher heat peppers and my cooking - typically obtain more than I can quickly use at once, so I give 'em a good rinse, dice them into reasonably sized pieces relative to their hotness, and freeze them, well wrapped in bit of plastic. Then just add the needed amount whenever I'm cooking something that could use some bit of peppers. Also very handy for "just the right amount" - add to cooking until desired hotness reached - the rest goes back in the freezer for the next bit of similar cooking. Repeat often, restock as needed. :-)