G76/SandiaUpdated 2 years ago

Sandia and G76 are truly a New Mexico hot. However, it is also a versatile and very tasty variety of chile ranging from five to eight inches when mature. Because of their size, our Sandia and G76 are great for making rellenos, and because of their heat, it is great for use in any dish you can think of that calls for a good kick! We currently farm two strains of Sandia and one strain of G76.

Our first strain (Sandia Legacy) is produced by Jimmy Lytle, son of Big Jim Lytle, after whom the world-famous Big Jim variety was named. The other strain (Sandia Select) is an improved strain of Sandia that is produced by Biad Chile Products. Though both offer equivalent flavor and heat, we grow two strains for diversification and disease resistance. If one variety is more susceptible to a specific disease that gets out of control in a given year, having two strains in our fields allows us to protect the crop somewhat. G76 is a somewhat newer variety that is very similar to Sandia but tends to come off earlier in the year.

The original strain of Sandia was first released by Dr. Harper in 1956, then known as Sandia A, and officially known as Sandia as of 1967. Sandia had a heat level of between 1,500-2,000, as measured by Scoville Heat Units when first released, though today we see its heat profile running a fair bit hotter than that. It is consistently hot and spicy, without being too overpowering. We offer fresh Sandia and G76 in 5-pound, 10-pound, and 25-pound boxes and carry flame-roasted, frozen G76 and Sandia in 1lb bags.