Chipotle mora peppers are smoked, dried serrano chilies. Serrano chilies are green for most of the growing season, but turn red in the fall. For chipotle mora, the peppers are allowed to stay on the plant until they turn deep red and begin to dry out. These deep red serranos are smoked for days until completely dry. It takes about 5 Kg of serranos to make 500 grams of chipotle mora.

The Aztecs knew that some sorts of fleshy chilies, nowadays known as serranos, could not be preserved through drying through air. Because of that they tried the same method which was successfully used on meat and fish: They dried the chilies with the help of smoke. In many parts of Mexico, smoke is handled in this ancestral reliable method: Pits are dug out, which are connected through an under-earth tunnel. In one of these pits a fire is kindled, in the other one are the chilies lying on a metal stand. The draft lets smoke go over the chilies, so they are dried and smoked at the same time. For smoking they use the wood from pecan nut trees, which gives it its typical unique taste.

Even today the same procedure is used but with smoke ovens 50x50M, instead of pits, which extend over the whole harvest area.

Chipotle mora peppers are made primarily in Chihuahua, Mexico. Chipotle mora is the name given to the peppers produced in Chihuahua. Consequently, our producing partner is situated in Chihuahua. Peppers produced in other places have different colors. Mora means “Purple One” in Spanish, and refers to the deep red, almost purple chipotle mora that is the common variety. Other chilies can be smoked and dried but only smoked red serranos are called chipotle mora.