I thought maybe tree scrapings.
Paprika is the Hungarian word for “pepper”. It is indeed made from chili peppers, but the particular ones used for paprika are relatively mild.
Yes, paprika is just the Hungarian word (and also some other languages, like the Slavic ones) for “chile pepper.” And by “chile pepper” I mean anything from a bell pepper to a habanero. All those are from the same genus and often the same species – the sweet peppers have just had the heat bred out of them. In English, we just used the word for the powdered red spice; in Hungarian it is used both for the spice and for the peppers themselves. Also, paprika (what we think of as the red powdered spice) comes in strength varying from sweet to hot. The hotter Hungarian ones can approach cayenne levels of heat (and the older ones were all of some level of spiciness – it’s not until the mid-to-late 1800s that sweeter versions start showing up. If you read old historical literature, you’ll find references to Hungarian food and its paprika and it being very spicy, as in “hot spicy,” to British tastes.) Also, paprika can be smoked, and those can also be sweet or hot (although typically, when a recipe asks for smoked paprika, usually Spanish, it’s sweet. That said, I have a batch of Hungarian smoked hot paprika in my cupboard. Most Hungarian paprika is not smoked, though.) As for the perception of smoke with spicy heat, I personally have never made that connection.
Is it harsh? On the lungs? 
Smoked paprika is disgusting, there are few things that can ruin ribs and that is certainly one. I lost 3 racks and a full day of grilling because of that mistake. You’d think smoked paprika would help with smoked ribs, but no, it has a strange flavor that is off putting and I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. I’ll never make that mistake again.
The difference in the brands of smoked paprika is pretty huge. I’ve bought whatever the regular store brand supposedly Spanish smoked paprika was (maybe it was merely “Spanish-style”) and it just tasted like ashes. Just way, way oversmoked. Tasted like somebody soaked regular paprika in Liquid Smoke.
The stuff I’ve bought from Spice House is very good, and the Hungarian smoked paprika I have (which I got from a Hungarian visitor) has a much gentler smoke flavor to it. So I may suggest trying another brand to see if you experience the same problem.
I’m a bigger fan of unsmoked, sweet paprika, but I do like the smoked stuff in places. And, no, I would never use it for smoking ribs, but I may use just a hint of it for grilling ribs.
I hear yeah. Perhaps I’ll experiment sprinkling different stuff on a burger or two. It was just a mistake to try something this different with something that took so much effort.
To be fair, most people are familiar with chipotles in adobo sauce, which don’t seem like dried peppers (they are, just saying they don’t seem like it). I don’t think it’s a stretch for someone not to realize that smoking a jalapeno changes it’s name.
I find it works very well in place of chipotle powder. It’s what I use when I’m making something that I’d normally use chipotle powder for but the people eating it don’t want anything spicy. You still get the smokey flavor but without the heat.
And it’s a bit amusing to watch them all panic for a second because they think they just put something spicy in their mouth until they realize it’s not hot, not even a little bit.
We are too. We grow about a dozen varieties of peppers and included are several paprikas. We dry them and can then grind them to use all year long. Some of the thick-walled paprika varieties are tough to grind but they are worth the extra work.
Or that drying a poblano gives you an ancho! (Or pasilla is a dried chilaca pepper; or guajillo is dried mirasol, etc.)
Out of curiosity, is one of the thick-walled peppers almapaprika, “apple pepper”? For some reason, that gets listed as a paprika-making pepper, and I have never seen in Hungary that pepper being used for anything but for pickling, pretty much.
Evidently this is the justification for the weak-ass hot mustard packets available at Chinese food takeout places. For the real sinus-clearing, scalp-sweating zing, I had to purchase online.
Yes! We originally grew them from seeds that we kept after buying them at the farmer’s market, but I think this is what we bought last year (and planted again this year):
Most peppers we hang to dry (typical chile ristra style), but these require cutting and using a dehydrator.
It is really easy and fast to make hot mustard with just two ingredients: Colman’s mustard powder and water.
Yeah, those are not used for paprika. Or, I should say, I have never heard of them being used for that. The typical paprika pepper looks something from a fresno to a red banana/cubanelle pepper, that sort of horn shape.
Here’s a paprika harvest photo:
And here is what almapaprika is typically used for:
They are typically pickled yellow/green, but not exclusively so. When you go to any market in Budapest, you will find them at the pickles/preserves stall. They are sometimes stuffed with sauerkraut as well. These are among the most common Hungarian pickled vegetable. I love them as a side for my paprikash, pörkölt, or any breaded and fried dish.
Yeah, for paprika, their thick walls don’t make them particularly suitable, although I’d be curious as to what a paprika made from these peppers when they fully mature and turn red tastes like.
We grow the thin-walled variety and love them as well. I would say the flavor profile for both varieties are similar - both very flavorful and great additions to a lot of foods.
We will have to pickle some of the thick-walled ones this year (we pickle our jalepenos and serranos). I’m glad to hear from someone that actually knows how these peppers are really used! 
Most Chinese restaurants, I honestly can’t tell the difference between their “hot mustard” and plain ordinary French’s yellow. A few, I can say “Yes, I detect some level of heat here”. Something like Coleman’s, I’ll say “That has a pleasant zing to it”. But there’s one place around here that makes mustard very nearly too hot even for me.
Not a chain, of course.
Yeah, do try the almapaprika for that. They’re my preferred pickled pepper precisely for their plentiful flesh and crisp texture.
Interesting. Around here I’ve never noticed any Chinese hot mustard taste like French’s or ballpark mustard to me. It’s nowhere near as vinegary to me. It all reminds me more of English mustard.
Here is some of our harvest from last fall:
