The newest flavor from Ed's Roadhouse Jerky is this Sweet Onion and Garlic. See my reviews of Ed's other flavors at this link.

Described on the brand's website as "This has a great taste of Sweet Onion With a twist of Garlic!", it sounds much more tame on the tongue than Ed's other flavors which seem to focus on massive amounts of spicy heat.

Ed's Roadhouse Jerky is based in Wellington, FL. It was started by Ed Herman over 20 years ago with an emphasis on combining spicy heat with decadent sweet.

Ingredients

Angus beef, fresh onion & garlic, salt, sugar, water, soy bean, wheat, molasses, natural flavoring spices.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a moderate sweetness, a noticeable onion and garlic, and a medium level of saltiness.

The chewing flavor starts with an increased onion and garlic, perhaps more stronger with the garlic. I can detect a fair amount of soy sauce flavor, and a well-defined natural meat flavor.

For being sold as a "Sweet Onion & Garlic" variety of beef jerky, this definitely has a well-noticeable onion and garlic flavor with a fair amount of sweetness. The onion and garlic has a fresh flavor, as if you're biting into real pieces of onion and garlic, and not something out of a seasoning shaker like from a bag of potato chips.

The onion and garlic flavor also has the dominant flavor of this jerky, in that it's what mostly defines the overall taste. The soy sauce tends to fall behind, and then behind that the natural meat flavor. The sweetness shows up immediately after putting a piece into my mouth, but quickly falls behind to the stronger onion and garlic.

The natural meat flavor has a well-marinated, roasted flavor, much like a tri-tip, with some bits of fat mixed in to give it a more well-rounded beef experience.

The level of saltiness in this feels to be around medium to medium-high.

Overall, you're going to notice an initial burst of sweet, followed by a lot of fresh-tasting onion and garlic flavor, some soy sauce flavor, and a good tasting natural meat flavor.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced thin, and in bite-sized pieces.

This is a dry jerky, with a semi-moist surface feel due to a sticky-sweet coating. The pieces have a good deal of flexibility, but still crack a little bit when bent. It's a little chewy, but very much in line with what you'd expect jerky to be, and still easy to chew overall.

The chewing texture starts out with a little bit of chewing resistance, but pliable enough to bend easily with my tongue and teeth. With more chewing it break down quickly and easily enough, and chews down to a soft mass in about 15 seconds. At that point, it has a meat-like texture, with a touch of mushy/gummy quality perhaps due to the heavier sweet coating.

Several of these pieces contain some small visible streaks of fat. I don't find any gristle or tendon, and I don't encounter anything stringy, nor feel any unchewable wads of tissue.

In terms of clean eating, my fingertips pick up traces of stickiness, but still dry enough to where I can type on my keyboard without licking them off.




Snack Value

Ed's Roadhouse Jerky sells this Sweet Onion & Garlic variety from its website in several package sizes. If you bought four 4oz packages, with shipping out to Southern California, the total would cost $38.55 ($32.60 + $5.95). That works out to a price of $2.41 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.41 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a lot of snackability from its great overall flavor, excellent meat consistency and chewing texture, and bite-sized pieces. Even though it will cost you more than the major brands of jerky at the grocery store, it's clearly a better buy.

As for being a "Sweet Onion & Garlic" variety of jerky, it's a good value. It certainly lives up to its billing providing a noticeable sweet, and lots of onion & garlic flavor of the fresh variety, and not the seasoning salt variety.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

This Garlic & Onion variety from Ed's Roadhouse Jerky starts out with an initial burst of sweet, but then socks you in the mouth with a good deal of onion and garlic flavor. And unlike other brands that tend to rely on onion and garlic seasoning salt, this gives you the taste of freshly-chopped onion and garlic.

But as with other varieties of Ed's Roadhouse Jerky, it's the meat that really scores big. First, the natural flavor of beef comes through really well in this, enhanced by small flecks of marbleized fat. It's fairly easy to eat, has an excellent meat consistency and great chewing texture. It's also conveniently cut into bite-sized pieces.

But what pushes this up to the five-star category is the blend of freshly-chopped onion and garlic. You don't just taste it in this, you experience it.

My recommended beer pairing for this, go with a nutty brown ale, such as the Rogue Hazelnut Brown, or the Abita Pecan Harvest Ale.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://www.edsroadhousejerky.com/