Hole In One Jerky - Ghost Chili

Hole In One Jerky is a new brand of meat snacks launched by Bud Ott and Crystal Ott based out of Corona, CA. The brand started in October 2014.

Bud had been working as a professional golf caddie for several years and relied on snacks of various sorts to keep his energy up. His wife Crystal finally developed the recipe that would become the company's Original variety, and Bud liked it so much, that they decided to start offering it on the golf course. By Christmas 2013, Crystal had come up with several flavors, including the logo that is used today on the packaging.

Hole In One Jerky is handmade from USDA Choice London Broil, and comes in numerous flavors. They currently sell online, as well as a small brick-n-mortar, and six beer breweries.

Ingredients

Beef, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, water, cayenne powder, chili arbor powder, liquid smoke, onion/garlic powder, black pepper, sesame seeds, ghost chili powder.

Review

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light worcestershire sauce and some garlic/onion seasonings. A moderate burn starts to build. The chewing brings on some of the soy sauce and more worcestershire, along with a touch of sweet. I can also pick up a light chile pepper flavor.

For being labeled, "Ghost Chili", this holds up fairly well. I do get a decent amount of heat, which I would expect from something identified with Ghost Peppers, and I do get a light chile pepper flavor. But considering how hot the Ghost Pepper really is, and how hot other Ghost Pepper jerky brands are, this is somewhat tame by comparison. Still, I'd rate the heat as medium-hot (level 4 out of 5).

Otherwise, the flavor that defines this jerky is largely the worcestershire sauce with touches of soy sauce, and a noticeable chile pepper flavor. There's a bit of sweet in this, along with some light seasonings of garlic and onion.

The meat consistency is much like with the company's other varieties, which is excellent. These strips of beef chew like real slices of steak, somewhat moist, a little tender, but still largely chewy as jerky is expected to be. Very little fat is found, light amounts of stringiness, and nothing unchewable.

Verdict: This "Ghost Chili" beef jerky from Hole In One offers up a decent level of heat for something associated with one of the most notoriously hot chile peppers in the world, and a little bit of chile pepper flavor too. But if you're a chile head and are looking for some masochistic mastication, you may not find this hot enough. It still, however, is hot enough for most spicy food lovers, still has a good all-around flavor, and an excellent meat consistency and chewing texture. In fact, if you prefer the heat level of habanero beef jerky, you might try this instead.

Rating: Good