Country Archer - Turkey Jerky Honey Dijon

Country Archer recently introduced some new flavors, including this "Hickory Smoke Turkey Jerky".

Country Archer is a well known brand in the meat snack industry, going back to 1977 when it became the private labeler for hundreds of brands over the decades. Now based in San Bernardino, CA, the company is leveraging its own brand and pushing its own line of jerky into stores across the country.

This Honey Dijon Turkey Jerky is described as being made from turkey breast meat, "sophisticated flavor, and nothing frou-frou".

Ingredients

Turkey, organic spicy brown dijon mustard, organic brown sugar, organic seasoned rice vinegar dressng, garlic, organic honey dijon mustard

Review

The first flavors that come to my palate are a strong sweet and a noticeable mustard. The chewing brings on more mustard definition and a tangy rice wine vinegar.

For being marketed as, "Honey Dijon", it definitely stands up. The mustard flavor is well identified, taking on more of the french-style dijon as opposed to the American-style yellow. The honey flavor itself is hard to identify, but its sweetness is well represented.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is that of strongly sweetened dijon-style mustard, livened up with tangy rice wine vinegar.

The meat consistency looks and feels like classic turkey jerky. It's very easy to chew, more so than Country Archer's other turkey jerky varieties. The heavier sweetness creates a sugary coating, which seems to contribute to a mushier chew. But desipite the strong sweet, it's not sticky to handle, but dry to the touch.

Verdict

This Honey Dijon Turkey Jerky from Country Archer has a great flavor if you love dijon mustard. The mustard is well identified, and boosted with the tangy character of rice wine vinegar, and thick sweetness of honey. It's not savory, spicy, or salty like most turkey jerky brands, in fact, it's anything but. However, this is also an excellent example of how to make gluten-free jerky without adding salt. This tends to chew a little mushy, perhaps due to the higher sugar content, but I found it was offset by the great flavor.

Rating: Best