Little Bit Jerky - Bad Azz Bit

Little Bit Jerky has a couple new flavors out, including this "Bad Azz Bit".

The "Little Bit Jerky" brand launched in February 2016, by Robert Helmcamp and Teresa Helmcamp, based out of Wichita Falls, TX.

Robert is a professional butcher of 22 years, learning the craft the "old school" way, and developed his own seasonings. Little Bit Jerky is made fresh daily from top round, and marinated for 18-24 hours.

This "Bad Azz Bit" is described by the company as being, "A perfectly cooked steak flavor infused with Extreme Heat from a combination of peppers."

Ingredients

Beef, water, natural hickory wood smoke, vinegar, salt, onion, garlic, black pepper, crushed dark red chili, hydrolyzed soy & corn protein, sugar, molasses, papain, citric acid, smoked paprika, red pepper, jalapeno, cayenne, habanero

Review

The first flavors I taste is a salty seasoning of garlic and black pepper. There's a light touch of smoke, while the heat builds up slowly. The chewing brings on the natural meat flavors, but also leads in light vinegar, and shades of chile peppers.

For being marketed as, "perfectly cooked steak" and, "extreme heat", it holds up well. It has a seasoned, grilled steak flavor, anchored by its natural meat flavors. It's also "hot", ranking on my personal heat scale as a level 5 out of 5. It's not the intense, seething, firestorm that chile pepper aficionados seek out, but it still leaves a burn on my tongue and beads of sweat on my scalp.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is that of a salty, seasoning blend of garlic, black pepper and onion, along with a light tangy vinegar and touches of smokiness, over a grilled, steak flavor. There's some light chile pepper flavor, but enough to bring out the unique profiles of jalapeno and habanero. It's largely the heat that stems from the chile pepper ingredients.

The meat consistency looks really good, mostly all meat, sliced into slabs of medium thickness. I found a fair amount of stringiness in the chewing. It's dry, but flexible, and manages to tear apart with light effort. The chewing starts out quite chewy and eventually softens up enough to feel like a well-done cooked steak.

Verdict

This Bad Azz Bit from Little Bit Jerky does a great job of recreating the taste of a well-seasoned, marinated steak, boosted with the strong heat of chile peppers. It doesn't give off enough jalapeno and/or habanero flavor to go along with their intense burns, nor provide any of the endorphic reward that one gets from indulging on such capiscum. In a way, it's more of a masochistic treat for those want to snack on good jerky and punish their palates at the same time. Overall, it is still great beef chewing experience, with loads of flavor, though salty, but every bit as Texas as one might expect.

Rating: Good (4/5)