Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Bad Buds Jerky - Mild

bad buds jerky
Bad Buds Jerky is a brand run by Buddy Stone out of Hogansville, GA. Bad Buds has been in business since 2005. In addition to jerky, the brand also markets its own line of hot sauces.

Currently, Bad Buds Jerky offers four flavors, this Mild, a Hot and Spicy, a Hotternhail and a Hotternhail Ghost. I have the first three to review.

Ingredients

Beef, soy, spices.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a salty seasoning blend with touches of garlic, followed by a moderate dealing of soy sauce. There's also a light bit of sweetness.

The chewing brings in a fair amount of natural meat flavors along with a more defined soy sauce flavor. I can also pick up more of the seasonings, and also something tasting tangy or citrusy.

For being marketed as "mild", it's certainly fits the billing. I find no spiciness or heat. But it's still quite flavorful with the soy sauce and seasonings. Just not hot.

Otherwise, the flavors that seem to define this jerky the most is the soy sauce, followed by the seasoning blend. The seasoning blend seems much like garlic salt, but there's definitely more to it, I just can't quite put names to the flavors. But names like thyme, oregano, lemon grass, even touches of cumin, come to mind.

The natural meat flavors are well noticeable in this, almost having an aged flavor, but mixed with soy sauce.

The ingredients seem to combine together very well, creating a savory snack with a nice splash of mild seasonings, and the great flavor of beef.

The level of saltiness in this feels moderate.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into strips of three to six inches, and sliced thick.

This is a dry jerky with a slightly moist surface feel. These strips are very flexible, maybe just a touch of rubbery feel. Biting off pieces takes little bit of work while chewing is moderately tough.

The chewing texture starts out feeling chewy, almost rubbery, requiring some effort to get through, but starts to break apart and soon softens up into a meaty feel. By the time its chewed down to a soft mass, it feel very steak like, perhaps cooked medium-well.

I don't see any bits or streaks of fat on these strips, but I do taste some fatty flavor. There's a fair amount of stringiness in the chewing, and I can feel wads of tough, unchewable mass.

As far as handling goes, my fingertips pick up fine films of oil and sticky, but not enough to worry about when typing on a keyboard, and they also pick up scant bits of pepper and spice.



Snack Value

I don't have pricing info, and the company's Facebook page doesn't list pricing either.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Mild beef jerky from Bad Buds Jerky actually dishes out a snackable, addicting flavor, marked by a blend of soy sauce and seasonings, with a noticeable, somewhat aged, natural meat flavor. For the most part, the seasonings are largely garlic salt, but I can notice other flavors in there, but without seeing the ingredients list, it's difficult to determine what they are.

It's not hot or spicy in any way, yet still cranks out plenty of flavor. I can even sense a touch of tangy or citrus character.

The chewing texture is great, feeling just like eating chunks of real steak, though some were a little on the tough side. I also noticed considerable stringiness, some of which matted down into wads of unchewable mass.

Rating: Good (4/5)

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