We first reviewed Divine Bovine 5 1/2 years ago, back when the company was relatively new. Since then, the company has eliminated its original Honey Teriyaki-based recipes and replaced them with all new recipes, as well as introduced new packaging.
Divine Bovine's beef jerky is based on beef brisket, which it claims to be more tender and sweet. The company describes it's story as beginning in Southern Italy when a butcher discovered a great recipe and cut of meat for jerky, who eventually handed it down to his grandson, who started the Divine Bovine brand.
This Spicy Jalapeno flavor is labeled, "Gluten Free", and is described as being "...drenched in a mild blend of savory spices and “Pop’s” unique recipe, an exotic blend of spicy jalapeno, with an irresistible kick of cayenne."
Ingredients
Beef brisket, soy sauce, brown sugar, hot sauce, lemon juice, black pepper, jalapeno powder, granulated garlic.
Taste
The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a lot of sweet. There's a light soy sauce flavor, and touches of garlic.
The chewing brings in a little more garlic, while the soy sauce ramps up a bit. A little bit of black pepper is noticeable, along with a little bit of tanginess.
For being labeled, "Spicy Jalapeno", this doesn't really hold up well. I can pick up light amounts of spiciness, and touches of heat, but it doesn't really taste like jalapeno, or any other kind of chile pepper. The black pepper seems to contribute some spiciness.
As far as heat goes, it seems to register on my personal heat scale as Mild Medium (level 2 out of 5). The packaging rates this as "Medium".
Otherwise, the flavor that seems to define this jerky is a heavy sweetness with a light soy sauce. There's a light garlic and some black pepper for spice, as well as a touch of tanginess.
I don't pick up much natural meat flavor.
Meat Consistency
These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced into strips and bits of small to medium sizes.
This is a semi-moist jerky with moist and sticky surface feel. These pieces are very flexible and soft, and chewing is very easy.
The chewing texture starts out feeling very soft, tender and moist. It takes on a mushy texture right away, and by the time it's chewed down to a soft mass, it feels mushy, and more comparable to ground beef cooked rare.
I can see some small spots of fat on some pieces, but otherwise its unremarkable. I don't see any gristle or tendon either. I do, however, encounter a good deal of stringiness, much of which mats down into unchewable wads.
As for clean eating, I pick up light amounts of stickiness on my fingers, requiring some licking and/or wiping before touching the keyboard.
Rating
I'm giving this an average rating.
This Spicy Jalapeno beef jerky from Divine Bovine packs in a lot of flavor with a strong sweetness, light soy sauce, black pepper, and garlic.
It's not quite as spicy as I would have expected with a jerky labeled "Spicy Jalapeno", it tends to vary between mild and medium, and often it seems the black pepper is what generates most of the spiciness. I couldn't really taste much jalapeno flavor, perhaps adding more would have helped rate this higher.
This jerky chews moist and tender, however the texture felt mushy and not really meaty. There was also too much stringiness in this, with much of it matting down into unchewable wads.
Rating: Average (3/5)
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