Dave's Meat & Nuts is a brand that launched in January 2015 after raising funds on Kickstarter last November. We published a review back then, but withheld ratings until the company went live.
The company is the brainchild of Dave Gadlin, who had spent a great deal of time working in New York City with some of the country's best chefs and restauranteurs. He took his expertise out to Napa, CA to focus on his two biggest snack food passions, jerky and peanuts. Dave claims his jerky to be smoked in a real smokehouse.
This "Smoked Beef Jerky with Ghost Pepper" is described by Dave as, "fire in jerky form", going on to say that it has, "Amazing deep flavors of smoked chilies & beef. Delicate to the bite & robust on the palate. This is very, very hot..."
Ingredients
Beef, brown sugar, salt, contains 2% or less of the following: garlic, onion, fermented soy sauce powder, ghost pepper, dried maple syrup, celery powder, lactic acid culture.
Review
The first flavor to hit the palate is a strong sweet, which is quickly followed by a significant heat. The chewing brings on some saltiness, along with a light seasoning. There's also faint bits of maple syrup.
For being marketed as "Smoked Beef Jerky with Ghost Pepper", it somewhat holds up. First, I do get a good deal of heat, however, I don't really taste the unique flavor of ghost pepper chiles, though a few pieces did offer up touches of it. I also don't taste any smokiness.
Otherwise, the flavors that seem to define this jerky is a significant sweetness, with some light seasonings of garlic and onion, and faint traces of maple syrup.
The level of heat is strong enough to register as "hot" on my personal heat scale (level 5 out 5), though it's not as intensely hot as other brands of ghost pepper jerky I've reviewed.
The meat consistency is significantly different than that found in the company's "Classic" and "Jamaican Jerk Jerk" varieties. This meat is more thick, more tender, more juicy, and more enjoyable to chew. It's the same as the company's "Root Beer Habanero" variety. It chews more like meat, and not as crumbly as Dave's other varieties.
Verdict
This "Smoked Beef Jerky with Ghost Pepper" from Dave's Meat & Nuts delivers a good deal of heat for a Ghost Pepper jerky, though it doesn't offer much in terms of Ghost Pepper flavor. What I largely found is a jerky that instead gives off a strong sweet, with some garlic and onion seasonings, and then a lot of heat. It's strong point is the thick, moist, meaty chunks of beef that make my mouth water with anticipation. If you like the seething heat of Ghost Peppers, but don't necessarily need its rich, fruity flavor, then here's a meat snack that will leave you profusing in sweat.
Rating: Good
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