Bubba's Carolina Beef Jerky - Kickin' Teriyaki

Bubba's Carolina Jerky is a brand that started in 2004 by Bubba Dunn, a retired veteran who spent 36 years in the US Coast Guard and US Army. The company is based out of Cocoa, FL.

Dunn grew up in an outdoor sporting family that frequently hunted, fished, and raised livestock. Lean meats were often turned into jerky using an old family recipe. Today, he spends his time perfecting marinades, running his jerky company, and making special batches of dehydrated meats for friends. Bubba's Carolina Jerky prides itself on using meat from US ranchers. Their jerky is sold through stores including Mast General Stores, Contemporary Nutrition, Edgewater True Value, and Crossroads Ace Hardware.

This "Kickin' Teriyaki" is the company's most popular flavor. It's described as being "tender with a savory taste", and has a "touch of heat" to give a light bite to an old standby flavor.

Ingredients

Beef, teriyaki sauce, steak sauce, hot sauce, sugar, red peppers. Natural smoke flavor added.

Review

The first thing I taste on my palate is a teriyaki sauce, with a light sweetness. There's a little bit of heat noticeable. The chewing brings on a balance of teriyaki sauce, steak sauce, and hot sauce, and allows a touch of natural meat flavors to come through. It's overall, sweet and tangy, with loads of seasonings and flavorings, and a fair amount of heat.

For being advertised as "Kickin' Teriyaki", it seems to hold up. I do taste a teriyaki flavor in this, and it's doctored up with some heat from the hot sauce, and some spices and flavorings of the steak sauce. I suppose one could say this teriyaki has a "kick" to it, both in terms of heat and complexity. And that's effectively the overall taste profile, a teriyaki sauce with some steak sauce and hot sauce dabbled in for extra complexity.

As far as the heat is concerned, I rate this as "medium" on my personal heat scale, (level 3 out of 5).

The meat consistency seems good for a brisket beef jerky. It ranges from semi-moist to dry, and is overall easy to eat. There's a fair amount of stringiness, which is expected with brisket, but very little fat visible. The chewing texture has that thick, pasty feel due to the heavy marinade, but still has a little bit of a meaty texture.

Verdict

This Kickin' Teriyaki from Bubba's Carolina Jerky has a complex flavor that starts out like teriyaki, but rushes in a number of other spices and seasonings that attacks all areas of the tongue, and then lights it on fire with some red-peppery heat. You get that Asian influence of teriyaki, but mixed with the American influences of steak sauce and hot sauce. It's effectively a "sweet and spicy" jerky, but with a wide range of spices and seasonings that ends up being big and bold. It's overall easy to eat, though I found some pieces to be more dry than tender. The heavy use of marinades, I think, makes the chewing texture feel pasty and gummy, though still somewhat meaty.

But above all, this Kickin' Teriyaki is an explosion of flavors that will make your palate come alive.

Rating: Good