Friday, January 29, 2016

Think Jerky - Sweet Chipotle

think jerky
Think Jerky is a new brand that hit the scene late last year. Based out of Chicago, IL, the brand spent nearly two years perfecting its recipe for a health-conscious market. The company claims to have "cut the salt in half" and replaced them with herbs and spices.

Think Jerky is a collaboration with three celebrity chefs, Chef Laurent Gras, a three-star Michelin Chef, Chef Matt Troost, a Baconfest champion, and Chef Gale Gand, a TV-host on Food Network. Together, their goal with Think Jerky is to create a great tasting jerky, with grass-fed beef, free-range turkey, that's paleo friendly, gluten free, family-farmed, with no artificial preservatives, and all natural ingredients

This "Sweet Chipotle" is described by Chef Troost as, "a one-two punch of flavors", "...the sweetness of real raspberries, then a three pepper blend for a spicy finish".


Ingredients

Grass fed beef, water, cane sugar, raspberry juice concentrate, sea salt, smoked chipotle pepper powder, ancho chili pepper powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper.

Review

The first thing I pick up on my palate is a smokiness. There's a light sweet that soon comes in followed by a light spicy heat. The chewing brings on a fruity character, along with a more defined chipotle, while the heat picks up a bit more. The natural meat flavors become more noticeable towards the end.

For being dubbed, "Sweet Chipotle" it definitely fits the bill. The chipotle, with its smoky, chile pepper flavor, is front and center, with the fruity sweet body balancing things out. A light salt and a natural meat flavor fills in the background.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is that of chipotle and sweet, having a light fruity character, with a natural meat flavor that brings up the rear. There's a spicy heat, but light. It'd rate it on my personal heat scale as "medium" (level 3 out of 5).

The meat consistency is much better than the Ginger Orange I reviewed last week from this company. It's still dry and tender, but has a meaty chew. It's still not quite steak-like because it tends to crumble down. But at least it feels like meat fibers instead of the mushy feel of the Ginger Orange variety.

Verdict

This Sweet Chipotle has a very lively flavor that dances on the tongue with its combination of sweet and heat. The fruity, tangy raspberry creates a lot of excitement over a rich, smoky chipotle pepper. It has enough heat to satisfy spicy food lovers without setting tongues ablaze. I can even pick up the natural meat flavors to help create the sense of eating real, natural beef jerky. I found the chewing texture much more meaty than compared to the company's Ginger Orange. The chewing remains tender, but offers that feel of eating real beef.

Rating: Best


sweet chipotle beef jerky

raspberry chipotle beef jerky

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