Fat Yankee Jerky - Sweet & Spicy

Fat Yankee Jerky is a new brand that launched in May 2016 by Keith Rainville and his wife Brenda. Both hailing from Rhode Island, they moved to Florida about 12 years ago. Keith wanted to start a new business, and decided to get into the meat snack industry after friends told him how awesome his homemade jerky is.

Fat Yankee Jerky uses hand trimmed, top round black angus beef, sliced thick. It's marinated in 6 pound batches for 48 hours, and hand tossed after 24.

This Sweet & Spicy is described by the company as, "...the right sweetness with a nice spicy cow kick at the end."


Ingredients

Beef, pickled red chili's, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, soy beans, vinegar, garlic, salt, water, sugar, wheat, sodium benzoate.

Review

The first flavors that I pick up are is sweet, followed by a beefy flavor. A light salt comes in, as well as a touch of spiciness. The chewing brings on some more natural meat flavors. I can also detect faint notes of chile pepper flavor.

For being named, "Sweet & Spicy", it seems to hold up well. I do get a good deal of sweetness in each piece, but also a light bit of spicy heat. The heat is still low enough that it's actually mild on my scale, but for general audiences I'm sure it passes for spicy.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is natural meat flavor layered with a good deal of sweet. It's more of an aged, marbleized meat flavor. There's only light amounts of salt and chile pepper.

The meat consistency looks excellent. Thick cut strips that feel semi-moist, and slightly drier in the chewing. It chews easily, with a meaty character, and with the texture of a well-done cooked steak. Very little fat is visible, and nothing stringy or unchewable was felt.

Verdict

This Sweet & Spicy beef jerky from Fat Yankee delivers well on its advertised namesake over a meaty, steak-like chewing. It has a simple character, giving you only what it advertises, though still delivering a satisfying natural meat flavor. It's not quite spicy enough for what I'm used to, but I'm sure will deliver enough heat for tamer tongues. I'd prefer more of the red chile flavor, but that's just me. Otherwise, this beats the Sweet & Spicy varieties of national brands in taste and texture.

Rating: Good (4/5)