Tomer Kosher Beef Sticks

Tomer Kosher is a brand of beef sticks owned by Rotem, Inc., based out of Skokie, IL. The brand launched in 2009 and built a business making kosher beef products such as ground beef and brisket for stores like Trader Joe's, Costco, Wegman's and Meijer.

It wasn't until April 2017 that the company introduced its line of Kosher beef sticks. Initially selling on Amazon.com, the brand built a huge fan base using the tagline, "Chicago's Beef Stick". The company claims that these beef sticks are Certified Kosher and Gluten-Free.

Tomer Kosher offers five flavors, all of which are made exclusively with beef.

Original

Ingredients: Beef, water, seasoning, sodium lactate, modified carrot product, citric acid, liquid smoke, celery juice powder, beef collagen casing

It starts out with a soft bite, with nary a snap. The chewing is immediately soft, more soft than most other beef stick brands. The flavor starts with a light salt initially, and moves into a light natural meat flavor with a slight tanginess. It's very mild, with no spiciness to speak of. The chewing feels like it's all meat; I don't find any unchewable bits.

Jalapeno

Ingredients: Beef, water, seasoning, sodium lactate, modified carrot product, citric acid, jalapeno, liquid smoke, celery juice powder, beef collagen casing

Basically the same flavor as the Original but with a faint bit of jalapeno flavor. The Jalapeno is light enough that it's barely noticeable in the first bite, but well into the chewing it effectively disappears and I don't notice any more of its flavor. It's not spicy at all, very much mild. It has the same soft, tender chewing, with no snap in the bite.

Pepper

Ingredients: Beef, water, seasoning, sodium lactate, modified carrot product, citric acid, black pepper, liquid smoke, celery juice powder, beef collagen casing

A clearly noticeable black pepper comes on right away. It's mixed in with a natural meat flavor along with a light salt and touches of garlic. This stick is a little more firm than the Original, but also a touch more dry. Still with no snap in the casing, it's just as easy to chew as Tomer's other varieties. The black pepper imparts a low level of spiciness, yet overall this stick is still considered mild.

Cajun

Ingredients: Beef, water, seasoning (salt, red, black, & white pepper), sodium lactate, modified carrot product, citric acid, citric acid, celery juice powder, beef collagen casing

The cajun seasonings deliver a noticeable flavor immediately, creating something comparable to a classic "red hot" sausage, but not nearly as spicy. It's still a meaty flavor, with a faint bit of tanginess. The chewing is also very soft, with no snap to the casing.

Hot

Ingredients: Beef, water, seasoning, sodium lactate, modified carrot product, crushed red pepper, citric acid, liquid smoke, celery juice powder, beef collagen casing

Initially, this stick starts out tasting very much like the Original. Eventually, the crushed red pepper makes a light showing, but so light that one might not ever notice it. It's not hot at all. In fact, it's still just as mild as the Jalapeno or even the Original. The natural meat flavor with a light tanginess is mostly the flavor that comes in.

Verdict

Tomer Kosher beef sticks are largely noted by their soft, tender chewing and it's Chicago-style, kosher meat flavors. The Cajun and Pepper varieties are the only two that have markedly unique flavors from the other sticks. Meanwhile, the Original, Jalapeno, and Hot varieties taste very similar to each other. Flavorwise, Tomer Kosher has a developed a unique, signature meat flavor in all of its varietals, having a more old world flavor that one would expect to find in an authentic, Chicago-style, kosher deli. That flavor comes out clearly in the company's, Original variety, but I think it works really well in their Cajun. The Cajun gives you that same flavor, but does a good job of delivering its advertised seasonings through a blend of red, white, and black pepper.

Rating: Good