Wicked Cutz Beef Jerky - Orange Teriyaki

Orange Teriyaki is a new flavor from Wicked Cutz Beef Jerky. We reviewed the company's three original flavors last year (see the reviews).

Wicked Cutz was launched by Branch Warren, a well-known body builder who has won numerous competitions over past couple of decades. Warren also owns other companies that market apparel and body building supplements. Warren's move into beef jerky touches upon his heritage in the Texas cattle industry going back 150 years. He grew up on a cattle ranch and in his youth spent time as a ranch hand before moving on to body-building. Now in his retirement, he sought to start his own jerky brand and touch upon his cattlemen roots.

This Orange Teriyaki is described by the company as, "sweet & tangy and smoothly transitions into a subtle yet exciting spicy kick", going on to say that it has a, "citrus aroma", and a "savory and appetizing scent".

Ingredients

Beef, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, granulated garlic, granulated onion, ginger, ground pepper, orange extract, all spice.

Review

The first flavor I pick up is a light teriyaki. A faint orange starts to come in, along with a light garlic and onion. The chewing brings on a more defined teriyaki, but with a tangy element. Meanwhile, the orange ramps up just a tad. A touch of black pepper starts to build.

For being marketed as, "Orange Teriyaki" and described with words like "sweet & tangy", and "spicy kick", there certainly is an orange flavor to this, though a bit more like orange zest. It's definitely noticeable in the chewing, leaching out of the teriyaki. The teriyaki does have a more authentic style, bringing in a bit of that fermented character with a touch of ginger. Sweet & Tangy is warranted because it's definitely sweet, but not over-the-top, and the rice vinegar does create a light tangy chewing. The "spicy kick" is there, but doesn't really kick a whole lot. That is, I do taste a spiciness, but weak, and lingering in the background, yet just enough to notice back there.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is a teriyaki with a clearly noticeable orange zest flavor, a light tanginess, boosted with a garlic and onion seasoning, and light levels of black pepper and other spicy seasonings. The natural meat flavors are there, but overshadowed by the more dominant teriyaki.

The chewing texture is overall easy, though retaining a light chewy nature. They do soften up quickly without much effort. They take on a meaty, steak-like texture, with only light stringiness. I don't see any fat on these slices.

Verdict

This Orange Teriyaki beef jerky from Wicked Cutz adds a nice level of orange zest to a more authentic style, moderately sweet, teriyaki marinade. It creates a lot of tangy chewing thanks to its combination of citrus and rice wine vinegar, yet it retains the savory nature of teriyaki along with a light bit of spiciness thanks to the black pepper and all spice. We really love the tangy citrus chewing, and we love the semi-moist texture and easy snacking these body-building slices of beef have to offer. If you love teriyaki beef jerky, you'll certainly love this one from Wicked Cutz just because it shakes up that old-world Japanese flavor into something more contemporary and west coast, yet still holds on to that traditional hibachi style.

Rating: Good (4/5)