But she needs help. Michelle is offering investors a percentage of the profits in exchange for some upfront capital to get the new jerky brand operational. She's also set up a fundraising effort at GiveForward.com. Investors can contact Michelle via her Facebook Page.
Since this jerky is not yet selling commercially, I'm withholding ratings, but am willing to describe it based on samples Michelle has sent me. We have three flavors here, Original, Peppered, and Extra Extra Hot.
Ingredients
None provided.
Review (Original Variety)
The first thing I taste on the palate is a very light soy sauce and/or worcestershire. I can also pick up a fair amount of sweet, along with hints of garlic and onion. The chewing brings on some of the natural meat flavors, along with a bit more soy sauce.
There's also a noticeable "buttery" flavor, smooth and oily, like the old Camp's Buttered Beef Steaks they sold in the 1970's. It may come from the streaks of fat on this meat, which are significant.
Otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky's taste profile is largely a light soy sauce and sweet, and a butter flavor. There's also a light touch of garlic, and perhaps onion. The light natural meat flavor in the chewing is also part of the overall profile, and imparts a slightly aged, fatty flavor.
The meat consistency is good if you like jerky streaked with fat. It tends to contribute to an oily handling, requiring some hand wiping. I do find some unchewable tissues which I think stems from stringiness. This jerky is dry, and has a subtle crunch when initially chewing. It also tires my jaws after eating several bites. The final chewing texture is somewhat gummy, but still meaty.
Peppered: Tastes much like the Original, but just a lot of black pepper in the taste profile. This sample happens to be more lean than the Original. It still has that buttery character, however. The Black Pepper creates some heat, perhaps level 3 out of 5 (Medium) on my personal heat scale.
Extra Extra Hot: A strong dose of chile pepper flavor, along with what may be Tabasco sauce, and/or vinegar-based sauce. This is still a sweetened jerky, but it tends to chew more soft. It's also more gummy in chewing. The heat is a little more hot than the Peppered, a level 4 out of 5 (Medium Hot). The buttery character is less noticeable in this.
Verdict
Marjorie's Beef Jerky at first seems rather plain, just lightly seasoned, lightly soy sauced, slab jerky. But it has a unique "buttery" character, perhaps by accident or intended to be that way, that makes it unique. It's a jerky that I think will sell well in the Appalachia areas of Kentucky and Virginia where thin sliced, soy sauced jerky is popular, and may also do well in the Deep South where fatty foods still reign king.
The Peppered variety seemed rather plain in flavor as well, but the Extra Extra Hot actually has some great flavor to it, lots of chile pepper flavor, with lots of sweet, and some kind of hot sauce too.
Investor Information:
