I had written a review of this variety about three years ago, giving four out of five stars based on my not being able to taste any of the mandarin orange. Ed's Roadhouse sent me a package of the revised recipe for another review.
Ed's Roadhouse Jerky is run by Ed and Mary Herman of Wellington, FL. The two specialize in combining the decadence of sweet with the fiery burn of heat, and have earned top ratings for many of their jerky varieties.
Ingredients
Angus beef, habanero peppers, water, garlic, salt, sugar, soy bean, wheat, salt, molasses, pepper extract, fresh mandarin orange, mango, natural flavoring spices.
Taste
The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a fair amount of sweetness with a noticeable habanero chile flavor. There's a touch of mango noticeable as well.
The chewing brings in a more defined habanero chile flavor with maybe a touch more of the mango. I can also pick up a faint soy sauce flavor along with a light natural meat flavor. I can also pick up a smidgen of the mandarin orange.
For being marketed as a "Mandarin Orange Mango Habanero" beef jerky, it holds up to its billing. The mandarin orange is faint, just enough to detect. The mango is actually more noticeable than the mandarin orange, but is still light. The habanero, however, is much more noticeable, both in terms of its flavor and heat.
Otherwise, the flavor that seems to define this jerky overall is the combination of sweet and habanero chile flavor. The mango and mandarin orange flavor adds some light fruity character to the sweet, but doesn't make this jerky "fruity" to any large degree. The soy sauce is lightly noticeable and there's a touch of garlic swimming around back there.
Together, the flavors combine really well. Think of this mostly as a sweetened habanero chile jerky, with just a touch of fruity mango and mandarin orange. The soy sauce marinade comes through lightly with the touch of garlic, and helps bring out the natural meat flavors.
Considering this is a habanero jerky, you can expect a lot of heat. On my personal heat scale, I'm finding this at a medium-hot level (level 4 out of 5).
Meat Consistency
These are slices of whole meat, sliced thin, and in bite-sized pieces.
This is a dry jerky, with a semi-moist surface feel due to a sticky-sweet coating. The pieces have a good deal of flexibility, but still crack a little bit when bent. It's a little chewy, but very much in line with what you'd expect jerky to be, and still easy to chew overall.
The chewing texture starts out with a little bit of chewing resistance, but pliable enough to bend easily with my tongue and teeth. With more chewing it break down quickly and easily enough, and chews down to a soft mass in about 15 seconds. At that point, it has a meat-like texture, with a touch of mushy/gummy quality perhaps due to the heavier sweet coating.
Several of these pieces contain some small visible streaks of fat. I don't find any gristle or tendon, and I don't encounter anything stringy, nor feel any unchewable wads of tissue.
In terms of clean eating, my fingertips pick up traces of stickiness, but still dry enough to where I can type on my keyboard without licking them off.
Ed's Roadhouse sells this Mandarin Orange Mango Habanero jerky at a price of $12.35 per 6oz package. If you bought 4 packages, shipping comes to $11.45 if sent to Southern California. That works out to a price of $2.54 per ounce.
For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.54 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a lot of great flavor, good meat consistency and chewing texture. It's priced slightly higher than other brands of beef jerky, but offers a lot more in snackability.
As a "Mandarin Orange Mango Habanero" beef jerky, at the same $2.54 per ounce price, it's a decent value. The mandarin orange and mango flavors are very light. It's really the habanero chile flavor and heat that comes through well.
Rating
I'm giving this a best rating.
This Mandarin Orange Mango Habanero beef jerky from Ed's Roadhouse does a great job of bringing out the natural meat flavors and the flavor of habanero chiles. The mandarin orange and mango are there to add a touch of fruity character to the sweetness without making this jerky too fruity.
Compared to the original recipe that came out a few years ago, this revised Mandarin Orange Mango Habanero does seem to have a bit more mandarin orange, enough that I can identify and qualify as supporting its advertised flavor. But again, think of this jerky more as a sweet habanero beef jerky with a touch of fruity flavor.
Otherwise, the same qualities you expect from an Ed's Roadhouse jerky are here as well. The excellent natural meat flavors, the savory marinade, the easy chewing and the bite-sized pieces, all create a very snackable and meaty enjoyment.
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