Trader Joe's Beef Jerky

These two items were more samples in my quest for backpackable snacks for my trip.

Beef jerky is a rare treat for me these days. By far the best I've ever tasted is Jack Link's "KC Masterpiece Barbecue" flavor. That stuff is so good that it's hard not to snarf down the whole bag in one sitting.

The Trader Joe's? I can resist the temptation. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing to make it stand out as special, either. It seems completely generic.

That goes equally for both the "original" and the "teriyaki" versions. The latter might be a little more salty/soy-saucy than the former, but not by much. If you had me taste one piece from a mixed bag, I'd have a difficult time being confident which one I was eating. If I could taste one of each, I'd probably get it right--but if you have to do a side-by-side comparison to tell which is which, you've failed to make the product have whatever supposedly distinct flavor you're calling it.

I shared some with my sister-in-law. Her first reaction was, "It must have a lot of sugar in it." She was right, though I had not noticed it. The label reveals that the regular flavor has 5 grams of sugar per 28 grams of product, making it about 18% sugar. The teriyaki is even more, with 6 grams of sugar per 30 grams of product, making it about 20% sugar.

Will I buy it again? 

On the rare occasions that I indulge in beef jerky, I'll be going back to my favorite brand and flavor, which is definitely not TJ's. (By the way, while finding that link above, I noticed that Jack Link's has two new flavors of beef jerky: "Sriracha" and "burrito." MUST TRY!)