The first review on Dick Stevens will be on a 4 ounce/113 gram bag of their original blend flavored beef jerky trail mix. The trail mix is comprised of 32 grams of jerky, almonds, macadamia nuts, dried blueberries, and dried cranberries. This bag was purchased at LAX airport in Los Angeles, California.
This jerky is distributed under the founder’s name of Dick Stevens, and are based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Dick Stevens brand name was launched in January 2014, and is impressively available in almost 2,000 retail locations already. They currently offer four different flavors, where real blueberries and cranberries are used. This trail mix is advertised to be healthy, and uses only all-natural ingredients.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef Jerky (Beef, Water, Brown Sugar, Sea Salt, Celery Powder, Natural Hickory Smoke Powder, (contains Maltodextrin), Spices, Beet Powder, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Sugar), Almonds, Macadamia Nuts, Dried Cranberries (Cranberries, Apple Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Oil), Dried Blueberries (Blueberries, Apple Juice, Sunflower Oil
While not currently advertised, this jerky does use cattle that were ethically raised, meaning they are not administered growth hormones, or additional antibiotics. Admirably, they also have some free range access to graze on grass, and roam about.
The only liquid used in the jerky marinade is water. An interesting healthy choice used for this jerky is beet powder. Other healthy ingredients used are paprika, garlic powder, and spices.
The sugar level is high at 7 grams per 28 grams of sugar. Our preference would normally be 3 grams of sugar or less. However, most of that sugar content is from the fruits, where the jerky itself does not use much sugar, and the taste attests to that. The salt level is very commendable, being at only 120mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
Admirably, this jerky does qualify to be sodium nitrite free, or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, apart from salt as a preservative, celery powder is the main preservative, which naturally produces nitrates. With further kudos to Dick Stevens, this jerky has no MSG added.
Very Good (9/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These jerky strips are quite small in size, and sliced thin. There is a good, dry texture, but not too dry. There are some visible signs of fat, and handling the jerky itself leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
Starting with the jerky itself, as advertised, this original blend is only lightly seasoned. While this jerky has a pleasant blend of flavors, it makes sense to only be lightly seasoned being mixed with fruits and nuts.
There is a good deal of natural beef flavor with the absence of any sweetness. A light garlic and smoked taste is detected, a faint peppered taste, and this jerky barely tastes salty.
The nature of a jerky trail mix is to pick up a handful, which contain combinations of dried blueberries, dried cranberries, almonds, macadamia nuts, and jerky. The fruits easily dominate the flavor, along with the subtle woodiness from the nuts. It is an interesting eating experience chewing the fruit, nuts and beef jerky together. No surprise in that all the fruits and nuts taste great. This taste rating will be based on the entire jerky trail mix contents, and not just the beef jerky.
This 4 ounce/113 gram bag was purchased for $8.99. If you were to purchase three bags online from their web site for $20.97, that works out to $1.75 an ounce. While not a fair comparison to other jerky, that rates as an absolute borderline cheap price. Given how wonderfully healthy this trail mix is, we absolutely recommend this product as worth your money for people who enjoy blueberries, cranberries, almonds, macadamia nuts, and of course beef jerky.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a rather professional looking resealable plastic bag that has a high resolution picture of somebody riding a bike on the front. Everything is imprinted directly on to the bag, both on the front and back. There are no labels affixed to this bag.
Slogans printed on this bag are “Live Hard”, and “Snack Well”. There are a number of facts displayed such as “Good Source of Protein”, “Gluten Free”, “Low in Saturated Fat”, “Zero Grams Trans Fat Per Serving”, “Less Sodium (80% less Sodium than USDA data for beef jerky)”, Minimally Processed”, and “No Artificial Ingredients”.
All bag categories are covered. There are two good blurbs on the back written about Dick Stevens, and this original blend flavor. To the credit of Dick Stevens, they offer a toll free number, email address, and their hours of business for customer inquiries. Admirably, a satisfaction guaranteed policy is offered.
Excellent (10/10) – Bag Rating
Order their jerky online: www.dickstevens.com.com
Thank you for all your products, my wife has several food allergies, with limitation she finally has a savory snack that can travel well.