The next review on Captain Jake’s Jerky will focus on a 2 ounce/56 gram bag of their Korean Sesame flavored beef jerky purchased online. We previously reviewed this flavor in 2015, where the ingredient list and bag design has since been tweaked. Unfortunately, Captain Jake’s Jerky went out of business in December 2018. This flavor is described as having all the characteristics of Korean cuisine with quality beef, full flavor of the soy sauce, sweetness from honey, texture of sesame seeds, and a slight heat finish.
On July 17/2015, this Korean Sesame flavor received a second place award at the World Hot Sauce, BBQ and Extreme Food Awards competition, in the “Teriyaki Flavored” division. The co-owners Scott Jacobson and Greg Giles launched the Captain Jake’s Jerky brand name in October 2014. Greg’s experience was accounting, food service, and small business. Scott worked in the media business, which appeared to be a good combination of skills. This jerky is distributed under the name of Captain Jake’s Jerky, LLC, and they were based out of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Brown Sugar, Sesame Oil, Honey, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Onion Powder, Ground Garlic, Black Pepper, Habanero. Allergen Warnings: Soy, Wheat, Sesame
100% certified American-raised Black Angus beef is used in this jerky. The Angus breed of cattle is known to have a good amount of natural marbling. The cattle may or may not have been administered growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade is comprised of a decent soy sauce, healthy honey, and very healthy sesame oil.
There is some healthy ingredients added such as toasted sesame seeds, onion powder, ground garlic, black pepper, and habanero pepper.
The sugar level is great at only 1 gram of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is also very low at 150mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
This jerky does qualify to contain no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, salt is the main preservative. Admirably, this jerky also qualifies to have no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These strips of jerky are mainly medium in size, and sliced thin. The texture is sort of soft and tender, requiring a normal amount of effort to chew being cut against the grain. Handling these strips leaves a slightly oily residue on your fingers. The aroma is soy and a great fragrance of sesame.
The first tastes detected are a rich tasting soy sauce, a mild level of sesame, and faint levels of garlic/onion. For a flavor advertised as Korean Sesame, the nuttiness from the sesame seeds comes across fairly well, with a toasted type of taste.
There is little sweetness present, which allows for a decent amount of natural beef flavor. The Korean aspect of this flavor also comes across fairly well, but no spiciness is detected.
Paul was more critical of this Korean Sesame flavor with this to say: “The first flavors I encounter are soy, sweet, slight salt, slight garlic, and sesame (which I’m not typically a big fan of), but I am going to attempt to leave my personal bias aside for this review. I have just bit into a second strip, and while the sesame flavor is a bit more prevalent, it is by no means bold. Up to this point I would have guessed I was eating a teriyaki flavor. I taste vinegar as well I detect no kick. Just bit into a third piece, and still no ‘wow’ factor. Sorry gentlemen, although this is a relatively tasty flavor, it is not blowing me away, I cannot, in good conscience, go any higher than an 8/10, even though my review is coming across more like a 7/10.”
This Korean Sesame flavor was shared between five different people. The majority sided with Paul, going as low as a 6/10, mostly complaining that there was not enough sesame flavor. It is a shame how many sesame seeds fell off the jerky strips to the bottom of bag. With two 9’s (Mark & Stephane), two 7’s (Paul & Nolan), and one 6 taste rating (Mark) that gives an average of a 7.6 rating, rounded up to a Good (8/10) taste rating.
Bag Review
This black resealable plastic bag has a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back. The Captain Jake’s Jerky logo has an anchor in the middle.
There are no slogans or facts printed on this bag.
The only missing bag categories are a sesame allergen alert, and a blurb printed about Captain Jake’s Jerky, or this Korean Sesame flavor.
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