Torchbearer Garlic Reaper Meat Sticks review

Bitter: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Sour: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sweet: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Heat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Beef, Garlic, Reaper, Earthy, Citrus

Texture: Chewy with soft texture

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: Beef, garlic reaper seasoning (black pepper, garlic, orange, reaper flakes, onion, habanero, chipotle morita flakes, and marjoram), ground habanero powder, dextrose, nitrite, lactic acid starter culture

Torchbearer has one of the most varied lineups of sauces on the market including hot sauces, BBQ sauces, and unique sauces in categories that defy description. Branching out from just sauces however their Garlic Reaper Beef Sticks launch them into the world of spicy snacks; leveraging the name and flavors of one of their most popular sauces – Garlic Reaper.

Torchbearer is proud of their sauces being all natural. When it comes to a cured meat product such as a beef stick there will always bee some chemical additions that are necessary for preservation and the curing process. Torchbearer does keep the ingredients list very clean on these however. While they do contain some nitrite curing salts, they also have a lactic acid culture similar to what fermented hot sauces use as well as some dextrose to feed those bacteria. The lactobacillus will eat the dextrose and create lactic acid which will lower the pH of the meat stick to help preserve it in a natural way plus help add some more complex and funky flavors. These have a texture that’s a bit drier and chewier than a Slim Jim, and an aroma where the reaper and garlic do come through along with a but of fermented funk.

Torchbearer’s Garlic Reaper Meat Sticks do have a good beef flavor. Using only beef for the meat – no mechanically separated chicken hearts or pork anuses here – pays off in the flavor department. These are quite garlicky, though reaper flavor comes in mostly on the back half for me. Since these use reaper flakes instead of the fresh reapers used in Garlic Reaper the flavor will obviously be different but there is a hint of that reaper fruitiness that hangs on after the beef flavor fades. Some flavors that aren’t in the original Garlic Reaper are present as well – orange, found in many Torchbearer sauces but not in Garlic Reaper, does add a subtle citrus highlight and marjoram, a milder earthier sibling of oregano, adds a subtle herbaceous earthy and piney note. Additional peppers are present including the smoky chipotle morita as well as habanero, which I can’t detect individually but do fill out the flavor enhancing the smoky flavor of the beef and the fruity flavor of the reaper.

In terms of heat these are definitely hotter than any beef sticks you can buy at your local 7-11, though they’re much milder than the actual Garlic Reaper hot sauce. They do provide a mouth-filling warmth with a nice amount of linger, but no instant major sting of heat. I’d say the Death Nuts 7 Pot Primo Meat Sticks are spicier, but the Torchbearer Garlic Reaper Meat Sticks do have a better flavor.

Torchbearer’s Garlic Reaper Meat Sticks get my recommendation. They’re tasty, have a nice amount of heat, and are made with higher quality ingredients than most any other meat sticks on the market. Torchbearer has mentioned that they’re planning to roll out other flavors in the future. I’m personally hoping for a Honey Badger version, I think that the sweet heat combined with the mustard would be a great flavor combination, though for a milder option Sweet Onion Habanero would also be amazing.