Vacadillos: A tasty snack living up to the heat hype

Vacadillos assortment. Image courtesy Vacadillos
Vacadillos assortment. Image courtesy Vacadillos

Vacadillos Carne Seca is looking to change the way we snack on meat and jerky. Nothing like your traditional beef jerky, Vacadillos brings flavor and tenderness with every single package. I was fortunate enough recently try all three available heat flavors, and I was not disappointed at all.

Each Vacadillos flavor option has some degree of heat. I prefer foods filled with spice so I tried each option with optimism. The three flavor varieties are Chile Lime, Habanero, and Scorpion. Habanero and Scorpion had me a little worried, but I lived to tell the tale of how they taste.

Chile Lime made me reminisce about eating steak fajitas. The brightness that comes from the citrus helps to calm the spice. I found eating Chile Lime to be a very pleasurable experience. You get a good kick of lime with each bite, and it made me feel like grabbing a margarita and kicking my feet up to enjoy the experience.

When eating the Habanero, I was not overwhelmed with heat. It still almost felt like a subtle medium heat wrapped around citrus. At first, I was felt like the Habanero was weak, but after a few pieces, the spice caught up to me. Habanero peppers bring real heat and so does this Carne Seca. It is still a good eating experience, but the citrus doesn’t come through strong to save you as it does with the Chile Lime.

Vacadillos Scorpion flavor has the fire to keep your cravings in check

Vacadillos
Vacadillos Carne Seca. Image courtesy Vacadillos

Scorpion lived up to the heat hype. Unlike Habanero, the Scorpion pepper heat hit me from the first piece. The good thing about Scorpion is that it really helps with portion control. One thing I enjoyed is that it wasn’t the type of extra spicy that overwhelms your mouth before you can even take a true bite. It is there, but you can enjoy a piece or two before it starts to feel aggressive.

I will say that I couldn’t make it past five pieces at once before I needed a drink to cool off. It also gave me a different kind of meat sweat. I would say that it fulfills its exploding TNT designation.

Overall, I was impressed with all three Vacadillos flavors. The meat in each package was the most tender air-dried beef or jerky that I have ever had. If you do not like anything too spicy, I would still recommend Chile Lime. If spicy food excites you as it does me, then try Habanero and Scorpion too.