Usually, when I receive a product, I give it a little time to sit, finding its place in my pecking order of caffeinated treats. Today was different though. Today I found Jerky. Not just normal run of the mill processed meat lightly salted, but real Teryaki soaked gooey and delicious jerky. And of course, highly caffeinated to boot.

I have had a meat snack before, and while Lightning Rods were decent, I wanted so much more. I wanted this. “Creating an energizing meat snack was only half the battle,” said Brian Levin, the entrepreneur who developed Perky Jerky. “I refused to compromise on both the taste and the effect so it took several years of trial and error to find the perfect combination of flavor and kick.”

I met the two founders of the The Performance Enhancing Meat Snack Company on a busy street corner in Denver. They handed me two Perky Jerk packs, and I just could not help tearing in. The packaging is beautiful and clever, and the 150mg of caffeine in each bag was so inviting. With such a tasty product and such a unique idea, this one could really be massive. I hope it is massive – because they disappeared all too quickly, and I crave more jerky.

Taste: 10
Just to make sure it was not just me, I gave out samples at work. Everyone from Jerky gourmands like me to people who don’t really eat jerky agreed, this was top tier jerky – full of delicious flavor and texture. The caffeine flavor was not to be found. Not a hint of sourness or bitterness – just amazingly good strong flavorful slightly sweet smoky teryaki BBQ beef. Even the woman who owned her own smokehouse was impressed. While not homemade, this is some of the best jerky around. Just talking about it makes me want to eat more. I think I am addicted.

Nutrition/Buzz:10
This is Jerky – which means high in sugar and salt and all that comes with meat. Still, there is only 180 calories in a bag ( 2 servings in the bag) as well as a TON of protein, low fat and low carb. While not natural enough to get into Whole Foods, they are not very processed either. In fact, I could probably be able to buy most of their ingredients at home.
Now lets talk energy. While the protein does good for long term energy, there is a healthy 150mg of caffeine in the bag, or around a 16 ounce Monster. While not over the top, for a nice burst of energy this hitthe spot. I got about 3 hours of energy from it, plus the benefit of those proteins to keep the hunger at bay for a while too. For long car trips, this is a must.

Packaging:7
The design and layout for Perky Jerky is quite excellent. The art and the information was exactly as I wanted. The only issue I had was that the bag was rough to open and impossible to reseal. I would really like this to have a way to save some for later – as I tried to make this jerky last. Unfortunately, instead I had to finish both bags in one go. Darn.

Website:7 www.perkyjerky.com
Pretty decent for non-web people. Like their packaging, the actual layout and design is really good, but the basic mechanics could be fixed up a little. They have quite a good design, and a knack for color and style. The HTML is pretty wonked though. The page seems bloated with javascript and css in the page itself, and macromedia tags everywhere. The first page is also unnecessarily heavy, weighing at just under 700k. It is time to trim trim trim.
Although, their shopping cart is nice, which is good because, for most of us, that will be how to get them. With some general housekeeping, they should have a winner of a website as well.