A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Approximately one year ago, a good friend of mine introduced me to Jamaican jerk sauce. This hot and spicy sauce is usually made with allspice, hot peppers, such as scotch bonnets, thyme, garlic and other spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. A few months ago, I purchased a container of A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade and I think it would be a good product to review.

Presented here, as a service to the consumer at large, is an article which reviews and examines A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade.

Size
The net weight of the standard sized container of A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade is 16 fluid ounces (one pint). According to the product's nutrition facts label, the container holds 32 one tablespoon servings.

In physical size, the container is fairly large. It measures in at 8.75" x 3".

Price
The regular retail price charged for one 16 ounce container of A..1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade at Hartford, Connecticut area food retailers varies. The retail price that I recently paid for one bottle of this marinade at a small Hartford, Connecticut supermarket was $2.99. This price seems reasonable to me.

Consistency / Texture
This Jamaican jerk marinade is not as thick as most catsups, but it is fairly thick. It is a little bit thicker than regular A.1. Sauce. The sauce clings well to meats and it blends in well with starches and vegetables. Although one tablespoon of this sauce is one serving, that one tablespoon packs in a lot of heat and flavor.

Nutritional Facts
A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade contains 25 calories, with 5 calories from fat, per one tablespoon (17 grams) serving. This sauce also contains 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 0.5 grams total fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 190 mg of sodium, 5 grams total carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugars and 0 grams of protein, per one tablespoon serving.

Taste / Flavor
In the interest of accuracy, I just tasted a miniscule amount of the A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade. The marinade tastes slightly sweet, but like a slow-building volcano, a sense of heat that grows in intensity forms in the rear roof of the mouth. The jerk flavor is authentic, with the flavors of allspice, hot pepper and thyme predominating and snippets of cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, scallions and garlic adding to the mix. If it was a little bit sweeter, I think the marinade would taste even better.

The heat in this marinade is not obnoxiously hot, but it is hotter than I thought it would be. If you do use this marinade, be aware that a little goes a long way. In addition to mixing the marinade with teriyaki sauce, I also mixed the marinade with catsup one time, to stretch it and temper the heat a bit. The heat does not last for too long.

So far, I have utilized A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade with grilled pork chops, in a beef stir-fry, mixed it with teriyaki sauce for a baked chicken topping and have added a touch of it to canned green beans. Even having utilized this marinade at least four times, the bottle is still 3/4 full.

On a flavor scale of one through ten, I would assign this product a rating of 8.75.

Packaging
A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade is packaged in a fairly tall clear plastic bottle. A clear view of the marinade is afforded through the bottle and you can see the little bits of ingredients floating around if you shake the bottle.

The front label features the bold A.1. red on white logo with a small orange section with the words 'Jamaican Jerk' and an illustration of peppers, thyme and allspice printed on it. The rear label lists all pertinent ingredient and nutritional information.

Overall Rating
For the most part, I think that A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade is an excellent product. If it were a little bit sweeter and not so hot, it would be more to my liking, but that's just my personal taste preference. Would I buy this product again ? Yes. A.1. Jamaican Jerk Marinade is a recommended product.

Sources :
Personal experience with the product
The product label