Spicier Than They Are Meaty: Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks Still Satisfy!

The Good: Taste good, High protein
The Bad: Expense, Not terribly nutritious.
The Basics: Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are a high-calorie, protein rich snack that has a surprising peppery kick to them.


Lately, my wife has been exploring a Keytogenic diet. To help her, I've tried to find snacks that she can eat: ones that are low-carb, but higher in protein and have an average amount of fat. I seem to have found one she likes for a quick pick-me-up in the form of Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks.

Basics

Oberto is a manufacturer of meat products like pepperoni and jerky. The intent of the Oberto Stix is for the meat snacks to be their own snack, not a component (like pepperoni traditionally is).

Oberto’s Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are a processed meat product. The 40 oz. bulk package contains dozens of 8" sticks that are each 1/2” in diameter. The individual sticks are not individually wrapped, so these snacks have a minimal environmental impact, which is nice. We found ours at the local discount store for $8.99 for the bulk package, which is not a bad price for such an item!

Ease Of Preparation

Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are a processed meat product, so basically, one opens the package and they begin devouring them. These do not require refrigeration, though an airtight package is recommended.

Taste

The Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks have a spicy, beefy scent to them. The aroma is evocative of pepperoni. The meat stick does not have a powerful scent, at least not after the package has been opened for a few minutes.

The Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are surprisingly peppery. In fact, more than the salty, beef flavor, the Smoked Sausage Sticks are overwhelmed with the flavors of garlic and black pepper. That gives the initially greasy meat sticks with a grainy texture to the center (beyond the skin) a strong, spicy flavor. As one who is not usually drawn to spicy hot foods, the fact that these sticks left my lips peppery was a little bit of a drawback to me.

The Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks leave a strongly pepper-flavored aftertaste in the mouth.

Nutrition

Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are a fairly poor choice for balanced nutrition. A serving size is considered one meat stick. In the recommended serving, there are 130 calories, 100 of which are from fat. This snack has 23% of one's daily recommended saturated fat intake and 16% of the RDA of sodium. On the plus side, it does have six grams of protein.

These are not marked as Gluten-free, nor marked as Kosher (I’m not sure why, the ingredient list does not indicate what might violate that diet). This meat snack is made primarily of pork hearts, beef, and pork. That makes it mostly natural, but it does have preservatives that are not natural.

Storage/Cleanup

The Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks have a long shelf life; our two plus pound package would have lasted until mid-2016 had my wife not consumed them.

Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are a meat product, so they are not going to stain or ruin anything unless it is a light or papery material, given how greasy they are. Baring that, cleanup of nonporous surfaces is as easy as wiping them with a damp cloth.

Overall

Oberto Cocktail Pep Smoked Sausage Sticks are very average and for those who do not like peppery meat, these might surprise those who like something more mild.

For other meat snacks reviews, please check out my takes on:
Duke's House Of Meats Stubb's Spicy Bar-B-Q Beef Brisket Strips
Hormel Hard Salami Stix
Pecos Bill's Terayaki Beef Jerky

5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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