Hitting the road? Craving a salty snack? Snag a bag of the best beef jerky as chosen by our Test Kitchen. Everyone has a road ...

However, out of all the ingredients needed to yield some deeply flavorful jerky, there's one that can be a real game changer.

Thanks to my 12-year-old son — who will apparently try soda-flavored beef ... to try out Jack Link's Dr. Pepper-inspired beef jerky snack stick. I'm almost certain my son gave this to me ...