With summer approaching, many of us will be dusting off those grills and getting ready to cook some delicious meats. Did you know that coffee makes a great spice rub for meats?

Today I am going to share with you a simple and easy recipe that will pair perfectly with any meat you choose.

How to Make a Coffee Spice Rub

To start off, you need to have a jar to store your rub in because this makes quite a bit. I just usually use a mason jar.

They have all kinds of sizes, but I really like the 4-ounce jars. They are perfect for storing your spices, but also make a great gift when you are invited to barbecues or get togethers.

For this spice rub you will need the following ingredients:

Ingredients

• 59ml of fresh ground coffee
• 59ml of dark soft (brown sugar)
• 30ml salt
• 15ml cumin
• 15ml paprika
• 15ml garlic powder
• 15ml ground black pepper

Directions

Mix all of the contents together and then store in an airtight container. When ready to use, sprinkle on your meat of choice and grill as normal.

This coffee spice rub doesn’t contain a lot of salt or sugar in it. The reason for doing this is so that the rub gives the meats a great flavour without overpowering any sauces you use.

The rub should be enhancing the food not overpowering it.

What Does the Coffee Rub Taste Like

Oddly enough, this rub does not taste a lot like coffee. It has a dark earthy flavour combined with a nice balance of garlic. The background flavour that you will taste on your palette will be more of a cumin taste.

The rub is low in sugar and salt so that you don’t get an overly salty or overly sweet result, which won’t overpower any sauces you choose to use.

If you want to give it a bit of a kick, you can also add in some cayenne for a spicy kick.

You might be thinking that coffee grounds will make your spice rub bitter, but that is not the case.

Be sure and use fresh coffee grounds. Used coffee grounds will not have any flavour in them and your rub will not taste the same. Here is a huge list of things you can do with used coffee grounds.

When grinding fresh coffee for this spice rub, we recommend using a medium grind. Find ground is too fine and sticks to the meat too much while a coarse grind will make the rub not stick well at all.

This is a very versatile rub. You can use this on all kinds of meats such as ribs, chicken, beef, pork, lamb – pretty much anything!

You can make a large batch and store it in a well-sealed container and store in a cool dry spot away from the sun because sunlight will damage your spices and take away all that flavour with time.

The next time you are getting ready to grill, break out some of this delicious coffee spice rub blend and give your meat an extra boost of coffee flavour!