Homemade Java Rub for Grilling

Coffee on my steak? Sounds a bit wild, right? I was skeptical at first too, but after one bite I was hooked! The mild coffee notes of this homemade Java rub paired with a few carefully selected aromatics and the smoky scent of char make for a new and exciting flavor!

We are in full Christmas mode over here and that means our friends are getting BBQ rubs for gifts this year, especially this amazing java rub for grilling. I love to give and receive gifts that are useful and people can put into action immediately in their home. Your friends will love this one! 

We made this coffee dry rub last weekend and put it into little jars for Jason to take to work for his buddies. They know he is a hardcore griller on the weekends and they love it when there are office parties and Jason brings in his new grilling recipes. This is a fun way to share an important part of a recipe with friends they can use on their own time.

🛒 Ingredients

• Coffee (finely ground)
• Pepper
• Kosher salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Brown sugar
• Chili powder
• Oregano

☕ Recipe Instructions

The key to this recipe is to make sure you are using finely ground coffee. If you don’t, your rub is going to have an incredible gritty texture to it and it will be pretty disgusting. And, there is no need to wonder how I know that! I thought I would save a step when I first made this, and boy did I regret it.

📌TIP #1: If you don’t have finely ground coffee at home but want to make this right now, you still can. Do these couple of things: 

• Use your coffee grinder to grind the coffee to a very fine texture. I added my ground coffee and spent a few minutes making it even finer. 
• If you don’t have a coffee grinder, use your small Cuisinart turn it into finely ground coffee. You may have to pulse it back and forth several times but it does work. I’ve done it this way several times! 
• A morar and pestle require some elbow grease but will also work.
• If you prefer, the finest ground coffee I could find is from Illy’s. It is so good, but I sacrificed some for this rub. 😀

Ok, so you now have finely ground coffee. Combine all the ingredients together and mix well. Spread on the meat and rub it generously! 

📌TIP#2: I estimate how much rub I need for the meat and pour it into a small container. Then, I don’t have to worry about touching the raw meat and the jar of java rub. Call me crazy, but I just prefer to keep them separate and not worry about any cross-contamination.

💡 Recipe Tips

🔸This homemade Java rub is great on any red meat or chicken! We used this batch on steaks that we grilled last weekend but this would be fantastic on a rib roast over the hot coals as well.

🔸It is pretty flexible and I added it to a few chicken wings to see how it did.  It was phenomenal! I may try to use it as the rub for my grilled beer can chicken next. 

🔸I haven’t tried it on pork yet, but I bet it will be great.

🔸It is probably too strong of a flavor for a light fish, though.

📌 Notes

🔹We stored the coffee dry rub in our 1/2 pint jars and we have also stored them in freezer jam jars. I think it really depends on what you are going to do with it. Just make sure that they can be sealed up really well. We live in a very humid environment and so leaving anything exposed to the air is challenging. 

🔹As I said above, I love giving these as gifts. You just need to use some cute jars for a special handmade gift.

🔹As far as herbs go I only used oregano but you can definitely replace it or add more. Some of the best options that go well with most meats are thyme and rosemary.

🌶️ More Homemade Rub Recipes

⭐Let’s start with my go-to rub for any occasion: the homemade all purpose rub. You can definitely rub it all over chicken wings or thighs before you grill and add a sauce. I like it without the sauce too.  Your choice! Either way – I love this recipe! 

⭐Love ribs? So do I! Obviously, I had to come up with a special dry rub for ribs. IT might be a handful of pantry staples but boy, does it make those BBQ ribs magical or what?

⭐This delicious pulled pork rub starts with a brown sugar base and adds in chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and onion powder for a rub you can use on just about anything, not just pork butts.

⭐When it comes to grilling beef ribs, it can’t get better than using this beef rib rub. A mild but complex flavor greatly complemented by the smoke aroma, this rub is also fantastic on steaks and larger cuts like a smoked brisket or a prime rib.

Got any secret dry rub recipes? Share away. I can’t wait to test some new flavor combos!