Food

Coffee Syrup Barbecue Sauce

BBQ · Sauces · Vegetarian

Coffee Syrup Barbecue Sauce
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Serves About 2 quarts
Level Easy

A dark, sticky barbecue sauce sweetened with Rhode Island coffee syrup instead of brown sugar or molasses. The coffee sits underneath the tomato, mustard and hoisin as a bitter-sweet roast note, the same job coffee does in a coffee rub, and the syrup gives the sauce its gloss.

This is a big batch for a cookout. It halves easily.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Coffee Milk and Coffee Syrup page and is adapted from Dave’s Coffee’s published recipe.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
  • 1½ cups (about 1 large) chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1½ cups (355 ml) coffee syrup, Rhode Island style
  • 1 cup (260 g) tomato paste
  • 1 cup (240 ml) cider vinegar
  • ½ cup (170 g) honey
  • ½ cup (120 ml) Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup (250 g) Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup (120 ml) soy sauce
  • 1 cup (260 g) hoisin sauce
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • ½ tablespoon red pepper flakes

Directions

  1. Warm the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently, stirring, until soft and translucent but not browned, about 8 minutes.
  2. Stir in everything else and bring to a simmer, stirring so the tomato paste and mustard dissolve.
  3. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring often and scraping the bottom; the sugars catch easily.
  4. For a smooth sauce, blend it with a stick blender. Cool and refrigerate in jars.
  5. Brush it on ribs, chicken or pork in the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking only; earlier, the sugar burns.

Notes

Where this recipe came from Adapted from the “Coffee Infused BBQ Sauce” on Dave’s Coffee’s syrup-recipes page (Rhode Island). The quantities are theirs; the batch-size estimate, the method detail and the warning about brushing it on late are this kitchen’s. Keeping it Refrigerate and use within about a month. It is not a tested canning recipe; do not water-bath it. Other syrups Autocrat (corn syrup based) makes a sweeter, glossier sauce than a cane-sugar syrup such as Dave’s or the homemade one. The photo A homemade barbecue sauce, not this recipe’s batch.