As coffee barbecue sauces go, Homesick Texan’s recipe has always been my favorite. It sets a high bar with a nice kick and some smoke from the chipotle and good, but not overwhelming coffee flavor. In comparison, Trader Joe’s Cold Brew BBQ Sauce is the mild version. No heat, and while you can taste the coffee if you taste it straight out of the bottle, it disappears if you use it to baste your chicken on the grill.
For our test run, I sprinkled the chicken breasts with our house BBQ rub (it’s the Southern Style BBQ rub from Joy of Cooking) and a little bit of oil, and threw them on the grill. Basted the second side. If you want to amp up the coffee flavor, I’d add some ground coffee to the rub (or even a teaspoon or two of Trader Joe’s Instant Cold Brew). You can also grab a can of Trader Joe’s BBQ rub with Coffee & Garlic.
It’s a looser sauce (water is the first ingredient?!) and I didn’t have any problems with it burning on the grill, even after flipping the chicken to the basted side.
Overall, flavor is good, but pretty standard. You’ll taste the coffee more if you just use it straight as a dip for chicken nuggets. I liked it fine, but I won’t be stocking up. And if you like a little more heat, click up top and try that Homesick Texan sauce.
Check out some other We Tried’s from Trader Joe’s:
Sparkling Coconut Water with Yuzu
Chocolate Peanut Butter Dipped Joe-Joe’s