I spent much of October in America working on a story about the best BBQ in the Southern states. I clocked more than 2,500 miles across six states (Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina) taking time to visit some of the most celebrated BBQ eateries along the way. Most awesome gig ever? It was certainly the meatiest I’ve ever had!
One reoccurring theme I hadn’t expected to encounter along the way was the mention of coffee as an ingredient to making the smoked meat taste so good. Not quite with the same frequency of mention as quality of meat, wood type, temperature, or cooking time, coffee still came up a number of times in my research and in conversation as an important component to making the best “low and slow” smoked meats.