High Octane Coffee Rubbed Rib Roast: Wake Up and Smell the Beef!

Earthy, sweet and savory. Get outside your comfort zone and try this recipe out!

Whoever looked at a cut beef and said to himself “hmm, wonder how this would taste with ground coffee rubbed on it” was probably a little nuts, but also a genius. I get it, it sounds weird. A cup (or 7 if you’re me) of coffee in the morning makes perfect sense.

Coffee ice cream? I'm all for it. Coffee on my meat? SAY WHAT!?

Whoever looked at a cut beef and said to himself “hmm, wonder how this would taste with ground coffee rubbed on it” was a genius. I get it, it sounds weird. A cup (or 7 if you’re me) of coffee in the morning makes perfect sense. Coffee ice cream? I'm all for it. Coffee on my meat? SAY WHAT!?

Think of a coffee rub not as opening a can of Folgers and rubbing it on a roast. That would be weird. Instead, rubbing ground coffee in conjunction with brown sugar, herbs, and spices creates this incredible, earthy, sweet and savory crust for the meat. If that sounds delicious, you’re right.

This recipe uses our own High Octane Spice Blend (shocker huh?) to achieve that phenomenal crust on the roast.  What’s especially cool about how this roast is prepared is that you do virtually everything the night before so when you’re ready to start cooking, it’s as easy as preheating the oven, rubbing on the Blend and throwing that bad boy in. It’s awesome!  If this recipe sounds a bit out there for you, think of the potential to try something new.  Recall George Clooney’s great line from Up in the Air:

“Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's because they sat there that they were able to do it.”

Bet you weren’t expecting to read something like that here. If that doesn’t get you pumped to coffee-up a roast, I don’t know what will!

This recipe makes about 8 servings so you can have friends over or have a few lunch leftovers.

Let’s get to it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 standing beef rib roast, it generally has 3-4 bones in it, about 6 lbs. total give or take
• 4 cups dark coffee or whatever your favorite coffee is (No french vanilla, hazelnut or anything flavored like that!)
• 4 cups warm water
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
  
• 4-6 tbsp High Octane Spice Blend, enough to coat the roast nicely
• 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
• Roasting pan
• Meat thermometer (optional, but highly recommended)

Here's what you do: 

1. Combine the water, salt, and coffee in a large bowl. Stir to dissolve. 
2. Place rib roast in bowl. Make sure meat is completely submerged in the brine. If not, you're going to have to rotate the meat halfway through the marinading process.
3. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
4. When ready, take from fridge, throw away the brine and pat dry the meat.
5. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
6. Combine the High Octane Blend and bread crumbs and rub all over the meat (they like a gentle massage)
7. Let meat sit for about an hour to bring up to room temperature.
8. Place meat in a roasting pan and roast until meat registers an internal temperature of about 125 degrees F or 1 hour 40 minutes.
9. Remove and let roast rest 15 minutes
10. Invite us over for dinner!

Let us know how it turned out, we love to see your creations on Instagram #WaywardGourmet and Twitter @WaywardGourmet. We'll post your deliciousness on our site. 

Cheers!