I've been trying to replicate a BBQ rub I had in Hawaii for the past few months; it was black, a little powdery/crunchy, and didn't step all over the flavor of the meat. I figured coffee was involved in some way and it definitely wasn't the usual paprika + brown sugar + cumin thing I get at the store. So I've been googling around, finding common ingredients between rubs, and messing around with portions.

As of yesterday, I think I have it most of the way there. Brisket takes forever, so I just smoked a tri-tip. Going to try a few tweaks, but I'm really happy with the result. It comes out of the BBQ looking like a lump of volcanic rock and doesn't taste like you're freebasing paprika and cayenne.