Christmas gift guide
Every Christmas there is one person on the list who is impossible to shop for and happens to love to cook. They have the grill. They have the smoker. They have the tongs, the thermometer and the apron somebody gave them last year. What they will always use is something good to put on the food. That is where a jar of JollyGringo'z comes in.
We are Landon and Chris, and we make small batch Gulf Coast rubs, barbecue sauces and hot sauces in one kitchen. This is our Christmas gift guide: every bottle we make, who to give it to, how to build a gift pack that saves you money, and what you need to know about shipping in December. The photo above is three of our jars on a shell beach: RiverKingz All Purpose Rub, the holiday Christmas Wonderland, and Gulf Coast Blackening.
A good food gift gets used up, and that is the point. Nobody has to find a shelf for it, return it, or pretend to like it. A bottle of seasoning gets opened on Christmas week, it is on the table by New Year's, and it reminds the cook who gave it to them every time they reach for it.
The jar in the middle of the photo is Christmas Wonderland, our holiday spice rub. It is built on rosemary, orange and brown sugar with a medium heat, which is about as close to Christmas dinner in a shaker as we could get. The label has a To and From line on the front, so the jar is its own gift tag.
Christmas Wonderland is here for a limited time. We make it in a short holiday run, and when it is gone it is gone until next year. To find out what is available, email us at [email protected] and we will tell you what we have.
Dry rubs are the easiest thing we make to give. They are $9 a jar, they slide into a stocking, and they go on with a shake. Here is each one and the cook it was made for.
Dry rub · Some Heat · $9
Deep and smoky rather than sharp, herby underneath, with a pepper build that keeps going after the bite.
Give it to The one who owns a cast iron skillet and is proud of it. This is the jar on the right in the photo, and the blend the whole lineup started with.
Good on Redfish, snapper, catfish and any firm white fish.
Dry rub · Mild · $9
Savory and garlic led with a deep, almost meaty base. Barely any heat, goes on everything.
Give it to Anyone at all. If you only know that they cook, this is the safe pick: mild, garlic forward and at home on everything. It is the jar on the left in the photo.
Good on Everything, which is the brief.
Dry rub · Some Heat · $9
Coastal and aromatic with a bright citrus lift and a warm finish. Boil seasoning that works dry too.
Give it to The shrimp boil host, the one with the big pot and the newspaper on the table.
Good on Fried and grilled shrimp, first and last.
Dry rub · Medium · $9
Smoke three ways and no sugar at all: smoked paprika, chipotle and mesquite, built to sit on a brisket all night without burning.
Give it to The one who gets up at four to light a smoker. No sugar in it, so it will not burn on a long cook.
Good on Pulled pork, beef ribs, brisket and chicken quarters.
Dry rub · Mild · $9
Bright and a little sweet where the others go smoky, built around dried orange peel and ancho chile for a warm, golden hour flavor.
Give it to The cook who does not want heat. Bright, a little sweet and mild enough for the whole table.
Good on Chicken, pork chops, shrimp, white fish and roasted vegetables.
Dry rub · Medium · $9
Smoky and a little hotter, built around smoked paprika, ancho and chipotle with garlic, and dried lime zest for a bright, cold finish.
Give it to The taco night regular. Smoked chile, garlic and lime in one shaker.
Good on Chicken, pork, beef, shrimp and firm white fish.
A barbecue sauce is a bigger gift than a rub and reads like one under the tree. Both of ours are $12 and both were built for pulled pork first. Give one with a jar of Turnpike Smoke and you have covered the whole cook, from the rub that goes on the night before to the sauce that goes on the plate.
Barbecue sauce · Medium · $12
Sweet and fruity up front, then a soft smokiness that settles in and stays put.
Give it to The pulled pork person, and anyone who likes a barbecue sauce with fruit in it.
Good on Pulled pork and pork shoulder.
Barbecue sauce · Medium · $12
Bright and tangy with a rounded sweetness behind it, and just enough heat to notice at the end.
Give it to The mustard sauce loyalist. They know who they are, and they will tell you.
Good on Pulled pork, without question.
Everybody knows a hot sauce person. These two are for them. Both are marked Some Heat, and both were made to taste like something first and burn second.
Finishing sauce · Some Heat · $12
Louisiana style and bright up front like the hook set: red jalapeño and roasted red pepper for flavor, garlic and onion underneath, lime at the finish and a quick kick that fades.
Give it to The one who puts hot sauce on eggs every morning. Louisiana style, bright, and gone in a month.
Good on Eggs first, then boiled shrimp, crawfish, oysters, gumbo, fried fish and fried chicken.
Finishing sauce · Some Heat · $12
The wing sauce, and the spiciest of the lineup, though it is more flavorful than hot: red fresno and roasted garlic up front, guajillo underneath, honey and lime at the finish, and a kick that stays friendly.
Give it to The wing night host. The spiciest bottle we make, and still more flavor than fire.
Good on Wings, first and last, then grilled chicken, shrimp, fried fish and anything that comes out of a fryer.
The best deal on the site is a pack of four. Pick any four bottles, rubs or sauces in any mix, and the price drops 15 percent. Four bottles also clears $45, which is where shipping becomes free. A few packs we would put together ourselves:
Buying for an office, a crew or a whole family? Two packs is eight different bottles with very little overlap, and every one of them is a different present.
Shipping is free on orders over $45. Under that, it is worked out at checkout by weight and where the box is going. Orders go out the door in two business days.
What we cannot control is the carrier in December. We are not going to print an order-by date we cannot stand behind, so here is the honest advice: order early. If it is a gift, order it this week and hide it. The rest of the details are on the FAQ.
A gift is better with a plan attached. These are the recipes we would send along with the bottles:
There are more on the recipes page.
Orders go out the door in two business days. After that it is in the carrier's hands, so the honest answer is to order as early as you can. We would rather tell you that than promise a date we do not control.
Yes. Shipping is free on orders over $45, which is about four bottles. Under that it is worked out at checkout by weight and where it is going.
You build it. Pick any four bottles on the shop page and the price drops 15 percent. Four bottles also lands you at free shipping, so a four pack is the best value on the site.
A rub they have not tried and a sauce to go with it. RiverKingz All Purpose Rub is the safe pick for any cook, Turnpike Smoke is for the smoker, and Gulf Coast Blackening is for anyone with a cast iron skillet.
Every bottle is marked Mild, Medium or Some Heat. None of them is made to hurt, and there is no ghost pepper in any of them. For someone who does not like heat, give Beautiful Sunset or RiverKingz All Purpose Rub.
A dry rub. The jars are small enough for a stocking, they start at $9, and nobody has to find room for one in the freezer.
We started making these for the cooler our band took on the road, and you can read how that turned into a shelf of bottles. Giving one away at Christmas is the best use we can think of. Shop the lineup, build a pack of four, and get the order in early. Merry Christmas from the two of us.
Keep reading
Every formulation on the shelf started out as a number on a mason jar. Here's how five jars became five names, and why two of them almost didn't make it.
Most rubs on a grocery shelf run salt-heavy because salt is cheap and it's the easiest way to make a blend taste like something. We went the other way on purpose.
Before there was a bottle, there was a band, a green room cooler, and two guys who couldn't agree on the setlist but never argued about the rub.
From the lineup
Every post ends the same way, with a fire and a bottle. Ten small batch rubs and sauces, low on salt so you can season heavy.
Areas we serve
Wholesale, a tasting at your shop, or bottles for a festival near you? Say hey.
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