It’s official! I have a product line. What started out as a hobby is slowly becoming a full fledged business. The birth of AlbuKirky Seasonings started eight months ago when I was fired from my job with a large fashion apparel company, rhymes with “crap”. The reason? I was not meeting “peformance expectations”. Not that I’m giving my former employer any credit, because being fired from a job really sux, but it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. The moment I walked out of that building I vowed this would never happen to me again. Life is to short to work crappy jobs for companies that don’t give a damn about you.
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| AlbuKirky BBQ Rub & Sauce |
Since I was no longer working and needed something to do while I was looking for another job, I decided to turn my passion for BBQ and grilling into a business. I had been toying with the idea of starting up a food related business for years, I just wasn’t sure of what kind of food business I wanted. I would love to open a BBQ joint, but didn’t have that kind of money. In lieu of a restaurant, I decided I would start up a spice and sauce company. I had been developing my BBQ rub and sauce recipe for years and knew they were pretty good, and my friends and family all thought my stuff was really good. Maybe it was time to put my money where my mouth is. You would think that bottling a rub and sauce would be easy, but it’s not. It takes a ton of work to fill a 6 ounce bottle with rub. I’ll save the details of bottling a BBQ rub for another post or maybe a book.
I started developing my rub and sauce recipes years ago. I was frustrated with the quality and taste of rubs I was buying and decided I could make something better. I started with a base of kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder, and then raided the spice cabinet to make my first blends. The first incarnation of my BBQ had many of the components of the current recipe, but it was a little too salty and it was missing that special ingredient that would take it to the next level. Then one day while perusing the spice section of my neighborhood grocery store I had an epiphany. Red chile! The missing magic ingredient was red chile. I purchased a big bag of hot powder and dashed home to make up a new batch of rub. Even while I was mixing up the rub I could smell the smokey hot aroma of the chile and knew I was on to something good. After the batch was completed the true testing began, I put the rub on steaks, chicken, pork, briskets and it was all good. The perfect pairing occurred when I added the rub to my BBQ sauce.
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| Six Pack with sweet new labels Now with my sauce and rub perfected I started sharing it my friends and family. I knew my stuff was good, but there was always that doubt that lingered in the back of my head, what if I’m the only one that thinks this is good. All of my friend and family were impressed with my creations, the most common comment, “You should really bottle and sell this”. I’m still not sure if they were just saying that to be nice or if they really meant it, because I took their advice to heart and here we are today, bottles of rub and sauce ready for sale.
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| Introducing AlbuKirky BBQ Sauce |
It’s only been eight months and I couldn’t be happier. With the addition of my new sauce I officially have a product line. I found a day job to finance my pursuit of world spice domination. And to think it all began with what felt like one of the worst days of my professional career.
New label for the rub too, huh? Where are you selling your sauce online?
Duh, nevermind. I'm an idiot.