THE RUB HUB: Big Jerk Energy - 5 Piece Caribbean Jerk Rub, Marinade & Sauce Gift Pack

Turn the barbecue Caribbean

Jerk is the most misunderstood thing on a barbecue. Most people think it means heat. It doesn't — it means allspice, thyme, ginger and smoke, with the chilli sitting somewhere behind all of it going about its business quietly. Done properly, jerk chicken is one of the great things you can cook over coals.

Big Jerk Energy is the shortcut to doing it properly. Two Jamaican-Melbourne sauces, a Caribbean mustard with a habanero secret, a Louisiana Cajun seasoning for the sides, and an authentic jerk rub for the dry work. Five full-size products, no sachets, and a $20 saving on buying the lot separately.

What's in the box

• Little Brixton Jerk Marinade — the foundation. Real thyme, lime, ginger, spring onion and habanero in a thick, made-from-scratch marinade. This is the jar that started Little Brixton, built by a Londoner with Jamaican heritage who couldn't find a decent jerk in Melbourne.
• Little Brixton Rum and BBQ Sauce — the glaze. Sweet, sticky and genuinely rummy at 5.6%, with brown sugar, molasses, lime and pimento. It clings to ribs like it's paying rent.
• Little Brixton Sweet Mustard — the sleeper. Reads like a mild sweet mustard, finishes with a proper habanero tap on the shoulder. The mustard for a jerk chicken burger.
• Elk Creek Cajun Stinger Seasoning — 340g — the sides. Paprika-rich Louisiana Cajun with a warming sting. Blacken prawns with it, then put it on the chips while nobody's watching.
• Elk Creek One Love Spice Island Jerk Rub — the dry option. Warm, aromatic allspice-and-thyme jerk for when you haven't got time to marinate. Brilliant on fish and roasted pumpkin too.

The flavour

Warm, aromatic and sweet-sharp rather than hot. Allspice and thyme run through the whole box — that's the jerk signature — with lime and ginger keeping it bright, brown sugar and molasses making it sticky, and rum rounding the sauce out at the back. The habanero appears in three of the five, but always as a slow finish rather than an opening statement. The Sweet Mustard is the spiciest thing in the box; the Cajun Stinger is the most savoury. Nothing here will hurt anyone.

How to use the five

• Proper jerk chicken: marinate thighs or marylands overnight in the Jerk Marinade, grill hard over charcoal until the skin blisters and chars, then squeeze lime over the top.
• Sticky ribs: rub with One Love, cook them low, then mop with the Rum and BBQ Sauce in the last twenty minutes so it lacquers instead of burns.
• No time? One Love straight onto chicken or fish, dry, and onto the grill. Jerk flavour in ten minutes instead of overnight.
• The burger: jerk chicken thigh, Sweet Mustard on the bun, and don't overthink the rest.
• The sides: Cajun Stinger on chips, wedges, rice or prawns. It's the one that'll empty first.
• The golden rule: marinade and rub go on before the heat, sauce goes on at the end. Sugar burns long before chicken is cooked.

Who it's for

Anyone who's had real jerk chicken once and has been chasing it since. The mate whose barbecue is all brisket and no imagination. Someone who already owns forty rubs but nothing with allspice in it. It's the most interesting gift box we do — five products from two very different corners of the world that happen to work brilliantly on the same plate.

Ingredients & Dietary

Little Brixton Jerk Marinade: Thyme, lime, garlic, ginger, gluten free soy sauce, tomato paste, spring onion, habanero chilli, allspice, brown sugar, molasses, salt, olive oil, vinegar. Made with gluten free soy sauce. Made in Melbourne, Australia.

Little Brixton Rum and BBQ Sauce: Tomato sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, non-gluten soy sauce, rum (5.6%), garlic, ginger, pimento, pepper, chilli. Contains alcohol — rum at 5.6%. Made in Melbourne, Australia.

Little Brixton Sweet Mustard: Mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, allspice, chilli, non-gluten soy sauce. Contains mustard. Made in Melbourne, Australia.

Elk Creek Cajun Stinger — 340g: Full ingredients & allergens to be confirmed from the physical label. Made in Oklahoma, USA.

Elk Creek One Love Spice Island Jerk Rub: Full ingredients & allergens to be confirmed from the physical label. Made in Oklahoma, USA.

Dietary summary: This box contains alcohol (rum at 5.6% in the BBQ sauce) and mustard. The three Little Brixton products are made with gluten free soy sauce, but carry no certified gluten free claim. Full statements for the two Elk Creek products are to be confirmed from their physical labels. Always check the physical label on each product.

FAQ

How hot is Big Jerk Energy? Mild to medium. Real jerk is about allspice and thyme, not fire — the habanero in three of the products sits on the finish rather than the front. The Sweet Mustard is the spiciest thing in the box and it's still a medium.

Is it cheaper than buying the five separately? Yes, and by the widest margin of any box we do. Individually they come to $110; the box is $90, so you save $20.

Does the box contain alcohol? Yes — the Rum and BBQ Sauce is 5.6% rum. Most of it cooks off when heated, but if you're gifting to someone who avoids alcohol entirely, that's worth knowing.

What's the difference between the marinade and the jerk rub? The marinade is wet and goes on hours ahead — that's the traditional method and it gets flavour deep into the meat. The rub is dry and goes on minutes ahead when you haven't planned that far. Both give you jerk; the marinade gives you more of it.

Are these full-size products? All five are full retail size, including a 340g Cajun Stinger shaker. No samples.

Is it just for chicken? Chicken is jerk's home ground, but the box covers pork ribs, prawns, firm white fish, roasted pumpkin and sweet potato, burgers and chips.

The Rub Smuggler's Verdict

Caribbean sunshine, Melbourne kitchen, Oklahoma sting — that's a shipping manifest I'm proud of. Marinate the chook overnight, grill it hard over coals till the skin cracks, mop the ribs with the rum sauce right at the death, and keep the Sweet Mustard on the table for whoever's building a burger. Put the music on. This is the only box I've packed that comes with its own soundtrack.

Hand-picked and packed by The Rub Hub — Australia's home of serious flavour.