Slow Cooker Coffee Rub Brisket Tacos

Okay, Monday, let’s do this.

The first five days after the weekend are the hardest, am I right? So grab your coffee (chai for me, please) and let’s just slooowwww it down a notch for a few minutes.

How slow?

Slow as in a dry rub brisket that’s been slow cooking on low for 6 hours until it’s so incredibly tender and juicy that you immediately have to shred it and stuff it into a taco.

Oh yeah, that slow.

Okay, maybe now that slow since it’s Monday and we’ve all got work to do. But this evening? Maybe. Over the weekend watching football? Definitely.

Because you guys, you need this dry rub in your life. Want to know the special ingredient?

COFFEE!!

…My tea’s kicking in, clearly.

Coffee, smoked paprika, cumin, chili pepper , garlic powder, + onion powder are the starting line-up for dry rubs. I mean, just look at that brisket!!!

Praise Hands Emoji.

September 29th is National Coffee Day and Lavazza challenged me + other bloggers to create recipes using their Classico coffee. You know I love a good challenge.

Oh, and Classico is 20% off this month to celebrate National Coffee Day! A culinary challenge and a sale? They get me.

I’ve mentioned before that while I love to cook, my apartment’s smoke detector isn’t quite a fan of my kitchen adventures. Putting it mildly, that thing has the sensitivity of a teenage girl. Speaking from experience.

Jumping up and down waving a towel to get your smoke detector to stop beeping is a pretty good workout, though. Really gets the heart rate up.

I have a 1.5 quart slow cooker that I rarely use…until now. I  have friends who are hooked on their slow cookers but with my dad being a fireman, I just don’t feel comfortable leaving a kitchen appliance on all day while I’m not there. But on a lazy weekend, sure, I can binge-watch Parks + Rec for the millionth time while my slow cooker does its thang.

So I decided to break out the slow cooker for a coffee dry rub brisket. But what should I do with the brisket? Sandwiches? Nah. Don’t get me wrong, I love a hearty brisket sandwich. But it didn’t feel exciting. I wanted to be jazzed-on-java excited about this recipe. Because I really hope that you get just as pumped as I do about recipes!!

And then last week, Apple announced a taco Emoji was happening.

And suddenly, it all clicked. Slow cooker pulled brisket tacos. With some pretty bomb toppings. When it comes to tacos, I take my toppings very seriously. Meaning, I want all of them. But this coffee dry rub was SO incredible, I decided to keep it simple and let the brisket’s flavor be the star.

Such a diva, this brisket.

I whipped up some quick-pickled red onions using this recipe from Bon Appétit. They’re the topping version of the slow cooker brisket. You just whip up the vinegar mixture, slice a red onion and let the flavors hang out at room temperature for about an hour. Ridiculously simple + ridiculously tasty.

Next up for tomatoes: crumbled queso fresco + fresh cilantro.

I snapped these photos + then immediately crushed two of these bad boys. Didn’t even reach for the hot sauce.

I just feel all the feelings for these slow cooker brisket tacos. But really, how can you not?

If you need me next weekend, I’ll be hanging out with my slow cooker + my new crush, brisket tacos.

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This post was sponsored by Lavazza®.  All opinions and product sentiments are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep the DC Girl party going!