I'm a firm believer that a good marinade is the most important component of a delicious batch of jerky, so this step is crucial. Typically, I try to take all of the guesswork out of marinades by making them the exact same every time. However, in the situation, I realize that we all have different tastes. Some of us like coffee more than others, so our marinade needs to reflect that.

The #1 flavor contributor in this recipe is the spice rub, so turning it up/down will make all the difference. The simplest way to "cut" the boldness of the spice rub is to add some of it to the marinade. This works by basically taking some of the rub out of the game. After a good mixing, the suspended spices will find their way onto your meat slices, but a lot of them will settle out on the bottom and not contribute much. This may seem a bit wasteful, but it's the easiest way.

As you have probably already gathered, holding back some spice rub and applying it directly to the meat before drying will kick the coffee flavor into overdrive. So, consider the mild:bold ratio proportional to the spice rub in marinade:spice rub saved for later ratio.

If you rated yourself a 0 then, seriously, why are you still here? It's OK, we'll let you hang on for the ride.

If you rated yourself from 1-2, then you may not be ready to go all-in on this yet. What you are looking for is something a bit more mild. Add all of your rub to the marinade. This way the brewed coffee/liquid smoke will dominate the flavor.

If you are hovering around a 3-4 then let's dial it back a bit on the rub. Add about 2/3 of the rub to your marinade, and save the rest for later.

Finally, if you are a fanatical 5 on the coffee scale, then just drop in those strips and don't touch the rub yet. We're going to put it to good use soon.

Once you have added the proper amount of rub to your marinade, mix it up thoroughly, add your strips, cover, and let soak in the refrigerator for around 12 hours.