While I did back The Great NC BBQ Map‘s Kickstarter campaign a few months back, I didn’t back them at the level to get you to the launch party. So when I was picked randomly as the lucky winner of their Instagram contest to gain entry into the party, I was thrilled.
The launch party took place at NoDa Brewing Company this past Sunday, and the main event of the party was a barbecue showdown between Midwood Smokehouse (representing eastern NC barbecue) and Sauceman’s (representing the west) with the party attendees voting to decide their favorite. In addition to the food, Paul (one of the map co-creators) also brewed a small batch of “Brew-B-Que,” a red ale brewed with smoked serrano and chipotle peppers to mimic the spiciness of eastern NC barbecue.
There were also fun activities like a “cake walk” contest that was kind of like musical chairs, but with cake, as well as a hush puppy eating contest, Coney Island style, and a raffle.
For those of you who backed the Kickstarter, you should be pretty close to getting your map in the mail (if you haven’t gotten them already) and I think you will be very happy with it. It is on high quality, heavy paper and is well designed with a ton of information for each of the 434 joints (!) in the state – location, hours, whole hog vs shoulder, flame source, sauce type. Not to mention it has a definitive history of barbecue in the US, a comprehensive listing of NC barbecue festivals, and a breakdown of NC barbecue traditions. I’m telling you, this thing is packed to the gills with information. They will be taking additional orders for the map soon, so be sure to sign up for the mailing list on their (soon to be now redesigned) website if you didn’t get in on the Kickstarter.
I briefly spoke with both Amanda and Paul (both super nice, btw), co-creators of the map, and their excitement was evident that night at the unveiling of their labor of love to the world. A big congrats to them on their hard work finally coming to fruition!
–Monk