Sticky Fingers is a barbecue chain that was started outside of Charleston by three high school friends in 1992. Originally focusing on bringing Memphis style barbecue to the Charleston area, they have since added chicken wings, side dishes and desserts to their pulled pork and rib beginnings. Since 1992, there has been enough demand for them to open over 20 more locations. Now their sauces can be found in grocery stores and they will ship cooked barbecue nation-wide.
Sticky Fingers Sauces
We mentioned that we were fans of the Carolina Sweet barbecue sauce when we made easy crock-pot pulled-pork. As we had some trouble getting their sauce, Sticky Fingers decided to help us out and not only did they send us some Carolina Sweet, but we also were able to sample their entire range of sauces and their dry rub. Click through for a review of each of their sauces and see which ones we liked.
Memphis Original
The Memphis Original barbecue sauce is an excellent example of a tomato based barbecue sauce. A little sweet, tomato-y and thick, this is the vanilla of their line up–and that’s a good thing. They give you exactly what you expect, a quality Memphis style sauce that gets it right.
Habanero Hot
Fans of hot sauce rejoice! Spicy barbecue sauce! Based on the Memphis Original, this version makes chili heads everywhere happy by turning up the heat with habanero peppers. This sauce took a few of us by surprise as the heat seems to build with each bite. This one will likely find its way into a regular rotation of sauces.
Carolina Classic
This is the Sticky Fingers take on a South Carolina mustard based sauce. I initially really enjoyed it, but the more I had it, the less I was impressed. As none of us had much experience with mustard-based barbecue sauces, the novelty of it wore off and we quickly reached for the next sauce. We came to the conclusion that this would go well with chicken nuggets as a substitute for honey mustard.
Carolina Sweet
It is easy to see why Sticky Fingers claims that this sauce is the key ingredient in their most popular rib dish. The sauce feels like a sweeter version of the Memphis Original that somehow avoids overdosing on a good thing. This one was, and still is, our favorite of the bunch. (If only they would make a Habanero Hot version of this sauce…)
Tennessee Whiskey
This was the least liked of the barbecue sauces. We had high hopes for this as bourbon and barbecue seemed like an obvious match, but after tasting this combination, we’ll keep them separate. This sauce tasted the most manufactured of the group as it seemed to have a mild chemical taste. A few points for an interesting attempt, but they are docked immediately for poor execution.
Dry Rub
This was a great representation of a restaurant style dry rub. The combination of paprika, garlic, cayenne, salt and other spices is mild enough to let the pork flavor shine through on dry-style ribs, but pronounced enough to make you miss it if you forget to add it. Just heavily dust your ribs (or any other meat) before cooking it and you are good to go. For extra flavor, dust it one last time right before eating it.
Thoughts and Favorites
I’m big on making your own sauces from natural ingredients so the use of MSG in most of their sauces is a mark against them. In their defense, many barbecue joints use MSG, and even more store bought sauces contain it, so the fact that Sticky Fingers use it is not surprising. Many people would likely notice the exclusion of MSG as it has become standard fare in most barbecue sauces. Still, I’d like to see these sauces without this addition.
Overall, Sticky Fingers makes good sauces that go with a variety of meats–not just ribs or pulled pork. The flavors vary and they represent most of the major barbecue styles (the notable exception being the North Carolina vinegar based sauces). With the help of a group of friends all too eager to taste test, we were quickly able to pick out the favorites (those bottles were quickly emptied). The most used sauce was Carolina Sweet. This was, and still is at the top of our list as a thick barbecue sauce. When we saw people fighting for the Habanero Hot, we knew there was another winner in the group. It seems a lot of our friends can take the heat. And finally, the Memphis Original rounded out the group of favorites because it didn’t try to be anything else other than a classic, no nonsense barbecue sauce.
Disclosure
These barbecue sauces were sent to us courtesy of Sticky Fingers. The sauces can be purchased directly from Sticky Fingers online, other retailers like Amazon, or grocery stores nation-wide.
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