What is the Southern BBQ Box?
The Southern BBQ Box is a collaboration between Goldholly and REP Provisions: regenerative grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, and heritage pork from American family farms, with two pouches of Goldholly Original Organic Yaupon Tea packed in. You choose the main course, and every box ships frozen with free 2-day shipping.
Fall is the best season to cook outside. The smoker goes on before dawn, the game kicks off at noon, and the parking lot fills up with people who came for the brisket. How good that day turns out comes down to what you bring. So we teamed up with REP Provisions, the regenerative ranchers we keep in our own freezer, to pack the whole tailgate in one box. It's live now as the Southern BBQ Box.
What comes in the Southern BBQ Box?
Every Southern BBQ Box includes a main course of your choice, 12 pork brats, 12 burger patties, two packs of chicken thighs, and two pouches of Goldholly Original. The only decision is the centerpiece. Pick brisket if you want an all-day smoke, whole chickens if you want dinner on the table sooner, or pork shoulders if pulled pork sandwiches are the plan.
| Box | Main course | In every box |
|---|---|---|
| Brisket Box | One whole brisket | 3 packs of pork brats (12 total), 4 packs of burger patties (12 total), 2 packs of chicken thighs, 2 pouches of Goldholly Original (40 teabags) |
| Whole Chickens Box | Two whole chickens | |
| Pork Shoulders Box | Two pork shoulders |
The box ships frozen from REP with free 2-day shipping, and it arrives on its own, separate from any tea you order from us.
Who is REP Provisions?
REP Provisions is America's Regenerative Rancher: a network of family farms raising 100 percent grass-fed and finished beef, pasture-raised chicken, and heritage pork on regenerative pasture. REP's mission is to regenerate America's grasslands by supporting the local farms that steward them, and that network now covers more than 15,000 acres.1
What we love about REP is that the regenerative story is measured. Its ranches are monitored under Ecological Outcome Verification, a Savory Institute protocol that tracks bare ground, biodiversity, soil carbon, and how well the land holds water.2 Its beef farms are certified Audubon Bird-Friendly Land, a program that now covers more than 100 ranches and nearly 3 million acres of grassland bird habitat.3 And REP publishes lab results on its beef so you can look up the nutrition yourself.1
Cattle grazed in planned rotations, the way herds once moved across native grassland, is a nice thing to picture while a brisket is on the smoker. For a flat-top full of burgers and brats before kickoff, or a shoulder you're babying all afternoon, this is the kind of meat that brings the flavor so you don't have to work for it.
Why REP and Goldholly?
Everything in this box comes from American family farms that take care of their land, and you can taste it. REP's ranchers move cattle to rebuild grassland. Our yaupon is USDA Organic and grown on family farms in the American South with no irrigation and no synthetic inputs, a native plant that thrives on what the land already gives it. One ingredient in every pouch. Nothing added, nothing imported.
That's the whole reason we make Clean American Caffeine, and it's why REP was the partner for this box. Better meat tastes better. Cleaner tea is more refreshing, hot or cold. And when someone at the tailgate asks where the brisket came from or what kind of tea this is, you have a good answer for both. American sourcing is what keeps that answer short, and a few more dollars land with the farms that make it all.
Why does yaupon tea belong at a tailgate?
Tea and barbecue have shared a Southern table for generations, and yaupon is the tea that actually grows in the South. Yaupon is America's only native caffeinated plant, and sweet tea made from a plant that grew a few counties over is about as Southern as a barbecue gets.
It's also built for a long day outside. A cup of Goldholly has about 30 mg of caffeine, roughly a third of a cup of coffee, which the FDA puts at 113 to 247 mg for 12 ounces.5 Yaupon leaves also contain theobromine, the compound behind dark chocolate's gentle lift, and theophylline.4 Together they give yaupon an energizing lift that caffeine alone doesn't: steadier, longer, and easier on the nerves. A thermos at dawn and a glass or two with the brisket carries you from the smoker to the fourth quarter without the coffee jitters, and you'll still sleep that night. Our yaupon caffeine guide has the full breakdown, and we've put yaupon vs. coffee side by side.
The flavor in the box is Goldholly Original, our lightest roast: bright, crisp, and naturally sweet, with floral notes and a clean finish. It's naturally low in tannins, so there's less of the dry, puckering bite of a strong black tea, and the cup sits easy while you're eating. It takes well to a little honey and a squeeze of lemon.
How do you brew yaupon for game day?
Brew Goldholly Original hot, one teabag per 8 ounces of water at 180 to 195 degrees F for 6 to 7 minutes, and use it two ways: a hot thermos for the morning at the smoker, and a jug of sweet tea for the crowd at kickoff.
Morning: a hot thermos for the smoker
A brisket goes on before dawn, and the parking lot is cold before the sun is up. Heat water to 180 to 195 degrees F, just short of a boil, steep one teabag for 6 to 7 minutes, and pour it into a thermos for the drive. A spoon of honey turns it into a fall drink on a cold morning, and our yaupon recipes have a few more, including an apple honey hot tea and a pumpkin foam latte, if you want to get fancy while the smoker does its work.
Kickoff: a jug of sweet tea for the crowd
Make this the night before so it's cold when you load the truck.
- Heat 64 ounces of water to 180 to 195 degrees F.
- Add 8 Goldholly Original teabags and steep for 6 to 7 minutes.
- Remove the teabags. Stir in sugar or honey while the tea is still hot so it dissolves.
- Refrigerate until fully chilled, about two hours or overnight, then pour over ice with lemon.
Chilling the jug first keeps the flavor full and the ice from melting into it.
So load the truck, fire up the smoker, and put together a tailgate you're proud of. Regenerative beef, chicken, and pork from REP Provisions, a thermos of hot Goldholly Original while the fire gets going, and a jug of sweet tea when it's time to eat. If your tailgate could use a better brisket and a better pitcher, the Southern BBQ Box is both.
References
- REP Provisions. About Us: mission, regenerative farmer network, certifications, and lab testing. https://repprovisions.com/pages/about-us
- Savory Institute. Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV). https://savory.global/land-to-market/eov/
- National Audubon Society. Audubon Conservation Ranching. https://www.audubon.org/conservation/ranching
- Palumbo, M. J., Putz, F. E., and Talcott, S. T. (2007). Nitrogen fertilizer and gender effects on the secondary metabolism of yaupon, a caffeine-containing North American holly. Oecologia, 151(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0574-1
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much? https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much
