'The Office' Star Brian Baumgartner Talks Best Pairing for 5-hour ENERGY's New Inspired Energizing BBQ Sauce (Exclusive)

Brian Baumgartner is partnering with 5-hour ENERGY for their new Inspired Energizing Barbecue Sauce.

By Megan Behnke

The summer season means the fun in the sun and lots of grilling outside, and The Office star Brian Baumgartner spoke to PopCulture.com about his new partnership with 5-hour ENERGY to kick off the season. The actor has teamed up with the company for a brand-new Inspired Energizing BBQ Sauce that will surely put a little more pep in your grilling. Created with The National Food Lab, the sauce has 60 milligrams of caffeine per serving, making the sauce packing an energizing punch each time.

Baumgartner told PopCulture how the partnership came about, admitting that barbecuing and grilling "is an actual passion of mine. I grew up in the South. It's something that I was around from a very young age, and then when I moved to California, it kind of became my activity, my distraction from work. I travel a lot, but now, even if I'm home like four or five nights a week, I'm cooking something on the grill outside, not necessarily barbecue, long, low, and slow cooking something, but something."

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(Photo: Jamonique Veteto)

Having written his own cookbook, Seriously Good Barbecue Cookbook, with plenty of delicious recipes, Baumgartner revealed that 5-hour ENERGY approached him with their Inspired Energizing Barbecue Sauce. "And I thought it was a great fix because one, I like to bring some energy to the videos and stuff that I have been making," Baumgartner shared. "You sometimes need a little extra energy when you're cooking something for six or seven hours, and so I thought it would be a great partnership. I mean, this is new. This is brand spanking new, and so I hadn't tasted it. That was sort of the one thing. Turns out it actually is really delicious and I made some pulled pork, seven hours start to finish, and then so it had become my little pork baby, and then put the sauce on. It turned out it was great. The peach mango, it's a little sweet, little tangy, and it went with the rub that I had on under there really, really well. It's been really fun to partner with them."

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Since Brian Baumgartner knows a thing or two about grilling and even more so now with the Inspired Energizing BBQ Sauce, the actor shared his thoughts on what the sauce pairs best with. "I think that slow-cooked meats, some ribs, the pulled pork would be great," he revealed. "I also think a great grilled asparagus or something, putting a little of the barbecue sauce on top of that. I mean, look, I think it really could go well with anything, like some potato wedges even, if you wanted to smashed potatoes on the grill. I think that that would be good. Really what I used it for with the pork, there's something about people sometimes incorporate with pork. I typically don't, but a lot of people will incorporate fruit, apples especially, in with pork, but the peach mango with it was really good. So, I mean, I would definitely say pork."

5-hour ENERGY will no longer be just for drinks. The limited release for the Inspired Energizing BBQ Sauce will happen over four weeks, launching June 27, via the 5-hour ENERGY website. The sauce is also on the house, including shipping. Summer just got a lot more energizing and people will be able to do their own experiments with the sauce while they're grilling up a storm.

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