Barbecue sauce can be a surprisingly polarizing condiment. Do you prefer
yours sweet and tangy? Spicy and tart? Tomato or mustard-based? There are all kinds of variables
to consider with BBQ sauce — and the flavor profile of a particular kind is even linked
to its geographical place of origin. Styles of American barbecue sauce fall into six categories:
Eastern North Carolina, Piedmont, South Carolina, Texas, Kansas City,
and Alabama. And if you're particularly fond of that sweet, thick Kansas City-style sauce,
there's a good chance one well-known brand has something to please your palate.
With nine different variations on the theme of Kansas City-style barbecue sauce, KC Masterpiece
has become a staple on grocery store shelves over the past 40 years. Not only does this
brand know that the path to its customers' hearts is paved with bourbon and vine-ripened tomatoes;
it also has a fascinating history, beginning in 1978 with a child psychiatrist named Rich Davis.
Davis may have plied his trade as a psychiatrist, but he was also an entrepreneur, and in 1978
he concocted his now-famous recipe. Davis put a heck of a lot of thought into the exact make-up
of that recipe, too. It's a combination of flavors from the country's most famous barbecue regions.
Davis started out by taking a cue from a tried and true American favorite, ketchup, and gave his
sauce a tomato base. Then, he incorporated vinegar from North Carolina's tradition,
Georgia and South Carolina's preference for mustard, spices like chili powder and
cumin inspired by Texas barbecue, plus molasses and liquid smoke.
When Davis first developed his now-famous sauce, it was originally called K.C. Soul Style BBQ
Sauce. But, before bringing it to market, Davis changed the name to KC Masterpiece and
adopted a clean, classic-looking logo that he thought would stand out among the competition.
Davis founded Masterpiece Products, Inc. in the process, and began delivering his special
sauce to grocery stores, in person, using his own station wagon. And it was a hit with the people.
"Mm. Masterpiece says it mighty well."
A mere eight years after its launch, KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce was pulling in more
than $5 million in revenue, and Davis, who passed away in 2015, sold the company in 1986 to the
Kingsford Product Company. Today, the brand is home to a wide variety of barbecue sauces,
including Sweet Roasted Chipotle and Kentucky Bourbon versions of Davis' original formula.
In 1980, KC Masterpiece's homespun recipe even earned Davis the title of "Best Sauce on the
Planet" at the American Royal Barbecue Sauce Contest. Make no mistake — that's a pretty
significant honor. The American Royal is a non-profit, Kansas City-based organization
founded in 1899. It's well-known for its World Series of Barbecue and its Barbecue
Hall of Fame boasts celebrity chefs Guy Fieri and Adam Perry Lang among its other inductees.
Despite its accolades, not everyone agrees that this Kansas City-born barbecue sauce is
the best around. In January 2021, an NFL match-up, of all things,
prompted some to share what they really think of Rich Davis's award-winning concoction.
When the Buffalo Bills were set to play the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC Championship game,
the host of Buffalo's "Morning Bull" radio show put out a call for all grocery stores in the area
to pull KC Masterpiece from their shelves — until the Bills secured a victory against the Chiefs.
But many social media users were less than impressed at the stunt. One user tweeted:
"Joke's on you [...] No one in KC eats KC Masterpiece."
Another wrote:
"KC Masterpiece is an abomination that has besmirched the good name
of Kansas City barbecue for far too long."
Still, although KC Masterpiece clearly has its critics,
some people at least seem to be fans. For example, Country Living still lists it
as number two on their round-up of "The 8 Best Barbecue Sauces You Can Buy from
All Around the Country," pointing out that its flavor seems to equal quintessential barbecue
in the minds of many diners. That's hardly bad going for one man and his station wagon.
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