Dry Rub

I have tried to make a good dry rub in the past, but never really got it. This time I tried something new.

Herb brine chicken (five hours):
One quart water boiled, then steep herb bundle for about 5 minutes. Remove herb bundle, then add 1/2 cup salt, plus four Tb sugar. Add one quart ice to cool before pouring over chicken parts.

Dry rub:
In a hot, dry skillet, heat four seeded dried chiles, cut up into 1/2 inch strips. Add also 1 Tb each cumin seeds, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns. Heat until fragrant and seeds begin to pop. Once heated, pour into spice grinder, adding 1 Tb salt, 1 Tb brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Then grind until... er, ground up real good.

After drying off chicken pieces, sprinkle liberally with rub. Let sit for a bit so rub adheres well.

Grill chicken as per usual.

Result: A bit salty. I'll leave out the salt from the rub next time, and either salt independently, or let the brine handle it. Also, the spicy flavor just wasn't that great. I feel like it needed something a bit exotic, like cinnamon maybe. We'll see.