How To Properly Ice The Office Coffee, Plus 9 More Ways To Caffeinate

Don’t you hate it when you get to work and it’s 100 degrees outside and all the office has is hot coffee?

1. How to Make Iced Coffee at the Office

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Next time you want iced coffee skip the long lines of the coffee shop on your way in, and turn your office’s hot brew into iced brew right at your desk. All you need is a Tupperware container and a bit of ice. Until your office starts cold brewing, this should keep you cool.

If you’re the first one in the office, make your coffee. If you’re less of an early riser and arrive later: congratulations, you’ll probably get to skip this step.

Next, pour your coffee into a pint glass (any larger size glass will do), making sure to only fill it halfway. This is important — you want all of the coffee in your glass to come in contact with the ice bath so it really gets a chance to chill.

Make the ice bath: Fill a Tupperware container with ice, one inch short of being full. Add enough cold water until your ice just starts to float.

Here’s the fun part. Put your coffee glass in the center of the ice bath, and agitate/gyrate/move it around to help speed the chilling process.

When the ice is mostly melted and your glass begins to feel cold and look frosty, you’re done! Remove the glass, add fresh ice, and doctor it to your liking.

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2. Iced Coffee Ice Cubes

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Picky iced coffee fanatics who hate when ice cubes water down their beverage will appreciate this: the secret to keeping your coffee cold and strong is espresso ice cubes, of course.

3. Late Night Coffee Brined Chicken

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This recipe includes everything a complete breakfast often does: coffee, orange juice, and milk. Nicknamed “Breakfast Chicken,” this dish comes out tender, melting, and just a little earthy from the coffee.

4. Magical Coffee

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The name doesn’t lie: this drink will make you believe in magic. And, as a bonus, your productivity will increase tenfold after you drink it. A teaspoon of cinnamon and a few spoonfuls of brown sugar give this coffee depth and warmth that you won’t get at your local haunt down the block.

5. Irish Coffee Cupcakes

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You have two reasons to make these: they’re caffeinated and boozy. What more do you need? This is an Irish coffee — whiskey included — in cupcake form. Preheat the oven, and eat up.

6. Cowboy Rubbed Rib Eye with Chocolate Stout Pan Sauce

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Coffee? With your steak? Yep, and eggs are not on the side here. Ground coffee, smoked paprika, cumin, and chile create an earthy, flinty rub that spices the meat through and through. Enjoy for breakfast, if you dare.

7. Cappuccino Cheesecake

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Each bite of this espresso-laden cheesecake is saturated with the taste of sweet coffee, and it’s even layered like every good cappuccino should be: espresso-colored crumb crust sits below latte-colored filling, all capped off with a frothy white topping.

8. Chocolate Bundt Cake

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If Betty Crocker had a sophisticated, seductive cousin, this would be her signature cake: it’s pure fudgy goodness, jazzed up by a fair amount of strong, dark coffee. Also, you can make it in under an hour — just enough time to decide you can’t resist eating this before bed.

9. Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

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If you’re smart about this, you won’t leave these cookies out on the counter after you’ve baked them. Hide them well: crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle, and studded with pockets of soft chocolate, these espresso cookies won’t last long after they’ve cooled.

10. Coffee Custard Tart

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What was a barely sweet, creamy custard gets a swift kick into caffeinated territory from a healthy addition of your best brewed coffee. (Make it strong, please.) The brown sugar shortbread crust makes it like eating your pastry and drinking your morning cup, all at once. Make it for brunch, and watch it disappear.

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