What's life without coffee?

You may be drinking more coffee than you typically would — and should — but you can blame it on the bitter cold and prolonged lockdowns.

While your dentist will most certainly point out the gorgeous coffee stains during your next visit — don't forget to book one! — you're more than likely to answer with a witty, yet harmless, reason for your duller smile.

When it comes to making excuses, if you can avoid drinking coffee in the first place, you won't have to lie through your teeth. You'll be forgiven.

There's no need for any more caffeine or excuses in your life; there's always time and space in the kitchen for creativity and pleasure without the gimmick. Try cooking with your next cup of coffee if you want to add even more coffee to your life while avoiding the extra cup in the afternoon.

While it's a gratifying and enjoyable ingredient to cook with, keep an eye out for varied combinations. Also, make sure to look at the recipes to determine if the coffee is ground, instant, or brewed.

1 | Use Dry Coffee Rubs to Add Flavor to Your Food

Coffee will enhance the flavor of your next pork chop or steak from the grill. Massaging a dry rub — consisting of either fine ground or instant coffee — into your proteins adds depth, contrast, and interest, and is best coupled with red meats. To make your own unique and powerful blend, simply combine it with other tough herbs and bold spices.

As soon as your steak comes off the flame, you'll be rewarded with not only an enticing crust but also a rich savoury flavor. The coffee will caramelize beautifully, resulting in an even tastier smoky outcome.

Beef and hog briskets, in particular, are ideal candidates for the coffee treatment. These cuts do nicely with a dry rub of coffee — for an even smokier flavor when cooked with wood smoke — and prefer a low-and-slow manner of cooking.

2 | Sip Your Brew While Braising

You don't want to drink the remainder of the coffee that's left in the bottom of your French press? Keep it in the fridge for dinner. Alternatively, put it off until tomorrow. Your leftover cup or so will produce the perfect braising liquid, saving resources and adding flavor. Especially when there's beef in the mix.

The best part is that it's a low-cost, yet effective, method of turning a tougher cut of beef into a more tender, flavorful piece. Due to the natural settling that occurs near the bottom of the coffee press, you'll actually benefit from a more concentrated coffee flavor.

If you're starting from scratch and don't have any leftover coffee, instant coffee powder will suffice. Simply whisk a heaping teaspoon of it into your usual braising liquid to achieve the effect. Simply experiment with what works best with each dish as you go.

The coffee-infused liquid will provide a wonderful bittersweet note to your meat while it braises. You can also add your favorite beer, herbs, and spices to the braising liquid to make it more flavorful. Plus, a smidgeon of unsweetened dark chocolate grated with a Microplane will elevate your meal to restaurant-worthy status, ready to wow your family and friends.

3 | Add a Splash of Color to Your Gravy

What better way to season and end the main dish than with a rich gravy on top? Throw in some coffee and you've got yourself a winner. While it's not typical practice, adding coffee to the simmering sauce can help to push the flavor envelope even farther by adding more umami depth.

After all, the nicest part about making gravy or jus is that the simple sauce comes together quickly and naturally, relying on the meat's own juices and fats. Coffee awakens those flavors as you jazz up the gravy to your heart's content, adding seasonings and allowing it all combine together to produce layers of flavor.

In a strange way, the coffee gives your gravy a kick — similar to how caffeine gives your body a boost — but in a subtle way. Add a pinch of it to a red wine jus, along with a liberal pinch of salt and black pepper, and it's ready to serve with a succulent Sunday roast. To be honest, the coffee does a fantastic job of balancing the flavors.

Coffee isn't just for sweets or beverages. It's widely used in desserts, with Tiramisu serving as the international poster child. Coffee can be used to enhance and activate the flavors of savory foods due to the full-bodied, rich, and roasted flavor characteristic of most mixes.