By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern
If you are anything like me, coffee is an absolute necessity for being able to function properly during the day. And if we are honest with ourselves, we all have those mornings every now and then when we sleep through our alarms and find ourselves running short on time before work, which can mean that brewing our morning cup of coffee might be out of the question. But what if I told you that there are a few tricks that can speed up the coffee-making process, making it to where we can still enjoy our coffee in the morning and make it to work on time? 
Livestrong published an article that highlights a few different methods of brewing coffee that can all be done in only a few minutes.
The Methods
First: The first method is a well-known way of making coffee and is a no-brainer for making coffee when short on time. This method is using instant coffee powder. Instant coffee is actually dehydrated coffee, which is why you can simply mix it with water and voila! You have a cup of coffee that is strong and not gritty.
Second: But what if you don’t have instant coffee powder? The article also talks about how you can simply stir in 1-2 tablespoons of ground coffee into 1 cup of boiling water and then let it sit for a minute so the grounds steep and settle to the bottom. One drawback of this method is the presence of some coffee grind, but it can easily be removed by straining.
Third: The third method that they mention is using cold brew concentrate. Cold brew coffee is a much cleaner tasting coffee that is made by letting 2 tablespoons of very coarse coffee grounds soak in 5 ounces of cold water for 8-16 hours, either on the kitchen counter or in the fridge. The longer it sits, the stronger it gets. After the desired steeping time is up, just filter out the grind. Cold brew concentrate can then be diluted with more water, ice, or cream and sugar.
In my opinion, cold brew is by far the best choice of coffee when in a time crunch, as it has the cleanest, crispest taste out of the three methods mentioned. Plus, it can be made the night before so that you can just grab and go.
Want to learn more about coffee? Check out this list of all the Fill Your Plate articles on coffee!