Hi there, welcome back to Happy Hour.

Before we start today, let me ask you a question first. When you are having trouble waking up in the morning, or if you just want something to drink on the way to work, or you're trying to cope with that afternoon energy sink. What is that thing that you need the most？

I'm sure for a lot of people, the answer is quite obvious, it’s coffee. I know coffee drinking is hardly a Chinese tradition, but over the past decade or so, I'm sure you started to see more and more coffee shops, cafes sprouting up all over China, and more and more people start to drink coffee.

Like tea, coffee is considered by many to be the most popular hot beverage in the world. If you type the word coffee in Google search, you will see over 3 billion search results. All over the world millions of people start off their day with a cup of joe. By the way, joe is the slang word for coffee.

It's not surprising why coffee is so popular considering the strong effect it can have on improving productivity and focus, but that's not the only reason. The wide variety of coffee beans and a rich flavor and even the unmistakable fragrance have also been a big part of the equation. Take me for example, I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I do like the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

A while back, we did two episodes on the bluffer’s guide to coffee. In those two episodes, we have covered the origin of coffee drinking, coffee history, the most popular and common types of coffee drinks, cafe culture, and also many expressions that you can use to order coffee in places like Starbucks.

Today we are gonna talk about coffee again, but we’re gonna focus on a completely different aspect. Whether you are a coffee drinker yourself or not, do you know that apart from being a popular drink, coffee can also be used for a range of other tasks too, whether it's instant, coffee grounds, used or unbrewed, there are tons of uses for coffee waiting for you to discover.

So in today's episode, we're going to take you to explore the versatile world of coffee and see all its curious uses.

Let's start with beauty. I know that in China sometimes people say don't drink a lot of coffee, it's bad for your skin. But do you know that coffee can actually be used to improve your skin? For one coffee can be used as an excellent exfoliator.

There are many benefits of exfoliating regularly, removing that skin cells will not only improve the appearance of your skin, but allow it to taking more nutrients from other skin care products. I'm sure a lot of you are using store bought exfoliating products, and now you can make your own using coffee.

Add used coffee grounds to warm water or coconut oil and scrub your skin from head to foot and say goodbye to dead skin cells. Using coffee as a body scrub is not only good for removing that skins, it can also help reduce cellulite and stretch marks.

You may have seen cellulite reducing products in beauty shops, which actually include caffeine. Now you can help get rid of your cellulite with a homemade coffee scrub made with ground coffee, cinnamon, coconut sugar and coconut oil.

Search online you will find many different videos teaching you how to find that perfect recipe to make your own coffee scrub.

Apart from using it as a beauty product, you can also clean your house with coffee. You know sometimes because of the things we put in it or things that have expired, our fridge will start to smell. When that happens, coffee grounds can be used to absorb smells and fill the air with an earthy freshness.

So fill up some balls with used coffee grounds, and pop them onto fridge shelves overnight. It's an easy way to get rid of the stink. It doesn't cost anything to try.

Another use for coffee is to use it as a surface scrubber. When you are cleaning the kitchen, instead of using chemical products, try to use a cleaning cloth and some old coffee grounds to help clean food from kitchen counters, cooking hubs or dirty dishes, because the grounds are mildly abrasive. They're not too rough. They're not gonna really damage your surfaces. Plus they are more natural than any of the chemical products you can buy in stores.

Now we've got skin care and cleaning out of the way, coffee also has many uses in many of the life hacks.

For instance, if you grow some of your own vegetables, do you know that dried coffee grounds can help carrots and mushrooms grow a lot faster and a lot better? That's because the coffee grounds will give them a boost of nutrients and stimulate growth.

Or how about as a hand cleaner？After chopping things like garlic or onions, our hands might be slightly stinky. Don't worry, those coffee grounds will come to your rescue. Give your hands a rub with some coffee grounds to help counteract any of these bad smells and leave your hands smelling fresh.

I even know many people do like the smell of coffee. Coffee can also be used as a repellent to drive certain things away. For example, if you have an ant infestation, grab some coffee grounds to keep them away. You can also use coffee to repel cats. Apparently most cats seem to really hate the smell of coffee. For example, if you want to protect your plants or your garden, simply grab a handful of coffee grounds, probably mix it with orange peels and spread throughout your plants or your garden to keep the cats away.

So far we've been talking about really functional uses for coffee. What about some fun ways to use it？If you are good with crafts, you can make your own coffee candles, or if you are artistic, then maybe you can try to paint with coffee.

I've seen some amazing videos online about coffee painting. Apparently it's turning into somewhat of a trend. It sounds deceptively simple, all you have to do is mix coffee with water to get different color tones, just change the amount of water, for example, for a more intense darker color, use less water and you will soon be creating beautiful art works for your home. If you are artistic, that is.

In Turkey, people also use the leftover coffee grounds to tell your fortune. If you are interested, check it out online, there are many guides to follow, so maybe you can do your own coffee cup reading.

We've covered so much already and how can we leave out actual food and drink？Everyone knows coffee is a popular drink, but do you know that you can also use it in your cooking？

For instance, you can use leftover brewed coffee in your steak marinade. You can also make your own coffee ice cubes. . . So next time if you're drinking ice coffee, put those in, then your ice coffee will stay cold, but not watered down.

And to wrap up, since this is Happy Hour, of course I'm gonna share with you two very popular coffee cocktails. The first is Irish coffee. It consists of hot coffee, Irish whiskey and sugar, and topped with cream. So if you're in a cafe in the morning, try not to order Irish coffee by mistake.

Another popular coffee cocktail is one of my favorites. This is espresso martini. It's made in a martini glass, but with espresso coffee and coffee liquor.

So it's one of those drinks that wakes you up and knocks you out at the same time. If you have a chance, try it! It's an interesting combination.

So we have covered so many fascinating ways to use coffee and coffee grounds. Are you a coffee drinker？Have you tried any of these uses for coffee？Or do you have any other coffee related life hacks to share？Drop us a comment in the comment section. We will see you next time.

Bye.

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