When’s the best time to drink coffee?

If you love coffee, chances are you reach for your first cup soon after you wake up. Many of us can’t face the commute without it, and as a nation we get through around 98 million cups every day.

But there is a growing debate about whether first thing in the morning is really the best time. Research on blood sugar, stress hormones and sleep suggests that when you drink your coffee can matter almost as much as how much you drink. Here we pull together what the research says, where the evidence is stronger or weaker, and how to work out the best times for you.

The short answer

For most healthy adults, the evidence points towards a simple routine:

• Have breakfast before your first coffee, rather than drinking it on an empty stomach.
• Wait 1 to 2 hours after waking, which for most people means somewhere between 9am and 11am.
• Have a glass of water first, and another with your coffee if you tend to get an energy dip afterwards.
• Finish your last coffee at least six hours before bed, or earlier if you are sensitive to caffeine.
• Keep your total caffeine to 400mg a day or less.

Everyone reacts differently, so treat this as a starting point. The sections below explain the reasoning behind each one.

Should you drink coffee before breakfast?

Researchers at the University of Bath tested this directly. In their study, 29 healthy adults had a sugary drink first thing in the morning after a night of disrupted sleep. When they were given a strong black coffee 30 minutes beforehand, their blood sugar response to the sugary drink was around 50% higher than after the same disrupted night without coffee.

Keeping blood sugar within a healthy range matters because poor blood sugar control is a risk factor for conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The researchers’ advice is straightforward: eat first, then have your coffee if you still feel you need it.

It is worth keeping the limits of the study in mind. It was small, it used strong black coffee, and it followed a single bad night’s sleep, so it does not prove that a morning coffee is harmful. But having breakfast first costs you nothing, and it is an easy change to try.

Why cortisol timing matters

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that helps put the body into a fight or flight state. Levels start to rise 30 to 45 minutes after you wake up and normally peak between 8am and 9am, which gives you a natural boost in alertness.

Caffeine can also stimulate the body’s stress response. Have it just as your cortisol is climbing and the two can stack up, which for some people means jitters, a racing feeling or a spike in anxiety. Waiting 1 to 2 hours lets your natural alertness do its work first, and your coffee then arrives as your cortisol starts to dip. If you skip breakfast, the same wait applies.

Holding off has a practical upside too. Without the rush to get a cup in, it becomes a more mindful way to enjoy your coffee, and you are more likely to notice how it actually tastes.

It is only fair to say that the evidence here is thinner than for the breakfast finding. Treat 1 to 2 hours as a sensible thing to try, and pay attention to whether you feel better for it.

Drink water first

After several hours without a drink overnight, a glass of water at room temperature is a quick way to rehydrate before your first coffee.

If you tend to hit an energy slump after a coffee, it is often recommended to drink water alongside it or straight afterwards. Caffeine works by blocking adenosine, a chemical that builds up through the day and makes you feel tired, so when the effect wears off the tiredness can catch up with you. Water will not switch that off, but it is an easy habit to try.

When to have your last coffee

Caffeine and sleep do not mix well. Because it blocks adenosine, caffeine can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, and it stays active in your body for hours.

In a 2013 sleep study, 12 healthy sleepers took a single 400mg dose of caffeine, roughly two to three cups of coffee, six hours before bed. Their measured sleep time fell by more than an hour, yet they did not notice. That is worth knowing, because a coffee that seems to have no effect on your sleep may still be costing you rest.

Working back six hours from a 10pm bedtime gives you 4pm at the latest. Many people choose an earlier cut-off of 2pm or 3pm to leave a margin, and the study’s authors suggested avoiding caffeine after 5pm in general. There is no rule that suits everyone, because caffeine affects people differently. Try moving your last cup earlier for a week or two and see how you sleep.

If you enjoy having something warm in the afternoon, a decaf coffee or a herbal tea gives you the ritual without the caffeine.

Finding your best times

Age, weight, health and personal preference all change how you respond to caffeine, so the best time to drink coffee is the one that works for you. Notice how you feel and sleep as you move your first and last cups, and adjust from there.

It also helps to tie your first cup to a natural break rather than to the alarm clock. A hot coffee mid-morning, after your first block of focused work, makes the wait easier and turns coffee into something you look forward to instead of something you need.

How much coffee is too much?

The European Food Safety Authority considers up to 400mg of caffeine a day safe for healthy adults, with no more than 200mg in one go. A mug of filter coffee contains around 140mg, so 400mg works out at roughly three mugs, though it varies with how strong you make it. Pregnant women are advised to keep below 200mg a day under NHS guidelines.

Remember that tea, cola, energy drinks and chocolate all contain caffeine, so it adds up across the day. If you have digestive issues, insomnia or anxiety, you may want to cut down, switch to decaf or stop drinking coffee altogether. As with most things, enjoy it in moderation.

The health benefits of coffee

Coffee has a good track record. A large BMJ umbrella review of 201 meta-analyses found that drinking 3 to 4 cups a day was linked with the lowest risk of death and heart disease compared with drinking none. Coffee drinking was also associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and liver conditions including cirrhosis and liver cancer, with the strongest link for liver conditions.

Most of the studies involved were observational, so they show an association without proving that coffee is the cause. The review also highlighted pregnancy as an exception, and its authors did not suggest anyone start drinking coffee for health reasons alone. Still, for most healthy adults, moderate coffee drinking looks safe and may well be good for you.

Let’s chat

At FreshGround, we will still be enjoying our coffee at all sorts of times of day, and we think your team should be able to as well. A bean-to-cup coffee machine gives everyone in your office barista-style coffee whenever it suits them, whether that is a mid-morning cup after breakfast or a decaf in the afternoon. Our one-touch machines mean no one is left wanting.

To talk about improving the coffee at your workplace, get in touch with our team on 020 7553 7900.