Coffee drinking is so ingrained into our culture that most people are unable to function without their daily cup of coffee in the morning, be it a cup of cold brew coffee, or a strong straight espresso shot. In fact, 9 out of 10 older coffee drinkers consider coffee an important part of their breakfast, with many people drinking coffee to stay awake, or at least improve their alertness throughout the day.
But did you know that a wrong coffee schedule may prove to be counterproductive for some? This all boils down to human biology and how caffeine works. If you’re curious when the best time to drink coffee is, you’re in luck because we’ve compiled some of the most relevant information you would need to adjust your schedules.
Here’s Why Morning Isn’t the Best Time for Coffee
Even if coffee is typically drunk as a breakfast beverage, morning still isn’t the best time to drink coffee. This is all thanks to cortisol, a hormone that works as an alarm system and directly affects your mood and level of alertness. Much like stress, caffeine also stimulates cortisol production, directly affecting your blood pressure, memory, and wakefulness. Unfortunately, morning is also when your cortisol levels are at their peak, which means that you don’t really need coffee for the boost yet.
Another reason why you should push back drinking coffee later in the day is that it can push caffeine tolerance when your body gets accustomed to the automatic energy boost upon waking up. When you drink coffee in the morning, you usually notice the effects after a few minutes, giving you enough energy up to about noon or early afternoon. However, after the effects wear off, energy dips may happen, causing you to feel exhausted. This might make you reach for another cup and another cup.
While coffee is a beverage that is highly enjoyable, the effects of caffeine will eventually decrease over time. This pushes caffeine tolerance, causing you to be more and more dependent on its energy boost.
When Is the Best Time to Drink Coffee?
If morning coffee isn’t recommended, then when should you bust out your coffee maker? According to Lisa Lisiewski, a certified dietitian-nutritionist, the best time to drink coffee is when your cortisol levels are already starting to dip after the initial peak upon waking up. This varies from person to person, but for the average office worker with the usual 9-to-5 work scheme, this comes in at about mid-morning or 9:00 a.m. to noon. In some cases, drinking coffee may also be beneficial in the early afternoon for that much-needed energy boost towards the end of the day.
For exercise buffs or fitness enthusiasts, another great time to drink coffee is 45 to 60 minutes before you start your workout regimen. The energy boost will help support your workout performance and may even help you get more sets done.
Here’s How to Change Your Coffee Schedule
If you’ve been accustomed to drinking coffee upon waking up or during breakfast, don’t rush into this schedule change. While this later time is considered the best time to drink coffee, the sudden change may make it hard for you to adjust, since you’ll also be recalibrating your cortisol levels. Go for a gradual change. You can change up your schedule for a few days first, and then slowly transition into the later coffee drinking time.
If you find yourself groggy or yawning up a storm without a cup of coffee, consider adjusting your sleep schedule so you can rest better. Try to get about seven to eight hours of sleep so you’ll have enough energy to jumpstart your day without your usual early-morning coffee routine.
Are Late-Night Coffee Runs Advisable?
Another question that may arise when we’re talking about coffee drinking is “Is it okay to drink coffee at night, either during dinner or after as a sort of dessert?” With coffee’s highly stimulating effects, nighttime may not be the best time to drink coffee, especially if you’re planning on getting the complete hours before you have to wake up again. And no, it doesn’t matter whether you’re drinking single-origin coffee from the Philippines or kopi luwak. You’re still going to get the stimulating effects of their caffeine content. Nighttime coffee runs may also significantly lower your quality of sleep, triggering insomnia and making you much more tired in the morning.
As a substitute for your late-night coffee runs, consider switching to caffeine-free teas, like chamomile, peppermint, and hibiscus. Not only will these fill up your beverage slot instead of coffee, but they can also help you relax better and achieve a level of calmness before you go to sleep.
7 Coffee Alternatives You Can Try Out
For some people, excessive coffee drinking may cause a certain degree of jitteriness or anxiousness, which may be counterproductive, especially for people trying to focus on a task. Fortunately, there are a handful of coffee alternatives that you can try out that may help you stay awake without the coffee side effects. You can try adding them to the beverages you drink throughout the day, or you can try swapping your coffee drink out with any of these at random times during the week. Here’s a list of teas and juices you can try to boost your energy.
- Green Tea
Produced from the dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, green tea is a popular beverage thanks to its impressive antioxidant levels and the countless health benefits it has to offer. In addition to these, green tea is also a great pick-me-up beverage thanks to its caffeine content, but at a lower range compared to coffee. If you’re planning on lowering your caffeine intake, you can steep green tea in room-temperature water to lower the caffeine content.
- Matcha Tea
Matcha tea is also a product from the Camellia sinensis plant but is taken from specially grown plants. Finely ground into the distinct bright green powder, matcha can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, such as in desserts and in hot and cold teas. Matcha tea contains a considerable amount of caffeine, which may help you stay awake throughout the day and provide you with a much-needed energy boost in the morning.
- Yerba Mate Tea
A popular South American drink, yerba mate is an herbal tea traditionally drank in a gourd and with a distinct metal straw with a built-in strainer. This tea is rich in antioxidants and bioactive nutrients that can help improve your immunity and overall health. But as a coffee alternative, yerba mate contains the middle-ground caffeine content of green tea and coffee, giving you just the right amount for a jumpstart.
- Kombucha
A fermented and effervescent tea drink, kombucha has recently taken the world by storm, thanks to its enjoyable and unique flavor as well as its health benefits. As an energy booster, kombucha is a great coffee alternative thanks to its balanced caffeine content, which may help you stay awake but with a lower chance of getting coffee side effects.
- Chicory Root
Chicory root is an herbal drink that has a similar flavor and consistency as coffee, which makes it a great coffee substitute if you’re trying to lower your caffeine intake. Produced by roasting the roots of the chicory plant, this herbal drink can be brewed like coffee and can be drank as your breakfast beverage.
- Golden Milk
Made with nondairy milk and turmeric, golden milk is considered a traditional drink in India, popular for its positive effects on memory, mood, and digestion. What’s even better is that golden milk is extremely easy to make since you only need to combine the ingredients into a pot and simmer it for about 10 minutes.
The Best Time of Coffee Isn’t All the Time!
We all know how comforting it is to wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. And with its irresistible aroma and warmth, we can’t really blame you if you start craving it right after you open your eyes. However, for better productivity and better coffee utilization, it might be high time that we optimize our schedules to coincide with the best time for coffee drinking.
And we know here at Curated.ph, that this might be a bit challenging – if not extremely – in the first few days or weeks, but it’s probably for the better. This might even heighten your enjoyment of your coffee a bit more and may even motivate you to put a bit more effort into brewing your first cup. So, if you’re looking to upgrade your daily cup of coffee to a much stronger brew or take on a specialty brewing method, don’t look too far. Curated.ph has a wide variety of single-origin coffee beans from the Philippines, as well as specialty coffee makers that we can ship to your door in record time.
