The Best Time To Drink Your Morning Coffee

If you ask people about the best time to drink their morning coffee, you’ll likely get a wide variety of responses: Some may say it’s during their commute to work, others sip it with breakfast while reading the newspaper at the kitchen table, and then there are those who’d prefer to enjoy their steaming cup of mud while still in bed. 

Personal preferences aside, studies show that if you’re hoping to maximize the benefits of your daily coffee, there may be times to drink it that are better than others. Here’s a look at what you need to know before sipping your morning joe.

Timing Is Everything

A 2025 study in the European Heart Journal  looked at more than 40,000 adults who had participated in a long-term nutrition study and identified three groups: People who had coffee in the morning; people who drank it all day; and people who didn’t drink coffee at all.

After making adjustments for various factors including caffeinated and decaffeinated intake and sleep hours, “we found that a morning-type coffee drinking pattern was significantly associated with lower risks of all-cause mortality and CVD-specific mortality, independent of the amount of coffee intake,” the authors wrote. “In contrast, an all-day-type pattern was not significantly associated with mortality compared with non-drinking.”  More specifically, people who drank coffee between the hours of 4 a.m. and noon were 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 16% less likely to die from any cause than those who didn’t drink coffee at all. 

The authors of the analysis theorize that drinking coffee in the morning instead of later in the day means that the caffeine is less likely to negatively affect your sleep patterns, and better sleep means better heart health. The study also notes that coffee can act as an anti-inflammatory. Bodily inflammation levels tend to peak in the morning, so drinking a cup of coffee in the hours after waking up may help offset some of that inflammation. However, they note that more research is needed on both fronts, and on coffee’s health benefits overall.

There’s another belief that coffee should be drunk when the body’s level of the stress hormone cortisol — which can also enhance alertness — is at its lowest. Though there have been no studies to back up this idea, coffee can increase cortisol, so the thinking is that drinking it when your cortisol levels are high will cause undue stress. Elevated cortisol can cause health issues over time.

Typically, cortisol levels peak 30 to 45 minutes after waking up and then slowly decline for the rest of the day. It’s been suggested that most people reach lower levels of cortisol roughly three to five hours after rising out of bed. So if you get up at 7 a.m., consider having your morning coffee between 10 a.m. and noon.

Another factor worth considering is whether you work out in the morning. It’s said that the caffeine in a cup of coffee increases strength, endurance, alertness, and energy levels during a workout, but only if you allow ample time for the caffeine to be absorbed before hitting the gym. Research suggests waiting 45 to 60 minutes between the time you finish your coffee (no more than one to two cups is necessary) and when you begin your workout. 

Getting the Most Out of Your Roast

Ultimately, there’s no golden rule to follow when it comes to enjoying your morning cup of joe. “Everyone’s sensitivity, or internal response, to caffeine is different,” registered dietitian Anthony DiMarino told the Cleveland Clinic, adding that the stimulant runs through some people in as little as two hours and through others in as many as 10, depending on their metabolism.

Given all the information out there, and considering the vast metabolic and lifestyle differences that everyone has, it’s hard to settle on one “best time” for morning coffee consumption. But as a general guideline, consider having your coffee before noon. And if you work out in the morning, consider having coffee and hitting the gym 45 minutes to an hour later. This won’t work for every lifestyle, but it’s what the facts suggest.

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