The perfect time to drink coffee has been revealed

What is it about coffee? Gulping a whopping 70m cups of the good stuff every single day, it seems we can’t get enough of it on these shores - the best coffee machine in our home is kept very busy. Though if you’re one of the millions of caffeine slaves reaching for the kettle before the alarm clock has even stopped ringing, you might be doing it wrong…

How do we know? One man has now spilled the Fairtrade beans on when exactly is the best time to brew up.

Speaking to the Gastropod podcast as part of their Breakfast of Champions campaign, Steven Miller, an expert in chronopharmacology (the science of how the brain responds to drugs) claimed that if you work a regular 9-5 job then you're best drinking your first coffee at 9.30.

Miller claims this is because the body’s level of cortisol - a hormone that controls stress levels and blood sugar levels - peaks between 8am-9am, meaning it does not need a caffeine boost before then. But a swift one just after could be the wake-up kick your body needs.

And that’s not all, as he adds that allowing caffeine into the blood system during those early hours could even lead to ‘desensitisation’, whereby the body needs a lot more of the drug to feel the same effect.

Don’t shake your head, the man’s a scientist. Oh no, you’re already hooked aren’t you?

Good luck tomorrow.

[Via: The Independent]

Toasted nuts

Flash fry some seeds and throw them into a great big bowl of Greek yogurt and honey. Simple, photogenic and delicious.

Haggis

Having a fry up? Substitute sausages for Scotland’s national dish. In a rush? Just plonk an egg on it and you’re good to go.

Ostrich egg

Cooking for 20? Or a giant? Ditch the hen eggs and mix up some scrambled with an ostrich egg. They weigh about 2kg and are the equivalent of 24 hen eggs.

French Toast stuffed with Nutella with Strawberries

Failing that, stirring a bowl of Coco Pops until the milk goes really chocolatey will also provide a similar morning sugar-boost.

Beer sausages

Some butchers make these very special bangers. Alternatively, fry some sausages in a puddle of ale yourself - we call it 'hair of the pig'.

Viet-Coffee

Pass on the sugar. Go Vietnamese and sweeten coffee with condensed milk. A classy start to the day.

All in one pan

Make a fry up in one pan. Fry everything separately and then when you’re ready to serve, pop everything back in the pan, crack a few eggs in amongst it all, swirl, finish under the grill and you’ve got a fry up in an ocean of egg.

Pepper eggs

Slice a pepper straight down the middle and fry an egg in it. Add chilies and tomatoes to turn it into the Mexican dish 'huevos rancheros'. If you mess it up, the yolk’s on you.

Puffed up pancakes

Typically American pancakes are made with baking powder. Amp up the puffiness by replacing the plain flour with self-raising flour.

Smoked Maple syrup

Bored of plain old delicious, drooling-all-over-your-slippers maple syrup? Try some smoked maple syrup instead. Oh yes. Just use sparingly.

Pre-made smoothie

Get a freezer bag, stuff it with some berries and a few slices of banana and bung it in the freezer. Go to bed. Wake up. Blitz the contents of the bag in a blender and there’s your morning smoothie all ready for you to down.

Instant bacon

Got a waffle maker? Put your rashers of bacon in that bad boy and seconds later you’ve got crispy as hell bacon. You’re welcome.

Grate tough butter

Left the butter in the fridge overnight so it’s too hard spread in the morning? Don’t worry, we’ve a ‘grate' idea.

Poached in oil

Go that extra mile by poaching your eggs in oil rather than water. You won’t regret it (but your heart might).

Scrambled and salmon

Make your breakfast fit for a God by tearing some smoked salmon and laying it on your scrambled eggs. Yum. Yum. And yum.

Yoghurt pops

Freeze your yoghurts with sticks popped through the lids and slurp your yoghurt lollipop all the way to work.

Hash waffles

Making hash browns in a waffle maker? Naughty.

Maple baked beans

Pour some Maple syrup in the pan when you’re cooking baked beans. Serve on sourdough for a real decadent kick.

Go green

Add some sliced up kale to your scrambled eggs as you cook them.

Naan bacon roll

We’ve ripped this off Dishoom’s brunch menu but that’s because it tastes like heaven.

Fried bananas

…in butter with a spoonful of yoghurt. Nuff’ said.

All day breakfast burger

Sausage. Bacon rasher. Sliced mushrooms. Sliced tomatoes. Fried Egg. Bap. Done.

Chocolate porridge

Swirl a spoonful of Nutella in those oats. Breakfast has never tasted so good.

[Images: Shutterstock]