New Research Unveils Best Time for Coffee For Maximum Benefits Is 9.24am

As employees across the country contend with strikes and darker mornings on their return to the office this October, Thrive London – the coffee company dedicated to helping business thrive  – has a surprising insight: holding off on your first coffee until you reach work could actually set you up to win the day.

While many of us instinctively reach for coffee as soon as we wake up or grab a cup before the commute, new research – conducted in partnership with cognitive psychologist and neuromarketing expert, Dr. Eamon Fulcher – suggests it’s better to wait. But for how long?

‘The Coffee A.M. Formula,’ reveals that the scientifically optimal time for your first coffee is in fact - 9:24 a.m.

This unique formula has been designed to pinpoint the perfect, science-backed moment to enjoy your morning brew. It considers the average wake time, the tendency to snooze (or doomscroll) before rising, the body’s natural morning biochemistry and the demands on employees to both hit the day running and be productive throughout the day,  

Dr Eamon Fulcher cognitive neuroscientist and coffee enthusiast, who conducted the study with Thrive London, explains:

“Put simply the best time for first coffee is  T =X + (Z x 9) + C - 45. Which is 9.24am.*When you wake up, your body naturally produces a surge of cortisol - a hormone that boosts alertness for free. Having coffee at this point wastes its stimulating effect and may even cause stress. The goal is to time coffee so that its peak effect coincides with the natural dip in cortisol that happens later in the morning. If your alarm is set for 7:00am and you snooze once (9 minutes), you rise at 7:09. Add 135 minutes and your ideal first coffee time is 9:24am. The caffeine then peaks around 10:09am, just as cortisol subsides. Therefore 9.24am is the ideal time.”

Clare Hancock, Managing Director of Thrive London who partnered with Dr Eamon Fulcher on the study explains:

With our recent study revealing that 82% of employees say good coffee improves their mood and productivity, we’re encouraging both employees and employers to embrace this new research and have their coffee a little later - for those productivity and happiness gains.  Just by waiting until you get to work, you can enjoy both the ritual and camaraderie of making a lovely coffee with your colleagues whilst getting the most from your coffee.”

Thrive London’s mission is to make exceptional coffee a cornerstone of the modern workplace. From curated coffee deliveries to bespoke office brewing solutions, Thrive London is helping businesses reimagine the role of coffee as a daily ritual that fuels collaboration and wellbeing.

Did you know?

1. A standard latte in a high street coffee shop in Britain is now £4.20 with the average price of coffee in the UK now averaging at £3.35

2. Despite 82% of employees saying good coffee at work improves their mood and productivity, two thirds of employees in Britain only have access to a kettle

3. Snoozing lasts on average 9 minutes because in the 1950s one of the first mass-market alarm clock was produced with a snooze button. Clocks were mechanical and so they used a gear that would delay the alarm from sounding again after the snooze button was hit. They tried to design the gear for a 10-minute snooze, but due to certain gear constraints, they could only manage 9 minutes, which is now the standard snooze time

4. The average half-life of coffee is about 5 hours. This means that if you drank 100mg at 9am, you would still have 50mg in your system at 2pm, and 25mg in your system at 4:30pm

5. The active chemical name for the alkaloid found in coffee beans is 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine

6. Caffeine is a stimulant (it stimulates the central nervous system) and does this by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine normally builds up during the day and makes you feel sleepy. Caffeine is said to “remove the brakes” allowing dopamine and adrenaline to have their stimulating effects on the brain