Everything you always wanted to know about breakfast but were afraid to ask.

15 minutes that make all the difference. Why not start the day by taking your time? It's been proven that having breakfast improves your life! Setting aside time for this moment of pleasure makes you better able to deal with traffic jams, your boss, you name it!

Breakfast is vital. 25% of your daily calorie intake should come from breakfast. Skipping breakfast puts your body into starvation mode. Two hours after getting up, you start eating into your muscle reserves and get that sudden downer.

Not just any old coffee maker. Four out of five people like drinking coffee in the morning. But watch out! While the quality of the coffee is obviously important, what matters most is the way it's brewed because a coffee's whole essence lies in its thousands of different aromas that are simply bursting to be set free. So you need to choose a quality coffee maker that can retain and then deliver those aromas, and say goodbye to insipid dishwater for good!

What about the water? Avoid using mineral water that, once heated, may have a strong taste. Tap water is ideal,  and boiling naturally eliminates any chlorine. Opt for a thermal jug that keeps your coffee hot all morning.

Why descale my coffee maker? Limescale is tasteless, but it can still spoil your brew. That's because, as the limescale builds up, the water takes longer to filter through the coffee and leaves it tasting acidic.

Tea mania. Black teas are top of the charts in Europe's morning teapots. Whether from India (Darjeeling), Sri Lanka (Ceylon), China, Taiwan or Indonesia, they all have one thing in common - they're quite strong. People in the US prefer semi-fermented teas, such as Formosa Oolong.