Coffee break: How healthy is your coffee?

Macchiato, cappuccino, flat white, long black, latte, espresso - for coffee drinkers, there is a myriad of choices out there.

Everyday billions of us choose to overlook or embrace its addictive properties and down our caffeine hit, or hits, as the case may be.

But chances are, we are not choosing to drink it due for its health benefits. Or are we?

"I've never believed there is anything bad in drinking five cups a day," says Will Corby, a coffee "hunter" or specialty coffee merchant with Mercanta - The Coffee Hunters, and trainer at the London School of Coffee, Kazinform has learnt from BBC Food.

Caffeine is such a powerful stimulant, people are known to have overdosed on espressos, and drinking too much has been associated with negative health effects, such as insomnia, jitteriness, diuresis and headaches.

Will Corby says quality is key. He can drink 20 cups of excellent coffee while judging, with no side effects. But what happens when he has three badly-brewed ones?

"I drink a lot of coffee, and I drink a well-brewed cup. I have no problems sleeping. But if you drink a badly-brewed cup, it has a bad effect on you," the coffee expert says.

In fact health research over the years has found good things in a cup of coffee - most recently in Greek-style coffee.

The coffee consumption of elderly people on the Greek island of Ikaria was linked to a reduction in one risk factor for heart disease according to a study in the Vascular Medicine journal .

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