We all love the smell of fresh coffee brewing in the morning (and in the afternoon… and, yes, sometimes in the evening of a really Monday-ish workday), but could our over-eagerness for a mug full of liquid energy be ruining the coffee’s quality?

To get better-tasting brewed coffee, don’t pour your first cup until the entire pot has finished brewing.

Here’s the tea (or coffee): the first drips from a freshly brewed pot of drip coffee are markedly stronger than the last. This means that taking a mug full of coffee at the beginning of a drip coffee maker’s cycle will leave the rest of the pot tasting weak and disappointing. You get one powerful mug of brew and leave the rest a watery mess.

Experts say that coffee dripping at the beginning of the machine’s cycle is eight times more concentrated than the ending drops. That means the first coffee is twice as concentrated compared to a pot of coffee allowed to brew to its full potential. When you remove that first cup, you ruin the whole pot. Unless you just love really strong coffee and don’t mind leaving the remnants to friends, try to exercise some patience.

If you want to get more out of your beans and have more delicious coffee, then give your brew some space in the morning. Guarantee yourself better-brewed coffee every single morning by allowing your drip coffee maker to do its job: brew a delicious, full pot of coffee on its own time, without interruption.