Richard's blog

So, we are all fans of a cup of joe or that daily trip by the local java joint, but where did these terms come from? While modern coffee slang includes phrases like half-caff and venti latte, some coffee related terms predate today’s coffee obsessed culture. Coffee is more than just a beverage, and has now become a cultural phenomenon with its own slang, lingo and more.

Java specifically refers to coffee beans produced on the island of Java in Indonesia. Java coffee beans typically have a light, clean flavor. The Dutch first began growing coffee beans on the island of Java in the 17th century and exporting them from there. In Indonesia, the phrase kopi jawa refers to a strong sweet coffee brew with powdered grains added to it. Java began to be widely used as a nickname for coffee in 1850. The term coffee was occasionally applied to other brewed beverages, but java has always referred to coffee, albeit not necessarily good coffee.