How Coffee Went From Devil’s Drink to Global Staple

When European visitors first encountered coffee in the 1500s, they didn’t admire its aroma or appreciate its bold flavor. Instead, they were baffled—some were disgusted—by people sitting idle in public, sipping a strange black liquid from a mysterious seed. Over time, that same ‘devil’s drink’ became a defining part of Western social life.

No, coffee wasn’t always loved. But within 300 years, it went from being banned as sinful to becoming a cultural staple across Europe and beyond. Here’s how.

The Bitter Birth of Coffee

Coffee’s earliest roots trace back to the Horn of Africa. Two main origin stories exist. One claims it began in the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Kaffa (sometimes called the ‘birthplace of coffee’). Another credits an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi, who in 850 AD noticed his goats acting unusually energetic after eating red berries, leading him to boil them into a drink he called qahwah (meaning ‘wine’).

Though the stories differ on details, both point to coffee’s African origins. Linguistic evidence supports this: the word ‘buna’ used in Ethiopia’s Kaffa region evolved into Arabic ‘bunn’ (meaning ‘raw coffee’), indicating the bean likely crossed the Red Sea to Yemen. There, it was cultivated near the port of Mocha (Mocha coffee takes its name from this hub), and the drink became known as qahwa before Arabic speakers adapted it to ‘kahwe’—later evolving into European words like coffee, café, and caffè.

Religious Bans and Early Suspicion

Despite coffee’s energizing effects, early religious authorities weren’t convinced. Islamic scholars debated whether coffee was halal, with some comparing it to alcohol and arguing it should be banned. By the 1630s, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV outlawed both coffee and tobacco, fearing their mind-altering effects. Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, in his novel My Name is Red, even put fictional words in a cleric’s mouth calling coffee ‘the devil’s trick’—a sentiment that reflected real tensions of the time.

Yet within Sufi Muslim communities, coffee was already popular for aiding late-night worship. Its use spread from Yemen’s Sufi circles across the Middle East by the 1400s, reaching Cairo by around 1400. Though some pushed for tea instead (which became the dominant drink among lower classes in the region), coffee remained widely consumed.

Europe’s First Coffee Skeptics

Europeans were equally wary. By the 1510s, coffee had reached the Ottoman Empire, but it took decades for it to draw attention in Europe. In 1585, Venetian envoy to Istanbul, Gianfrancesco Morosini, described coffee drinkers as ‘vulgar,’ ‘unambitious,’ and ‘idle,’ spending their days staring into space while sipping ‘a black liquid boiled to unbearable heat.’

Early English and French observers were just as critical. In 1610, British traveller George Sandys wrote of Turks ‘sitting thereat chatting all day long, and drinking a certain liquor called coffa… as hot as ever they can suffer it; black as soot.’ When London’s first coffeehouse opened in 1652, British beer brewers protested, calling it ‘low, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, loathsome puddle water.’ The insult stuck: as late as 1925, some still used the slang ‘mud’ for coffee.

How Coffeehouses Changed Society

Yet coffee caught on. By 1675, Britain had over 3,000 coffeehouses, averaging 130 new ones per year. France followed, with around 2,800 by the 1780s. These coffeehouses mirrored the style of Arabic originals, offering a male-only space for business, debate, and rest—often called the ‘first clubs.’

Socially, coffeehouses broke class barriers. As prices dropped (initially high due to tariffs, not scarcity), people from different walks of life mingled. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu noted that in parts of southern France, coffeehouses remain male-dominated social hubs. British historian Jürgen Habermas and others have argued that coffeehouses fostered a new culture of dialogue, helping shape public opinion and civic life. Some English institutions, like the famous insurance market Lloyd’s of London, even started in coffeehouses.

By the 18th century, coffee had shed its ‘Muslim drink’ stigma. It became a symbol of sophistication, conversation, and urban civility—a far cry from the ‘mud’ of the 1600s.

From Bitter Brew to Global Icon

As coffee spread, Europeans customized it. They added sugar (uncommon in the Arab world), and Italians created cappuccino—named after the Capuchin monks, whose brown robes resembled the drink’s color. The French blended coffee with milk and sugar. Though tea arrived earlier in Europe, its high cost kept it elite; coffee quickly became more accessible and socially significant.

The drink also transformed global trade. Vast coffee plantations emerged in tropical colonies in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. By the 19th century, coffee dominated exports in places like Indonesia and Brazil, where it made up 61% of all exports by the 1880s, shifting Brazil’s economic center southward. Plantations relied on colonial labor, altering economies and landscapes worldwide.

In cities across Central Europe, Germany, Russia, and Japan, coffeehouses became centers of modernity and intellectual exchange—even if some locales, like pre-war Shanghai, saw coffee shops disguised as brothels or dance halls. Still, these spaces signaled a shift toward Western-style social life and modern values.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where did coffee originate?

Coffee likely originated in the Horn of Africa, particularly Ethiopia’s Kaffa region or through Yemeni highland shepherds who observed energized goats after eating coffee cherries. Linguistic evidence points to Ethiopia as the birthplace, with the word ‘buna’ evolving into Arabic ‘bunn’ (raw coffee), later spreading to Yemen and beyond.

Why was coffee once considered evil or sinful?

Early Islamic scholars debated its permissibility, with some clerics comparing it to alcohol and claiming it caused idleness or moral decline. The Ottoman Sultan Murad IV even banned coffee in the 1630s. In Europe, early drinkers were seen as lazy or vulgar, and coffee was criticized as a ‘bitter’, ‘nasty’ drink unworthy of civilized society.

How did coffeehouses influence European society?

Coffeehouses provided a public space for men to gather, talk, and conduct business. They broke down class barriers as prices fell, fostered dialogue, and became early hubs of civic and intellectual life. Some, like London’s Lloyd’s coffeehouse, evolved into major institutions such as insurance markets.

What role did colonization play in coffee’s global spread?

Colonial powers established vast coffee plantations in Africa, Latin America, and Asia to meet rising global demand. These plantations relied on forced or low-cost labor, making coffee a major export commodity in countries like Indonesia and Brazil, which reshaped their economies and contributed to global trade inequalities.

How did Europeans change the way coffee was consumed?

Europeans added sugar to coffee (rare in Arab tradition) and created drinks like cappuccino and café au lait. They made coffee more accessible and socially acceptable, eventually turning it into a daily habit and a symbol of modern, urban life—despite its early reputation as a ‘bitter mud.’

Why did coffee eventually become socially acceptable?

Over time, coffee’s energizing effects, lower cost compared to tea, and role in fostering conversation helped it gain acceptance. As coffeehouses became hubs of business and debate, and as the drink was embraced by various social classes, it shed its negative image and became a staple of Western social and professional life.

FrontStreet Beans That Define Coffee Culture

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