Theory from the U.S Navy\u00a0and coffee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Josephus Daniels was in 1913 appointed the new Navy secretary. He banned alcoholic beverages on all U.S Navy ships in 1914, a move that displeased the sailors as the ban left them with coffee as the only strong beverage on board. Out of bitterness or mockery, the sailors nicknamed coffee \u2018a cup of Josephus<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>, \u2019 referring to the man who took away their booze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u2018cup of Josephus<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>\u2019 was a mouthful, and the name was shortened to a \u2018cup of Joe<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historians dispute this theory. They state that the phrase \u2018cup of Joe\u2019 first appeared in the English lexicon in 1930. History also says that the alcohol ban happened before Order 99 and only affected naval officers who had access to alcohol until 1914.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018A cup of Joe\u2019 on board U.S navy ships served as a bitter reminder of the man who took away alcohol. The name has been used for decades and is still common today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n English historians believe the term \u2018cup of Joe\u2019 appeared in the English lexicon in 1930, 16 years after the ban of alcohol on navy ships. During this time, coffee lovers had nicknamed the beverage java and mocha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over time, people combined the two names to make the slang word \u2018Jamoke,\u2019 and they would refer to coffee as a \u2018cup of jamoke.\u2019 The slang spread like wildfire, and the name eventually evolved to a \u2018cup of Joe.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n This common man drink theory simply states that coffee is an ordinary person\u2019s drink; it is not only consumed by people of a particular class in society. Joe is an English slang word meaning ordinary person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The history behind the theory is that in U.S diners, customers would ask for a cup of coffee to go with their breakfast. The waitresses served a variety of people, regardless of their social status. This brought up the nickname, a \u2018cup of Joe, \u2019 meaning coffee was for every person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many theories try to explain the origin of the phrase \u2018cup of Joe.\u2019 Still, the reason coffee is called a cup of Joe remains unclear. The Jamoke name evolution to a \u2018cup of Joe\u2019 is believed to be more accurate as it is based on linguistics.<\/p>\n\n\n However, one more theory predates all other theories and has some historical backing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This might be the earliest theory of why coffee is called a cup of Joe. Joseph Martinson\u2019s family emigrated to the US from Latvia. Joseph started experimenting with coffee roasting and blending when he was only 16 years old. He would go on to sell this coffee from a pushcart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was an effective door-to-door salesman, and the smell of coffee was a bonus enough to get people to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1898, he founded the Martinson Coffee Company in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His was a story of \u2018The American Dream, complete with a lineup of Rolls Royce in the 1930s. It is said the residents who\u2019d buy his door-to-door coffee named it \u2018Joe\u2019s coffee\u2019 or \u2018a cup of Joe.\u2019 There are also rumors that New Yorkers also called it a cup of Joe during the height of the company\u2019s success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Joseph Martinson might not have been the originator of the term, the company trademarked the phrase \u2018cup of Joe.\u2019 The company has since changed hands, moving as far as Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the origin is still unclear, the name has stood the test of time. Coffee continues to be a unifying beverage, enjoyed across all cultures and by everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Coffee goes by many nicknames, bean juice, java, brew, and the most common, a cup of Joe. \u00a0The origin of the phrase cup of Joe remains uncertain as there are different stories around it. Like many origin stories, there are different tales about why coffee is called a cup of Joe. The most common theory … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":386,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Combining of coffee nicknames<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The average person theory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why is coffee called a cup of Joe?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Why](\"https:\/\/dotlatte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Why-is-coffee-called-a-cup-of-Joe.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe Martinson coffee theory.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n