Joe, java go-juice, jamoke, mud and murk are all terms that people use to describe the favored morning beverage, coffee. How did the drink expressed from the coffee bean get the moniker, “cup of joe”?
Like most things American, it comes from the military. Better than Hershey chocolates that were made for military men and pizza that the military brought from Italy, coffee was called “Joe” by naval officers. During the first half of the 20th century the song “Old Black Joe” was their unofficial theme song. Additionally, the term was included in the Reserve Officer’s Manual of 1931. This was in addition to the slang term, java and jamoke. It was understood that, “Coffee is the marine’s best friend and the Corps might well adopt the good old ‘joe-pot’ for its emblem.”
