It’s that time of year again — the leaves turn brittle and golden, shadows stretch a little longer, and pumpkin-scented everything takes over the shelves, including our own Pumpkin Spice Blend. But while most people reach for spiced lattes and toffee apples, there’s a deeper, more intriguing bond between coffee and Halloween that goes far beyond seasonal syrups.

At St Martins, we’re always interested in the why behind the things we love. So in the spirit of the spooky season, let’s explore how coffee — yes, coffee — shares an unexpected but strangely perfect alignment with Halloween.

Coffee’s Dark Origins: The Devil’s Drink?

Before it became Britain’s breakfast staple or your morning lifeline, coffee was shrouded in mystery. Some of the earliest stories trace back to Ethiopia, where a goatherd named Kaldi noticed his animals behaving strangely — dancing, even — after nibbling on bright red coffee cherries. Word spread to nearby monks, who discovered that brewing the beans helped them stay awake during midnight prayers.

From the very beginning, coffee carried a whisper of the supernatural.

By the time it reached Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, coffee was still seen as suspicious. Many called it “the Devil’s drink,” its dark colour and bitter flavour fuelling rumours of danger and temptation. It was even condemned from pulpits — until, as legend has it, Pope Clement VIII tasted it, smiled, and declared, “This drink of Satan is so delicious it would be a sin to let only non-believers enjoy it.”

Sound familiar? That balance of fascination and fear is at the very heart of Halloween.

Like Halloween, coffee was once a taboo, a curiosity from the edge of the known world. A dark brew with the power to change how people felt and behaved. In many ways, it was — and still is — a kind of potion.

Haunted Hubs and Penny Universities

The first coffeehouses in Europe weren’t cheerful brunch spots. They were smoky, dimly lit rooms filled with debate, speculation, and storytelling. Known as “penny universities,” these 17th-century hubs were places where you could buy a cup of coffee for a penny and listen to poets, thinkers, radicals, and rogues.

You can picture it, a flickering candle. A shadowy figure in the corner. A ghost story whispered over the rim of a steaming mug.

Coffeehouses were the modern cauldrons of their day. Places where thoughts brewed as fiercely as the drinks. And, just like Halloween bonfires or Samhain gatherings, they were spaces where the boundaries blurred — between social classes, between ideas, between superstition and reason.

The Potion of the People

Let’s face it — coffee is a potion. Not just metaphorically. You grind a mysterious dark bean, mix it with hot water, and create a liquid that changes you. You start groggy. You end up alert, energised, perhaps even inspired.

Is that not magic?

In witchcraft, alchemy, and old European folklore, potions were brewed to induce transformation. Love, sleep, power, wisdom — all bottled in a steaming elixir. Coffee fits the bill. It’s our daily ritual, our morning spell. And during Halloween, when potions and brews take centre stage, it steps even more fully into that role.

Whether it’s a black filter brew or a frothy flat white, coffee is the drink of transformation. And transformation is the soul of Halloween.

The Nighttime Brew

Halloween marks the seasonal shift — longer nights, colder mornings, the slow slip into winter. It’s a celebration of the in-between. Dusk. Twilight. The thinning veil.

Coffee, too, belongs to the liminal hours. Coffee has always been the companion of the night owl. The brew of candlelight, of silence, of the witching hour.

For centuries, it’s been the drink of monks, mystics, thinkers, and insomniacs. Its place is not just at the breakfast table — it’s by the firelight, beside the ghost story, in the long stillness where the world feels slightly otherworldly.

Death by Dark Roast

Even the language of coffee leans gothic. Think about our Midnight Roast
We don’t shy away from the drama. We embrace it.

Coffee’s rich, bold, sometimes bitter profile plays well with the imagery of Halloween. Cauldrons bubble. Spirits stir. And in your mug? A dark, mysterious brew with the power to awaken the dead — or at least the under-caffeinated.

This season, why not lean into that energy? Brew your coffee strong. Light a candle. Read something spooky. Let the drink carry you into the darker corners of autumn.

Final Thoughts: Stirring the Brew

Halloween isn’t just about sweets and scarecrows. It’s a time of transition, of folklore, of recognising the shadows in and around us. And coffee, in its own way, lives in those same shadows.

From its mystical beginnings and misunderstood rise, to its role as a modern-day potion, coffee is steeped in ritual, folklore, and transformation. It fuels the storytellers, warms the midnight watchers, and invites us to brew something dark and bold — especially as the nights draw in.

So this Halloween, don’t just think pumpkins and sweets. Think mugs and mystery.

And if you’re looking for a coffee that suits the season? You know where to find us.