Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US/Can.) coffee; also attrib.

[1805		Commercial Secretary 1 Aug. 30: Sugar is pretty good, but we cannot say the same of the coffee. The Java is of a very ordinary sort indeed] .
1850		L.W. Garrard Wah-to-yah and the Taos Trail 62: We had to offer our dear-bought Java at meal time.
1887		Lantern (N.O.) 12 Nov. 3: [...] and bought some java. With it they received two bullets each, and after casting those to the interior of their systems, they hollered loud for more.
1895		J. London ‘’Frisco Kid’s Story’ in High School Aegis X 15 Feb. 2–3: Wot! A quarter. Dat’s very kind in yer, mister. Now I’se solid fer me bed an’ a bowl of Java.
1901		T. Hammond On Board a Whaler 369: Java and Mocha, tempered with canned milk and sugar.
1916		J. Lait ‘‘Taxi, Mister!’’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 142: [He] was lucky if he had time to grab a cup of Java and ‘one of those up there’ on a high stool in the lunch-room.
1922		M.E. Smith Adventures of a Boomer Op. 28: He had a pint of ‘Java’ in one hand, and a half a dozen ‘life-savers’ in the other.
1930		G. Milburn ‘Sweet Charity’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 227: Come, cheer up, pal, it’s nearly ten, / De door’ll soon be open; / We’ll git a bowl o’ Javy den.
1939		P. Di Donato Christ in Concrete 260: Regina passed about the thick black java.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 198: Pigall’s Tabac – wonderful breakfasts for the price of a cup of java.
1951		(con. 1920s) S. Longstreet Pedlocks (1971) 145: The damn stuff them hombres drink in Europe and call Java isn’t fit for a sheepherder’s gut!
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 805: jay – Coffee.
1967		(con. 1950s) McAleer & Dickson Unit Pride (1981) 310: Wanna cuppa java?
1971		J. Simon Sign of Fool 28: A triple strength cup of instant java.
1983		J. Ciardi A Second Browser’s Dict. 156: In Am. navy usage, a cup of joe, prob. by way of an intermediate [...] form ‘cup of J’.
1988		D. Woodrell Muscle for the Wing 123: He sat like an overseer, directing the fellas to [...] drink more java.
1997		(con. 1950s) J. Byrne Slab Boys [film script] 37: Coupla see-through javas an’ go easy on the chicory.
2004		J. Ellroy ‘Jungletown Jihad’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 344: I hit a mocha mecca [...] I jacked up some java.
2012		M. McBride Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] I quietly beseeched the Java gods not to smite me for any momentary lapse in judgment.
2018		(con. 1963) L. Berney November Road 223: ‘Top off that java for you, hon?’ the waitress said.