Coffee
A brown shade matching the look of roasted coffee beans
Coffee is a brownish colour that matches the average shade of roasted coffee beans. The name was first used for a colour in English in 1695 and describes the typical appearance of coffee after roasting, though actual beans can vary in colour.
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- Coffee is a brown shade based on roasted coffee beans.
- First recorded as a colour name in English in 1695.
- Its colour coordinates match those of Tuscan brown.
- Variations include café au lait and café noir.
What colour is Coffee?
Coffee is a brownish colour that takes its cue from the look of roasted coffee beans. While the exact shade of a roasted bean can differ depending on the type and roast, this colour represents an average, middle-brown tone. It stands apart from lighter or darker browns by matching the typical hue seen in a cup of brewed coffee or a handful of roasted beans.
Where does Coffee come from?
The name 'coffee' for this colour comes from the drink made from roasted coffee beans. The term was first used to describe a colour in English in 1695. The colour itself is meant to capture the average shade of beans after roasting, though the actual beans can be lighter or darker.
Brown around the world
What the brown family means from country to country.
Brown is the colour of Nazism in German political speech, after the brown shirts of the party's stormtroopers. To call a view "brown" is to call it far right.
Politics and protestDanger and warningShameSource: SturmabteilungMasi is bark cloth beaten from paper mulberry and printed in brown and black. It is worn at weddings and funerals and given in ceremonial exchanges.
Sacred and holyWeddings and marriageSource: Tapa clothKuntunkuni is a dark brown mourning cloth of the Asante, dyed with tree bark. Adinkra cloth, stamped with symbols, was first made on such dark grounds for funerals.
Mourning and deathSadnessSource: Adinkra symbolsThe batik of the Javanese courts at Yogyakarta and Surakarta is dyed in soga brown with indigo and cream. Some court patterns were once reserved for the royal family.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: BatikBogolanfini, or mud cloth, is cotton painted with fermented river mud in browns, black and white. Hunters wear it for protection, and women after childbirth.
Protection and healingSacred and holySource: BògòlanfiniShades and relatives of Coffee
There are related shades such as café au lait, which is the colour of coffee mixed with milk and is also called latte. Café noir represents the dark colour of black coffee. The colour coordinates for coffee are the same as those for Tuscan brown, while café au lait matches Tuscan tan and French beige.
Colours that go with Coffee
Harmonies are worked out from the value #6F4E37. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Coffee
What colour is coffee?
Coffee is a brownish colour that represents the average shade of roasted coffee beans.
Where does the name for this colour come from?
The name comes from coffee, the drink made from roasted beans, and was first used for a colour in English in 1695.
Are there other colours related to coffee?
Yes, café au lait (coffee with milk) and café noir (black coffee) are related shades, each based on how coffee is served.
Is coffee the same as Tuscan brown?
The normalised colour coordinates for coffee and Tuscan brown are identical.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Coffee (color)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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