The novel begins with an evocative description of coffee: “It rippled thickly in the bowl, dark and hot and uninviting” (3). Throughout the story, coffee’s effect on all the senses is explored. Initially coffee is perceived as something exotic and mysterious. Numerous references are made to its smell, “the sharp odor of earth and rank leaves” (3); its color, which is “blacker than the wines of Cahors” (13); and its taste, which has “a rich, almost enchanting, bitterness” (14). In particular, coffee’s bitter taste metaphorically represents Hannah’s disappointment with her marriage to Daniel. She imagines eating coffee berries with Miguel, tossing them in her mouth “as though she had been eating bitter fruit all her life—which, after all, she had” (97).

Later, Miguel becomes aware of how coffee heightens his mental state. He feels energized and alert after drinking coffee, and it increases his desire to engage in trade. He understands what Geertruid meant when she said that “coffee is the drink of commerce” (107).

Hannah feels not only the psychological but also the physical effects of coffee. She quickly goes from enjoying the coffee berries to becoming addicted to them. When she goes without coffee for more than a day, “her desire for it made her head ache” (160).