National Coffee Ice Cream Day is a holiday that is observed annually on September 6th. It’s a day on which people can enjoy a variety of caffeinated ice cream flavors including Cappucino, Vanilla Coffee Bean, Espresso, Coffee Toffee Crunch, Jamoca, or any of the other types of coffee-flavored ice creams available. So on this day, enjoy some coffee ice cream or make your favorite type of coffee and add a scoop of regular ice cream to it. Either way, you’re going to find out why coffee and ice cream are a flavor combination made in heaven. 

The History Of Coffee Ice Cream

Although we were disappointed to discover that the origins of National Coffee Ice Cream Day are lost to history, we were lucky enough to uncover the history of coffee ice cream. To cover the history of coffee-flavored ice cream, however, we first have to cover the history of coffee and the history of ice cream. Once we’ve done that, we can then tie it all together. 

Coffee goes back to 9th century Ethiopia. According to a story that’s likely to be apocryphal, this is when a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that his goats became energized when they nibbled on the red berries of a certain bush. He then began to chew on the fruit himself and immediately recognized the added energy obtained from chewing them. Since then people began to make a brewed drink from the coffee beans. Although we’re unsure if this is a true story or a myth, one thing is for certain, coffee goes back at least 1,200+ years.

The origins of ice cream go back even further than coffee, all the way back to the 2nd Century A.D. This is when Alexander The Great enjoyed a treat that was made from snow, honey, and nectar. The first snow cone, if you will. Then sometime during the 13th century, Marco Polo returned from Asia with a product that had a consistency very much like modern-day sherbet. It’s believed that this “sherbet” eventually morphed into modern ice creams sometime during the 16th century. 

So when did people first combine these two ingredients to make the world’s first coffee ice cream? No one knows for sure, but it is known that coffee ice cream was used as a parfait during the mid-19th century. And this type of ice cream was commercially available sometime after World War II.

Observing National Coffee Ice Cream Day

If you want to enjoy National Coffee Ice Cream Day, then all you have to do is to enjoy one of your favorite flavors of coffee ice cream. Although the coffee ice cream was rare at one point in time, there seems to be an abundance of it and you can find it just about anywhere. While you’re enjoying your bowl of coffee ice cream, be sure to use the hashtag #NationalCoffeeIceCreamDay on social media to spread the word about it. And if you feel up to it, you can also try to make your own coffee-flavored ice cream.