A brief history of Coffee by Archive Islam Discovered in the 1400s in Yemen. The first coffee house opened in 1554 in Istanbul, Turkey. Muslims used to stay awake during night time prayers. Mocha is a region in Yemen, and Java is an island in Indonesia. It was seen as an “evil drink” in Europe in 1500s because of it’s association with Islam. European coffee houses helped spark the enlightenment, which borrowed many Islamic ideas.