Coffee was discovered according to legend by Kaldi, a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder. He noticed his goats became energized after eating the red berries of a particular shrub, later identified as the coffee plant. Kaldi brought the berries to a nearby monastery, where monks initially regarded them as a temptation of the devil and threw them into the fire. The roasting berries produced a pleasant aroma, leading the monks to brew the first coffee beverage, which helped them stay awake during prayers.

While this story is the most popular legend, it is likely apocryphal and there are other accounts attributing the discovery to different figures, including a 13th-century Moroccan mystic and a man named Sheikh Omar in Yemen. The actual cultivation and roasting of coffee beans to brew the drink as it is known today began in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly Yemen, around the 15th century. Yemen became the first major center for growing and trading coffee, which then spread to the Ottoman Empire and beyond.

Thus, Kaldi is traditionally credited with the discovery of coffee, but the drink as we know it was developed and popularized by Arab cultures in Yemen.