Coffee was first discovered, according to legend, by a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi. He noticed his goats became energetic after eating berries from a certain shrub. Kaldi tried the berries himself and then brought them to a monk at a monastery, who initially disapproved but after roasting and brewing the berries, the monks found the drink helped them stay awake during prayers. This story is considered a popular legend around the origin of coffee, though its first documentation appeared centuries later around 1671. Coffee as a beverage was first cultivated and brewed on a larger scale in Arabia, specifically Yemen, around the 15th century. From there, coffee culture spread to the Middle East and beyond. Thus, although Kaldi is credited in folklore to be the original discoverer of coffee's stimulating effects, the invention of coffee as a brewed drink was more formally developed by Arabian cultures several centuries later.
