Coffee Please! The most common legend about the discovery of coffee is that it happened in the ninth century AD. A herder Ethiopia named goat in Kalil noticed that his goats became active after they red very ate berries from a leafy bush. He tried a few berries himself, and he was soon as overactive as his herd. Kalil told other people in his tribe about his experience, and for the next four hundred years, people chewed the berries because they gave quick energy.