The story I've heard goes like this...
It was goatherd in what is now Ethiopia, named Khaldi, who one day noticed his goats eating the coffee fruits and they were very energetic so he tried some too.
(Now I don't know too many animal tenders who would see bizarre behavior by their livestock as an indication they should eat that stuff too. :shocked2: )
I have heard it slightly differnt, and I think it more likely..., that Khaldi was without food and hungry. Then he noticed that his goats were eating the fruit off a bush, and he ate some too. He also noticed that the goats were very restless at night when they ate the berries. When he tried some, and found they did give him some energy, and he was probably a day or two from his last meal so this "berry" became important to him and other folks with whom he shared his discovery.
Now..., what is The Middle East today, was an area that saw what we would call the rise of "science" though it wouldn't pass for science today. Apparently Khaldi's discovery became known to many of the goatherds.., tired and hungry and without food? eat some of these berries. ...but that's a looong way from out present morning beverage eh?
Lost to time, but perhaps once viable scenario.... somehow the use of this berry found its way to some sort of alchemist..., who obtained some of the fruit. It was from that, which lead to the bean inside the fruit becoming known as the source of the "energy", and later it was found that a decoction from the ground beans worked better than eating the beans, and roasting the beans before grinding was better. (Decoction, infusion, and tinctures were often used by herbalists of that time.)
At first Muslims rejected the beverage for they thought it an "intoxicant" like alcohol, but it was discovered that it did the opposite and allowed the drinker to pray much longer before sleep was needed, thus it was approved. Interestingly when coffee first came to Europe, it too was thought at first to be bad, especially for women, but later the prohibition on it wore off.
The idea that it was found and used by a goatherd and then was looked into by what we would call an "alchemist" is plausible. We know that from records that coffee apparently was found after the rise of Islam, which was 600 years or so after the birth of Christ...but several centuries before The Crusaders would start bringing back products of Eastern "science"...including distilled spirits. (Myrrh is mentioned as far back as the bible, and myrrh is used to make a balm or salve for the treatment of open wounds...so the idea that there were men who were always looking for a new medicine or potion isn't far fetched.)
Mostly legend and a LOT of supposition, but legends often have a grain of truth.
LD