The most widely cited legend about the discovery of coffee is that of the goat-herd Kalid who noticed that his goats pranced excitedly after chewing berries from coffee bushes.

He he also tasted and enjoyed their stimulating effect. A monk who found Kaldi in that invigorated state also tasted the cherries and took some and planted the seeds in the vicinity of his monastery near Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile River. He roasted and brewed the harvested coffee cherries and tried out the beverage on his brethren. As a result they were kept awake during their long prayers at night and coffee was accepted as a stimulant drink.

Still today, the offspring of these trees can be admired in an area known as Zege where thousands of these trees are being used for crossbreeding purposes by the Ethiopian Coffee Research Center.