According to wiki...

One possible origin is the Kaffa region in Ethiopia, where the plant originated (its native name there being bunna). Coffee beans were first exported from Ethiopia to Yemen.

Had a look elsewhere and all point to the Ethiopian kaffa plant as being the start to it all...

Arab traders introduced "qahwah" seeds from the districts of Kaffa and Buno, Ethiopia and began the first true cultivation of the plants in the Arabian Peninsula sometime between 1000 to 1500 years ago.

The main center of qahwah production was the port city of Mocha, Yemen. Qahve imported from Yemen was a popular strong brew with the Turks who served the drink to visiting Italian merchants.


The Italians then introduced coffee to us Europeans in the 1600s. Thank god, without it my days would be terrible!

I have read the versions of how coffee started with the legend of the sheep herder from Caffa, Ethopia named Kaldi as he tended his sheep. He noticed that the sheep became hyperactive after eating the red "cherries" from a certain plant when they changed pastures.
And the legend of an Arabian was banished to the desert with his followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends boil and eat the fruit from an unknown plant. Not only did the broth save the exiles, but their survival was taken as a religious sign by the residents of the nearest town, Mocha. The plant and its beverage were named Mocha to honor this event.

Both are legends and there is no historical evidence to back up the stories, however, it is accepted that the coffee plant grew naturally in Ethopia but, once transplanted in Arabia, it was monopolized by them.