Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, is the original home of coffee (Arabica). Kaffa, the province in the southwestern highlands where coffee first flowered, gave the crop its name. Formal cultivation and use of coffee as a beverage began in the early 9th century. Earlier, coffee trees proliferated wildly in the forests of Kaffa , and the region may have been familiar with the berry and the beverage. According to the ancient history of Ethiopia , the Abyssinian goat herder Kaldi, who lived around 850 AD, discoveredcoffee. He watched his goats jump excitedly and bleat loudly after chewing the bright red berries that grew on nearby green bushes. Kaldi tried a few berries himself and soon felt a sense of joy. He filled his pockets with berries and ran home to announce his discovery. At his wife's suggestion, he took the berries to the monks at the monastery at Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile River.