From Wikipedia:  A coffee table, also called a cocktail table, is a style of long, low table which is designed to be placed in front (or next to) a sofa, to support beverages (hence the name), magazines, books (especially large, illustrated coffee table books), decorative objects, and other small items to be used while sitting, such as beverage coasters.

The idiom "Gather round the coffee table" is derived from the furniture piece and its proclivity for encouraging conviviality and light conversation. Coffee tables were thought to initially be constructed in Renaissance England.