ahem! Mr. 'spaw, sir.....having drunk mostly tea (GOOD tea) for 30 years before discovering about 6-7 years ago how to make GOOD coffee, I must inform you that I negotitated that entire era without eating shit OR running rabbits. During the big snows, when I ran out of coffee, I happily survived for days on tea, and enjoyed it......I still prefer the amazing wide variety of teas to coffee for pure 'flavor' and drinking pleasure.....but....coffee does something. That makes it 'different' that coffee, not better.

There...enuf of a rise for you?

Coffee is funny stuff...there are, as noted, many compounds in it..(700 or so, I think) and it does get a toe-hold on yer system. Now that I have succumbed to its siren call, I go buy good coffees, (and it does NOT require Strabucks to provide same at exhorbitant prices) and mix GOOD decaf with GOOD regular, so I can have more cups at one sitting, and thus, if I NEED the extra **BANG** on bad days, I can switch to full strength!

(and Amos...I know you swiped the list, but it still amuses me that anyone rates coffee by the 5-oz. cup! Who do you know that drinks 5 oz. servings? *grin* My standard mug is about 14-15 ozs., and I usually have 2 of those...(mixed maybe 60-40 reg to de-caf)