"they come, they say, for the aroma, the taste as well as coffee's ability to wake them up"
This what gets me going. I started roasting my own --boy is it wonderful. I did not realize how much a difference it makes to have really fresh coffee not to mention sampling specific crops from specific places around the world. Anyone interested, a good place to check out is
http://sweetmarias.com/. But a word of warning. Once you start home roasting, it is hard to swallow the coffee at work!
"caffeine is interesting...one thing most people don't know is that espresso can often contain less caffeine than a cup of coffee...it has to do with how you brew it. espresso is brewed from water shooting through at high pressure but at a very fast speed, while coffee is made by a slow soak of the grinds..."
Actually it is the amount of roasting that reduces the amount of caffeine left in the bean. A very dark roast (espresso) has less because it the heat has removed allot of the caffeine! Also cheap coffee allot of times has Robusta coffee which is not known for its flavor but is cheaper and has more caffeine.