On Thursday, December 11, 2003, at 03:06  PM, theta sigma wrote:

> Now the question I pose for the list is what about camelia sinensis -
> used to make green tea.

I have tried it. It tastes like any other tree leaf. Nasty. Bitter. I
have had to give up drinking green tea. Since my troubles with stomach
acid backing up, last summer, green tea makes me hurt. I have about
recovered, actually, and now the only things I still avoid are green
tea and milk. I have to limit sharply black tea and coffee though. Both
drive my stomach acid up if I have more than a single cup a day.

As to the coffee bean discussion, ripe coffee berries aren't so great
either. And the uncooked beans are tough and not fun to eat. I have
chewed a few that were recently picked. I can't imagine anyone not
starving or addicted to caffeine eating them.