- What advantage do plants with caffeine have over plants with no caffeine?
- List eight pros and seven cons to drinking beverages containing caffeine.
- Name the plant that serves as the source for most of our coffee. What country is it native to and what legend is there about its discovery?
- Describe how and where coffee was used in the Arabian world. Why were the coffee houses controversial? Describe the coffee houses of London.
- Use Fig. 16.1 to briefly outline the site of coffee plantations from their beginning in N. Africa and Arabian Peninsula to where they are found today.
- What are the two different coffee roasts? What affects the strength of the brew?
- When was instant coffee invented and when did its use become widespread?
- What are the supposed origins of tea? What plant is used to make tea? Where is this plant native?
- What two things give tea its aroma? Name the essential oil in tea. List 4 ways to change the flavor of tea.
- Describe the four types of tea and briefly compare how the tea leaves are processed to produce each one.
- Explain how tannins are a nuisance and useful.
- List five ways tea is beneficial to humans.
- What gives tea its stimulating effects? How is theophylline medically important?
- Why is the cocoa tree, Theobroma cocoa (not the coca plant) one of our favorites? Where is this tree native to?
- Briefly describe the Aztec legend about cocoa beans and their drink chocolatl. How is Cortés connected to chocolatl? Name a chocolate company founded by Quakers.
- From the Closer Look 16.2 (pg. 273) make a list of pros and cons to eating chocolate.
- Why is the Kola nitida tree important and where is it native to? How are its seeds used? Why is John Pemberton famous?
