> Eat a [roasted] coffee bean by itself.

That was implied but it still doesn't make any sense. Eating dry tea leaves tastes nothing like drinking a cup of tea.

Well, it makes sense for coffee. I would be happy eating any of the coffee beans I've purchased.

If you don't think it makes sense, then don't do it. There's no reason to argue with people who in their subjective experience have enjoyed it.

People eat chocolate-covered espresso beans? This strikes me as similar, just more in-your-face.

People do eat tea leaves (matcha for example, or Burmese pickled tea leaf salad). But a dry spoonful wouldn't be a good way to get a feel for a given tea, I agree.

when you drink coffee you dont actually drink liquified beans

you just drink water which has super small ground up coffee particles in it...

Right, most people are would hate eating a 100% pure cacao bar, but that doesn't mean they won't enjoy chocolate. There's so much variability in these things, and in the end, it mostly comes down to "try different stuff and see what you like." I almost always drink coffee without any cream or sugar (exception listed below), but I wouldn't say I enjoy coffee more than someone who drenches theirs in both. It's just different tastes.

Even the oft-maligned Nescafe is pleasant for me if I make it correctly. Not the original formula, but the 100% coffee one without the extra ingredients. I thought it tasted horrible when I first tried it, but if I drowned it in a lot of soy milk it actually made for a fairly pleasant drink.

In general, people are going to be happier if they stop trying to cultivate aristocratic aversions to common food, and instead start cultivating curiosity and an interest in finding ways to enjoy things they didn't expect themselves to enjoy.

> most people are would hate eating a 100% pure cacao bar, but that doesn't mean they won't enjoy chocolate.

a wise old friend of mine once said "you think you like chocolate, but what you actually like is sugar in cocoa"

And there are many that if they taste bad raw, will taste bad cooked. Coffee is one of those.

It’s something that you have to do to get it.

There’s a difference in taste between dark‑roast beans from Starbucks vs medium‑roast beans from your local coffee roaster.

Ok, but I'm talking about coffee, not whatever vegetables you have in mind.

I've never had a coffee bean that taste bad on its own, but tasted good in coffee. Similarly, every coffee bean that tasted good brewed, also tasted good on its own.