The good stuff. Beans that are burned, then ground, and all of the flavorful goodness is removed by a process common in biology and chemistry called extraction. Extraction is the transfer of a substance from one material to another. The principle is based on the fact that substances have different soluability in different media. The affinity of the substance for the extracting media can be modified by modifying some properties of the media, commonly by modifying the temperature. This concept is easily grasped in the case of coffee. Imagine (or try) making coffee with cold water, luke warm water, and the typical piping hot water.

Another intersting idea that this wonderfully aromatic pile of ground plant seeds provides is a chance to consider a potentially cool biotechnology. There is caffeine in the coffee bean meaning that the plant makes the caffeine... meaning that the biochemical pathway that produces the caffeine may be able to be introduced into other microorganisms. If probiotic microorganisms are used the bacteria can be ingested and your body can have a nearly continuous stream of caffeine into the body. The bacteria would have to be engineered such that it couldn't reproduce or else you might not be able to sleep... ever.