I don't see why you couldn't eat whole coffee beans. The only beans I've eaten are dark chocolate covered espresso beans--love them! That's probably not what you're looking for.
Tea makes me so jittery, I get nauseous. However, green tea capsules give me a boost without the jitters. Another way, at least for me, to get a lot of physical and mental energy is by drinking what is for me a pre-workout drink of various unflavored powdered amino acids mixed with plain water.