Alfred Peet

Alfred Peet
Peet in the late 1960s at the original Peet's location
Born(1920-03-10)March 10, 1920
Alkmaar, Netherlands
DiedAugust 29, 2007(2007-08-29) (aged 87)
Ashland, Oregon, U.S.
OccupationFounder of Peet's Coffee & Tea

Alfred H. Peet (March 10, 1920 – August 29, 2007) was a Dutch-American entrepreneur and the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea in Berkeley, California, in 1966. Peet is widely credited with starting the specialty coffee revolution in the US. Among coffee historians, Peet has been called "the Dutchman who taught America how to drink coffee."[1] Peet taught his style of roasting beans to Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, who, with his blessing, took the technique to Seattle and founded Starbucks in 1971. Peet later distanced himself, however, from the Starbucks trio as they experimented with ultra-dark roasts. "Baldwin never learned anything from me," Peet was later quoted as saying.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NOS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Clark, Taylor (November 10, 2008). Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture. Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0316014038.