At the time Alfred Peet opened his first coffee shop, in Berkeley in 1966, gourmet coffee wasn't yet a trend in the United States. However, in Holland, where Peet was from, a rich cup of coffee was as prized as a cash-rimmed margarita, and Peet imported those high European standards for both the taste of coffee and the culture of cafés. Peet's first shop opened on April Fool's Day, but the joke was on anyone who would have scoffed at his dream. Today, his namesake coffee shops are thriving all over the U.S.—and his namesake coffee is available to brew at home. Alfred Peet was a pioneer and dedicated to the fact that the best coffee starts with the freshest beans. Peet's never roast until you click! You can’t get fresher beans unless you roast them yourself.

More than anything, the success of Peet's is a testament to the coffee itself. It's sourced from around the world, including such locales as the Pacific Islands and Arabia. From there, experts prepare each roast in small batches; in fact, Peet's standards for roasters are so high that only 10 people in the world are allowed to do it, lest any novices accidentally roast a barrel of kidney beans instead.