Death of a real pioneer...

Sad to read this news to day. Peet spent some time in Indonesia as well as NZ (my adopted, and home countries!) before emigrating to the US. I never meet him but I am sure many of the US posters to coffeeforums.com probably did have the honor.

Ashland - Alfred H. Peet, the son of a Dutch coffee merchant who pioneered a revolution in roasting exotic dark beans that led to America’s love affair with high-end coffee, died Wednesday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 87.

He opened the first Peet's Coffee & Tea in 1966 on a rundown street in Berkeley. He mentored the founders of Starbucks letting them work in his store. And even though he sold the coffee business in 1979, Peet's Coffee & Tea still serves their high quality roasts for many addicted coffee lovers.

There are total of 151 stores, most of them in Northern California. In the Los Angeles area there are about 23 Peet's Coffee & Tea stores.
 
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