Alfred Peet Biography

Coffee guru known as the “grandfather of specialty coffee” who was responsible for the U.S. gourmet-coffee revolution. In 1966 he opened his first coffeehouse, Peets Coffee and Tea Inc., in Berkeley, Calif., where he dark-roasted strong coffee beans. The Dutch-born son of a coffee merchant, he mentored, trained, and inspired a generation of coffee entrepenaurs including the founders of Starbucks.