I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
In 1966 Alfred Peetopened his first coffee shopon the corner of Vine and Walnut in Berkeley, California.
It was an influential start that set a precedent for all the coffee chains that would follow.
Now as they celebrate their 50th anniversary, how do they manage growth without comprising quality?
To learn a little about the process, we spoke with Peets Roastmaster, Doug Welsh.
Whats a typical day-in-the-life of Peets Roastmaster?
Every day starts with tasting some of the best coffees from around the world.
What drove you to choose your career path?
What kind of education and experience was required?
Being a foodie helps because you appreciate the complexity in flavors and also tend to have acute tasting skills.
But getting to the level of Roastmaster is less about talent and more about experience and focus.
What kinds of things do you do beyond what most people see or know about?
Not many people think about whats beyond the coffee in their cup.
Others roast by computers.
It takes years to learn and master the art of roasting.
That is why we only have 11 people trained to do it.
Peets has also mastered the art of blending coffees to get rich, deep, complex flavors.
Essentially, we treat coffee bean blending like a master wine maker would blend wine.
Then there is freshness, which is key, though an area most people dont think about.
For instance, we batch orders every single night and set our production schedule to roast the next day.
We dont roast based on warehouse inventories.
We roast based on consumer, customer and store orders from the previous day.
Moreover, we have strict 90 day freshness standards on beans for grocery, mass, and club.
Others can be 365 days or more.
Lastly, we will ship you the freshest coffee your money can buy, right to your doorstep.
Order today, we roast, grind, pack, and ship tomorrow.
What do general consumers under/over value about what you do?
What are the average work hours for the Roastmaster?
Typical 9-5 thing or not?
We venture to avoid tasting in the afternoon, especially after lunch when our palates have been affected.
Coffee roasters, on the other hand, have more unusual hours.
Whats the most enjoyable part of the job?
Coming in every day never quite knowing what youll be tasting, but always hoping for the perfect cup.
Whats the worst part of the job and how do you deal with it?
However, any failure yields knowledge that we can apply to refining a new and different blend.
How would someone who is interested in craft coffee move up in this field?
What could they do beyond working at a local coffee shop?
Keep tasting and learn to trust your taste.
We are full with bias so take a stab at shut out pre-conceived notions.
Coffee will definitely surprise you.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to join your profession?
The real laboratory is behind the coffee counter.
At Peets Coffee, we have a single veto rule.
If one of us isnt satisfied with the taste, the coffee never makes it into the bag.
