Peet's Coffee was founded on April 1, 1966, when Dutch immigrant Alfred Peet opened a small shop at the corner of Vine and Walnut streets in Berkeley, California, near the University of California campus. Peet had learned the coffee trade from his father in the Netherlands, and was struck that such a prosperous country was drinking such ordinary coffee. His response — fresh, hand-roasted, deeply roasted Arabica — helped ignite what is often called the specialty coffee revolution in the United States.
Peet believed in the shortest possible distance between roaster and customer, championing freshness as essential to flavour. He developed a sensory roasting technique calibrated for a dark, sweet, even roast that no one else was offering at the time. In 1969, retired army sergeant Key Dickason helped create the rich, complex blend that became Major Dickason's Blend — still one of Peet's most beloved coffees today.
Peet's influence reaches across the entire industry: Alfred Peet famously mentored the founders of Starbucks and originally supplied their beans. More than half a century on, the brand remains synonymous with bold, full-bodied dark roasts such as its House Blend and signature French Roast, known for a powerful, smoky character that has earned a devoted following.
At ECS Coffee, we carry a curated selection of Peet's Coffee in convenient single-serve formats: K-Cup pods compatible with Keurig brewers, including House Blend, French Roast and the celebrated Major Dickason's Blend, plus Peet's French Roast Flavia Freshpacks for Mars Flavia office systems. Explore our Peet's collection to enjoy this pioneering dark roast at the touch of a button.
