Peet's Coffee--For great Tea!
Written: May 17 '00 (Updated May 20 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Amazing variety of Teas and Coffees.
Cons: Sometimes too crowded on the weekends, so share your table!
|
|
|
| adonna's Full Review: Peet's Coffee & Tea |
I'm a tea drinker, and I like something nice. Peet's, with their huge variety of loose teas, and their well trained staff, deliver. When I want a treat, I can venture down to Burlingame Avenue in Burlingame (passing two Starbux, by the way), sidle into a comfortable table, grab a complimentary newspaper, and wait for the nice people to bring me a little white pot of steeping loose tea. Along with the pot is a cup, and a strainer. When the tea is done steeping, I pour through the strainer into the cup. It's a relaxing ritual.
My local Peet's is a friendly place. You'd hardly know it was a chain, except for the polish in the signs and the more conventional music. The people who work there are usually friendly (more so in former years, when the manager, at that time Matthew, encouraged conviviality), and the locals won't hesitate to sit down beside you and talk. The shelves of the store sport the wooden model boats crafted by one of the locals, known to all as "Goombah". He's a favorite of the store (of the whole Avenue, maybe the whole town), and when he comes in, it's customary for everyone to stand, raise their cup, and call out a greeting for him. It's fun, and everyone gets into the act.
My Peet's has a huge board filled with tea varieties, which you can order by the glass or buy by the bag. There's such a variety of teas that you can try a new one every time you go in, indeed, I've done that. For coffee drinkers, they brew a mean espresso, and many specialty drinks. Their offerings are closer to traditional coffee house fare than the watered down versions served up at their competitors. (And they are competitors, as Starbux almost always will open in a place where Pete's exists.) Additionally, they sell a wonderful variety of beans, if you want some to take home.
In addition to coffee and tea, they have all the accessories you'd want for making or enjoying it yourself, including espresso machines, tea pots, measurers, filters, cups, and even little candies to serve with tea or coffee.
Unlike some Peet's that have been reviewed, the Peet's on Burlingame Avenue isn't usually rushed on weekdays. There may be a line, but it's handled efficiently, and everyone who gets their drinks or treats does not feel constrained to stay and relax and engage in conversation.
If you live in the area, check it out. If you live elsewhere, check their Peet's out, as they are all individual, and you might luck out and find the one that Manager Matthew is working at now.
If you're interested in working at a coffee shop, and don't mind going corporate, Peet's is a good place for that too. I've had two of my "kids" (the kids who've lived at my house but who aren't related, I've got a review explaining this, entitled "Share a Kid") work there, so I know first-hand that they pay well and treat their people nicely. Even part-timers can get medical benefits, for instance, and they have excellent training. For a corporate coffee house, that's as good as it gets.
Whether you're looking for unique teas or beans, or a good place to hang out for a while, or a coffee house job, do check out Peet's.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
adonna
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Donna Hall
Location: Humboldt County, California
Reviews written: 164
Trusted by: 100 members
About Me:
When I'm not here, I'm birding. (Or working, or gardening, or playing with power tools.)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.