08/29/2026
Before Seattle became synonymous with coffee, there was Alfred Peet.
Today in Food History | August 29
In 2007, coffee pioneer Alfred Peet passed away at the age of 87, leaving behind an influence that stretched far beyond the little coffee shop he opened in Berkeley, California, in 1966.
Peet believed coffee should be freshly roasted, made from high-quality beans, and treated as a craft rather than just something that came out of a can. That philosophy helped change the way Americans thought about coffee.
And his story has a pretty remarkable Seattle connection.
In 1971, three young entrepreneurs named Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker approached Peet to learn about roasting and blending coffee. Peet trained them and even supplied roasted beans for their new business during its early years.
That new business?
Starbucks.
That same year, Starbucks opened its first store here in Seattle at Pike Place Market, beginning what would become one of our city’s most recognizable success stories.
So the next time you walk through Seattle with a cup of coffee in your hand, there’s a little bit of Alfred Peet’s legacy in the story.
One Berkeley coffee roaster helped inspire three entrepreneurs in Seattle, and American coffee culture would never be quite the same.
Now we want to hear from the coffee drinkers:
☕ Black
🥛 Cream and sugar
☕ Espresso
🥐 Coffee and something from the pastry case
How do you take your first cup of the day?
Tell us in the comments and raise a cup this weekend to one of the pioneers who helped start America’s specialty coffee revolution.
