Peet's Coffee & Tea®

Richmond (District) Coffeehouses ~ Part 24

(and also Breakfast on Geary [redux] 
~ Part 29)

http://www.peets.com/


Place: Peet's Coffee & Tea®
Location: 5201 Geary Boulevard (on the corner of 16th Avenue)
Hours: open Monday - Friday at 5:30am; Saturday & Sunday at 6:00am (I can't really confirm these early opening hours; I know in the past that they didn't usually open until 6:30 or 7:00am daily; I think they have finally determined that most people want to go to a coffeehouse that opens earlier)
Meal: Savory Scone; Morning Bun; Apple Pastry (that is how they had it simply labelled in the pastry display case); and a large cuppa Sumatra Mutu Batak

http://www.peets.com/coffee/featured-coffee/coffee-shop-by-category-limited-editions/sumatra-mutu-batak.html


Continuing along in my Richmond (District) Coffeehouses series, I am finishing up with the last of the coffeehouses on Geary, Peet's Coffee & Tea®. I really had expected there to be several more (of course, this is not counting that crummy St*rbucks place that is taking up space in my local banking establishment). I am not so sure that there are any coffeehouses on Anza Street (I know that way-out my a-way, there are really no commercial stores along Anza Street); there may be one or two on the earlier/easternmost avenues, though. Otherwise, it will be time to head over to Balboa Street, where I know there are at least five to ten coffeehouses to check out ("... out which to check."? No, sorry. That just sounds wrong.).

Peet's Coffee & Tea® really does not have that much to offer in the way of food-stuff. There are several pastries and a few things in the refrigerated display case (pre-made sandwiches and some pre-made oatmeal bowls). However, I do like that they are now offering all of their Coffee blends/roasts that are sold there as single Press-pot cuppas. This gives you the opportunity to try all of their Coffees (before buying a pounda to try at home) and gives you a much better selection than just their old standard three pre-brewed Coffees (a Dark Roast; a Medium or Light Roast; and [that which shouldn't even be mentioned] a De-caf). (For what it is worth, today's Dark Roast [which they list as a "Deep Roast", actually] was Colombia and the Light Roast was Colombia Luminosa; no one really cares what the De-caf was, do they? If you want to drink "de-caffienated" junk, go to a de-coffeehouse, fercryinoutloud!)

http://www.peets.com/coffee/by-region/coffee-shop-by-category-americas/colombia.html

http://www.peets.com/coffee/by-roast/light-roast/colombia-luminosa.html

The Savory Scone was made with (probably) Cheddar cheese and some green herbs (like I can tell my parsley from my elbow). The Morning Bun was a roll/bun made lots of cinnamon and sugar on the outside and inside, and possibly some orange zest as well(?) inside. The Apple Pastry was made with puff pastry and apples; I would probably have called it an Apple Turnover or Apple Croissant myself. While all of these were okay, they were nothing you couldn't get at any other coffeehouse.

My cuppa was made in the press-pot method (aussi connu sous le nom: "Presse Française"). Once again (like last weekend at Peet's Coffee & Tea® in the Marina), I scored a more expensive Coffee for a way lesser price. The barista at the register must have been new and was not aware that they charge more (and in the case of their specialty and Limited Edition blends and roasts that is usually $6.40 for a large cuppa) for press-pots, so he only rang me up for a standard Large cuppa (which is about $2.45). So, I ended up saving about $4.00 (give or take a nickel). And lest you think I was trying to cheat them, I noticed the error right away after I had sat down and then went back and tried to pay the extra amount (I just hate being the "honest guy"), but they told me not to worry about it because it had already been wrung up and paid for ("... for which it had already been up wrung and paid."? That can't be correct.) Woo-HOO!!! Saved myself some $$$ right there. (Of course, it all works out in the wash; see the below Pay It Forward Weekend... or bugger off! interlude.) This was a very good Coffee (it had better have been for $6.40 a cuppa... well, $2.45, but still), but definitely not the best of their Limited Edition specials that I have ever had. This was very smooth, but I didn't notice a lot of robust flavour (probably because it is made with Typica Arabica beans[1]).

For anyone wanting to know (as it is being hidden under my reusable cloth zarf ~ Thanks, Cindy!), today's design/motif on my paper Coffee cup was Sulawesi Ceremonial Textile.

I didn't need to see what Peet's Coffee & Tea® offered for condimentary supplements. I had brought a few of my own hot sauces with me, but (correctly) figured that I would not even need them.

Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! ~ Part VI (early edition interlude)

This year's Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! came a week earlier than normal (which makes up for last year's coming two weeks late, I suppose). There was a homeless guy (Do you think a better politically correct term should be "domicile deficient"?) sitting on the sidewalk out front of the store and when I was leaving asked me if I could spare a buck for some Coffee. Seeing as I had just saved myself four bucks (well, almost), I gave him two bucks and offered to get him a large cuppa from inside, too. After paying the $2.45, I still figured I was only out 45¢ (50¢, whatever). It was pretty funny as the guy even offered me a bite of his own bagel (that a passing family had given him from their stash of fresh-baked bagels that they had just bought at House of Bagels™; see previous 'blog-entry from May 2nd, 2010); "It's still warm.", he told me.

http://houseofbagels.com/site/


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Sumatra Mutu Batak ~ 7.0; assorted pastries ~ 6.0-6.4

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1. That's a little Coffee-geek humour. Well, very little.