Fresh-bean fanaticism

Alicia Robinson

You won’t find berets or bongo drums in Costa Mesa’s newest coffee

shop, even though proprietors refer to loyal customers as “Peetniks.”

Emeryville-based Peet’s Coffee and Tea Inc. opened a store on East

17th Street last week, and some Peetniks have already sniffed it out.

“I grew up in Northern California, and they have a lot of Peet’s

there,” said Ben Ingmire, who lives across the street from the Costa

Mesa store and has dropped in several times since it opened.

Founded in 1966 in Berkeley by Dutch immigrant Alfred Peet, the

company now has 87 stores that serve coffee and tea drinks but are

focused on selling freshly roasted coffee beans in more than 30

varieties.

“We’re pretty fanatical about freshness,” Peet’s chief executive

Pat O’Dea said. “You need to get it from the roaster to someone’s cup

as quickly as possible.”

Employees in Emeryville hand-roast the coffee beans, which are

measured out for customers in the store, said Scott Yturriaga,

manager of the Costa Mesa Peet’s.

“If you were a customer, you could look right in the bins, and

that’s actually what you’re going to get,” he said.

The company touts the dark, rich flavor of its freshly roasted

beans as what sets it apart from other coffee purveyors. For some

customers, that’s an important selling point.

Working for Starbucks for about five years didn’t convince Ingmire

to drink its coffee.

“I prefer Peet’s just because its a richer brew,” he said. “It’s

got a little bit of a kick to it.”

Things have run smoothly since the store opening because employees

were trained at Peet’s Corona del Mar store, then shifted to a new

Laguna Beach store before coming to Costa Mesa, Yturriaga said.

A few special “reserve blends” that sell for $29.95 per half pound

may be too rich for the average consumer’s blood, but Yturriaga said

the company hopes customers will try Peet’s coffee first and

eventually buy the beans to take home.

“This is only our third Orange County store, so we’re still

building that knowledge and awareness,” he said.

So far, it seems to be working. Brooke Bombada of Newport Beach

was on her way to another coffee shop recently when she saw Peet’s

and decided to try it.

“I got a chai latte, which is something that’s not always good at

other places,” she said. “It’s good. I’ll come back.”