Holiday Blend

Blind Assessment: Roasty, rich aroma: charred wood, pungent pineapply fruit, dark chocolate, a hint of flowers. Very sweet in the cup; continued gently roasty, crisp with grapefruit and moist fallen leaves. The fruit notes hint again at dark chocolate in the sweet-toned, resonant finish.

Notes: Originally founded by the late Alfred Peet, one of American specialty coffee's pioneers, Peet's is now a publicly traded corporation that so far has managed to maintain its essential identity during a slow, careful expansion from its intensely loyalist base in the San Francisco Bay area. Peet's signature, very dark "deep" roast is often imitated but less often duplicated. Visit www.peets.com or call 800-999-2132 for more information.

Who Should Drink It : A fine Peet's blend, dark-roasted without astringency, with twisty fruit notes deepened by roast and, probably, some good Sumatras.