Coffee Brands

Many coffee brands are on the market today. Some are well-known while others are not . The history of some of these top coffee brands might surprise some people.

Starbucks

Everyone all over the world knows the coffee brand Starbucks. Starbucks started off as a coffee shop in Seattle. Starbucks was named after the coffee-loving sailor in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. From its humble beginnings, Starbucks has turned into a billion dollar corporation with coffee outlets all over the word.

Rather than just remaining a coffee shop, Starbucks went into the roasting business and sells its own blend of coffee. Though Starbucks sells different kinds of coffee, the "Starbucks" coffee (House blend) is the most famous. The Starbucks house blend is a medium-roast insert link for coffee roast page on the word roast coffee. It has a well-rounded and balanced taste. At any Starbucks, they will display the color of the bean, which is always a nice brown color. This color is what a bean should look like in a medium roast coffee.

Peet's

Peet's is another Seattle coffee shop that has spread its way into the rest of the country. Peet's was actually the precursor to Starbucks.

Peet's coffee tends to be a little darker than Starbucks' coffee because it is roasted a little longer. Peet's coffee is for those who prefer a more bold taste than the Starbucks house blend.

The Connection Between Starbucks and Peet's

People are familiar with these top coffee brands, but many don't know that Starbucks and Peet's have a shared history.

Peet's was founded by Alfred Peet. He introduced specialty coffee to Seattle. The founders of Starbucks worked at Peet's so they could learn all there was to know about coffee. They learned how to roast, sell, and buy specialty coffee from Peet's. The founders of Starbucks went on to found their own coffee shop, eventually expanding to five shops.

In 1984, Peet decided to retire, so he sold his five Peet's shops to Starbucks (which also had five stores at the time). At that time the Marketing Director of Starbucks Howard Shultz had a concept of opening Italian-style coffee bars after a trip to Italy. He went on to found a coffee bar in this style called Il Giornale.

Then, in 1987, Schultz and a group of investors got together to buy Starbucks. He then changes the name of Il Giornale to Starbucks, while the original founders kept Peet's. Schultz went on to make Starbucks the name brand that it is today.

Oddly enough, Jerry Baldwin, an original founder of Starbucks, is still the director of Peet's. So, these two organizations have a long history together.

Other Top Coffee Brands

Many of the other top brands of coffee are available at local grocery stores. They tend not to be "specialty" coffees. Most of them you know:

Folgers

Maxwell House

Seattle's Best

Nescafe

The quality varies on these other coffee brands. Some are expensive, whereas others are ground from inexpensive beans. The flavors vary, but it depends on what things people look for in coffee that decides whether to choose them over the well-known "specialty" blends from Starbucks and Peet's.