Coffee House

This morning Ozzie and I opted for a street walk, Ozzie because he's a Labrador and likes the ratio of trash cans per mile, I because I wanted to revisit the University of California campus, my alma mater. Despite the fact that over half a lifetime has elapsed, I was struck by how much and yet how little this place, which resides in the very heart of town, has changed. Many buildings have been built, some of them strikingly ugly, the current crop of students are not much older than my grandchildren, construction cranes are visible above the venerable buildings, yet the tone of the place is rather timeless.

Along the way, I passed seven coffee places and began musing on the history of the current "coffee house" in this town. When I moved here as a student and a newlywed, we made coffee at home with Yuban coffee from a tin and a Chemex coffee pot. The Chemex pot was my innovation--all the rage at the time. The Yuban was a time honored tradition. My first cup of coffee was made by my father, as he did every morning--counting out loud the six scoops as he put them into the percolator.

In the mid- 60's some friends told me that a man named Alfred Peet, a native of Holland, was looking for investors in a new kind of coffee shop--one that would sell fresh roasted coffees by the bag , and make coffee by the cup. (This was long before the word "artisanal" became so overused, but that was his concept.) We thought it was a crazy notion and passed on the investment opportunity but apparently he found enough investors to open his store across town. It had no tables--just a counter where the beans were sold and another counter where one could purchase a rich, strong cup of coffee. This was pre-espresso. No lattes. No cappuccnos. No decaf. No low foam non-fat vanilla frappuccinos.

We still made coffee at home, but a stop by Peet's for the beans became essential. We bought a coffee grinder and a french press pot. A second Peet's store was built in our neighborhood, with a bakery next door and lots of benches in a courtyard outside. When we got a dog, a stop at Peet's after our walk became a habit. As it was for many other people. Now we go there every day. We still have friends we first met at Peet's. We know many of the people who work there and they know exactly how we like our coffee and the fact that Ozzie likes to lick the foam out of my cup.

Out of Peet's grew Starbucks with comfy chairs and a store on every corner. The concept of a coffee house had changed from the occasional dark student venue with bad coffee and good music, to a meeting place and with the advent of the internet, a workplace. Coffee houses sprang up everywhere.

Peet's went public sometime in the 90's. We bought beautiful anniversary posters commissioned by local artists, but we didn't buy any stock. Last week Peet's was sold to a German conglomerate for $1 Billion.

My blip is of a coffee house across the street from the campus. It is
frequented by students, professors and scholarly types. I liked the contrast of light and shadows.