I was just commenting in regards to Peet's, I understand now after you clarifying, but OP made it seem like Peet's coffee (not the stores, just the coffee) wasn't all over the U.S., so was just noting how it's everywhere where I live in the east coast. But yea, I've never seen a physical "Peet's Coffee," shop, just their coffee sold everywhere, and a ton of coffeeshops that only brew/sell Peet's. But yeah, at least where I live, there are a ton of local coffee shops that roast their own coffee, tons of local roasters, etc, which is nice and makes avoiding starbucks easy -- I used to work at one of them for a time and was kind of where I learned how to roast coffee myself and find what brew methods I preferred. Plus, as you were noting, they always support local artists and musicians, sell art/local merch, have open mics and various events, etc. Owner where I used to work (roaster/coffee shop just off campus) was conservative, and it took about a year before the two of us realized we held similar views. I think we both just assumed, with everyone in the area being so progressive/left, that the other was likely a lefty as well, so it was awesome when we finally realized we could find a quiet corner to talk politics. I no longer work here, but he still hooks me up and remains my go-to source for unroasted beans (he travels to source his beans, and still sells them to me close to cost, around $3/lb [unless we're talking jamacain blue mountain or something)
And on your first sentence, funny you bring that up (or coincidental, anyway) -- my absolute favorite coffee as of late is a Brazilian Adrano (Ardrano ?) bean that has a very distinct flavor from being grown in volcanic soil. I'm a kind of coffee snob in the sense that I enjoy a good cup and roasting and brewing coffee has just become a relaxing hobby to me that also just happens to lead to me drinking better coffee, but I also don't turn my nose up to regular or "bad," coffee. I actually really enjoy the "bad," coffee at a lot of diners (as long as it's not watered down, there's something enjoyable about diner coffee to me for some reason), and I actually like (for cheap coffee) chock full of nuts (not sure which roast, but it's what my mom keeps around so I always drink that from a regular Mr Coffee when I visit). All that said, I've always hated Starbucks, even when I was less "snobby," with coffee and really didn't care all that much where it was from (a time when I'd drink coffee from anywhere except starbucks, and it had nothing to do w/ politics, their "vibe," or anything. It just tasted like piss battery acid to me lol). just always tasted genuinely bad to me, and I'd rather drink 99 cent cumberland farms (local east coast gas station/convenient store to those unfamiliar) coffee than starbucks.
I was just commenting in regards to Peet's, I understand now after you clarifying, but OP made it seem like Peet's coffee (not the stores, just the coffee) wasn't all over the U.S., so was just noting how it's everywhere where I live in the east coast. But yea, I've never seen a physical "Peet's Coffee," shop, just their coffee sold everywhere, and a ton of coffeeshops that only brew/sell Peet's. But yeah, at least where I live, there are a ton of local coffee shops that roast their own coffee, tons of local roasters, etc, which is nice and makes avoiding starbucks easy -- I used to work at one of them for a time and was kind of where I learned how to roast coffee myself and find what brew methods I preferred. Plus, as you were noting, they always support local artists and musicians, sell art/local merch, have open mics and various events, etc. Owner where I used to work (roaster/coffee shop just off campus) was conservative, and it took about a year before the two of us realized we held similar views. I think we both just assumed, with everyone in the area being so progressive/left, that the other was likely a lefty as well, so it was awesome when we finally realized we could find a quiet corner to talk politics. I no longer work here, but he still hooks me up and remains my go-to source for unroasted beans (he travels to source his beans, and still sells them to me close to cost, around $3/lb [unless we're talking jamacain blue mountain or something)
And on your first sentence, funny you bring that up (or coincidental, anyway) -- my absolute favorite coffee as of late is a Brazilian Adrano (Ardrano ?) bean that has a very distinct flavor from being grown in volcanic soil. I'm a kind of coffee snob in the sense that I enjoy a good cup and roasting and brewing coffee has just become a relaxing hobby to me that also just happens to lead to me drinking better coffee, but I also don't turn my nose up to regular or "bad," coffee. I actually really enjoy the "bad," coffee at a lot of diners (as long as it's not watered down, there's something enjoyable about diner coffee to me for some reason), and I actually like (for cheap coffee) chock full of nuts (not sure which roast, but it's what my mom keeps around so I always drink that from a regular Mr Coffee when I visit). All that said, I've always hated Starbucks, even when I was less "snobby," with coffee and really didn't care all that much where it was from (a time when I'd drink coffee from anywhere except starbucks, and it had nothing to do w/ politics, their "vibe," or anything. It just tasted like piss battery acid to me lol). just always tasted genuinely bad to me, and I'd rather drink 99 cent cumberland farms (local east coast gas station/convenient store to those unfamiliar) coffee than starbucks.