Peet's Breakfast Blend Tea and Specialty's Coffee Shop

Some coffee shops do tea better than others, and Specialty's in Seattle is one of them. They serve Peet's Coffees, well known in the northwest and now available even in the desert, and their own tea. The Breakfast Blend was strong yet smooth, and a perfect way to kickstart a long day. Best part--they put two tea bags in my medium-sized tea so it was good and strong. And I loved the urban decor--open, accessible, modern.

Minor quibble: why do so many baristas insist on filling a tea all the way to the top of the cup, so the hapless tea lover has to pour off water into the garbage bin if they want to put milk and sweetener in it? I spilled tea all over the counter and myself trying to close the lid after adding honey and skim. What a waste of deliciousness.

Peet's Tea

Peet's Coffee and Tea is a chain out of the Pacific Northwest, and is probably more well known as a coffee shop than a tea purveyor. I've been eying their selection online for a few months now, and have selected several I'd like to try. So when, during a layover on a cross-country flight a few weeks ago, I came across a Peet's stand in the airport, I immediately ran over to grab a cup to take with me. I selected what I thought was their basic breakfast blend, but in hindsight may have been their Pride of the Port blend, because it had a bracing, strong, somewhat malty flavor, well suited to milk and sugar. Even if bagged tea in an airport kiosk is not really representative of the loose teas available online, this sample proved very interesting and enjoyable, and I'm eager to revisit Peet's and try some other blends.