John Weaver: The art of making coffee

SAN FRANCISCO - By Tiffany Maleshefski
Special to The Examiner

Master coffee roaster John Weaver drinks his coffee black, and this is why.

One fateful day, Alfred Peet — the founder of Peet’s Coffee and Tea — knocked a steaming cup of coffee out of the hands of the then-20-something Weaver, who was simply doing what most coffee drinkers do: adding milk to the brown-black brew.

“You will not pour milk in my coffee!” Peet bellowed, according to Weaver, not because he was a tyrannical boss but because he strove for perfection.

“He was a great guy, but he made his point quickly,” Weaver said. “What he was trying to get across is you got to taste the coffee.”

And taste it Weaver did, for 27 years, under the astute leadership of the pioneering Peet and Sal Bonavita, former owner of Peet’s Coffee and Tea.

Now a master roaster in his own right, Weaver has struck out on his own. He founded Weaver’s Coffee & Tea just last month, only three months after the entrepreneur launched Wild Card Roasters with Michael Brown and Bryce Inouye.

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