Peet's Coffee

While we first took a look at Peet’s Cold Brew back in the Summer of 2016, they’ve recently made some tweaks to the brand. In May 2017, the company, which also announced a new “Coldcraft” unit to focus on cold-brew, has updated both the packaging and the flavor set.

The only real holdover in the line is the Baridi Black Cold Brew, which, as the only unsweetened flavor, is still a bold and smooth cold brew offering that can definitely hold its own. This flavor has been given a slight label update, which gives it a design that’s consistent with the others. From our perspective, consistency is good, but our feeling about this product is the same as before.

However, the rest of the line has been given a more meaningful update. There are now three flavors, including Dark Chocolate Cold Brew, Almond Milk Cold Brew, and Coffee Au Lait Cold Brew. Previously packaged in a milk carton, these products are now packaged in a 10.5 oz. plastic bottle. The design of the bottle, which features a dark top half and a white lower half, is clean, polished, and easy to read. It also does a great job of putting the Peet’s brand at center stage.

As for the flavor of these three products, they’re all quite good.  With an indulgent flavor (Dark Chocolate), a classic milk flavor (Coffee Au Lait), and a non-dairy variety (Almond Milk Cold Brew), we like how they’ve created a fair amount of variety for the consumer to choose from. Speaking purely from an execution perspective, our favorite is the Dark Chocolate, which is rich, smooth, and sweet but nicely balanced. The other two feel as though they need some slight refinement: there’s a slight burnt note to the Coffee Au Lait and a bit of tang to the Almond Milk variety.

Overall, Peet’s Cold Brew coffee line very much feels like it’s headed in the right direction. They definitely have the branding and packaging in a place where it can really be successful, while the flavor lineup seems like it’s there with just a few refinements.

Peet’s, which is a premium coffee roaster and retailer that operates several hundred coffee shops and also has wholesale distribution, is joining the ranks of established coffee players that are now taking their flagship brands into the ready to drink cold-brew category. Their line, which was announced in late July 2016, includes 3 SKUs and will be available in both their cafes and grocery stores in the San Francisco area.

The products come in two distinct forms: an unsweetened and unflavored offering packaged in a 12 oz. glass bottle and a dairy-based variety packaged in a 10 oz. milk carton and available in two flavors. Both of these product lines exhibit high quality attributes and are enjoyable, albeit for different reasons.

Starting with the straight cold-brew, which requires refrigeration just like the dairy-based offerings, they’ve created something that is quite enjoyable. Using their East African Baridi Blend of coffee, the product has no other ingredients aside from coffee and water. It’s bold and smooth, with a light fruit note to the finish. While it’s hard to really get into the nuances of comparing one cold-brew to another (and, really, these nuances aren’t what’s going to make or break one brand over another anyway), this is a refreshing and thirst quenching blend.

As for the dairy-based products, which come in Coffee Au Lait and Dark Chocolate Varieties, they’ve done a great job of keeping the coffee as the focal point. The milk, sugar, and flavor (in the case of the Dark Chocolate) are accents that enhance rather than detract from the underlying coffee. They’ve done a great job of creating formulations that are cafe-grade riffs on an iced mocha and iced latte (with cold-brew instead of espresso, of course). Both of these are very drinkable and, unlike some of the other dairy-based cold-brews out there, aren’t drowning in milk.

While the packaging is different between the two lines, the branding is relatively standardized. Both formats feature “COLD BREW” as the key visual element, with the Peet’s branding being in smaller lettering above it. The cartons also have the addition of a Peet’s logo, but it feels somewhat disconnected and it isn’t, at least in our opinion, a logo that really has a ton of equity by itself. The package doesn’t exactly exude cool or hip vibes, but it’s clean and professional style combined with the Peet’s name make it credible and have the feeling of a really high-quality product.