From a hot cup of coffee in the morning to cold brew any time, coffee culture has changed in the last few decades.
Two companies that have seen it all are marking major anniversaries this week.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was founded in Brentwood in 1963, eight years ahead of coffee giant Starbucks, which opened its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1971.
“In the coffee category, that’s a big deal. I don’t think many of our competitors have been around for 60 years,” Dee Hadley, Coffee Beans’ head of marketing for the Americas, said in a phone interview.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf claims to have invented ice-blended drinks at its Westwood shop in 1987 and to have launched chai tea latte in 1998. It has more than 1,100 stores worldwide, with a heavy concentration in Asia, and nearly 200 in the United States.
To celebrate, app users between Friday, Sept. 29 and Sunday, Oct. 1 will be automatically entered into a contest to win daily coffee drinks for a year. Those dates are National Coffee Day and International Coffee Day, respectively.
Klatch Coffee is marking its 30th anniversary. It was founded in Rancho Cucamonga in 1993 by Mike and Cindy Perry and now has seven coffee shops in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. It is marking the anniversary with four days of special events Sept. 28-Oct. 1, including a barista competition in Pasadena and high-end coffee tastings in Rancho Cucamonga.
Giving coffee drinkers a superior product in new and appealing ways is the future for both companies, according to executives.
Some like it cold
Americans are highly caffeinated. They drink 2.8 cups of coffee a day, according to the National Coffee Association’s trends report for fall 2023. In a week, 61% of Americans have traditional coffee and 53% have specialty coffee, with latte, espresso and cappuccino being the leading choices.
Cold brew is the hot trend. The process involves seeping coffee grounds in cold water for many hours instead of hot…
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