I met Jim Reynolds through Ken Davids. I had just decided I was never going to like dark roast coffees, almost as a political decision to support my friends like George Howell. I had just visited a nameless (lawyers are expensive) roaster in San Francisco who'd started dark roasting and I thought their coffee tasted terrible. As if by mystical coincidence, Ken Davids, with whom I was staying, took me along on a visit with Jim Reynolds at Peet's Coffee. This is before Peet's began national distribution and I was unaware just how dark their coffee was. We were cupping and, since most coffee, even at dark roasters, is cupped light. I came away impressed with Jim's taste buds and his very west coast persona – he's just such a gentle soul, is all I thought. Come Christmas and Jim sent me a pound of an Aged Java. I opened the bag and said to myself, "oh, what a waste! The coffee is too darkly roasted". I brewed some anyway, in my Bunn coffee drip maker. I was shocked. There was plenty of flavor, the flavor of an aged Java. It was far from burnt. I insisted everyone who was near me have a cup. I think we brewed the entire sack that afternoon. It was one of the best coffees I've ever had. Meanwhile, when I was planning the video, I asked Ken Davids if he knew who would demonstrate the French press, as I'd already asked Ken to show two methods. Ken reminded me of Jim Reynolds, who, he recalled, brewed some of the best French press coffee. Take a look at this clip and you might get a taste of why.

Peet's Coffee & Tea