Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. Introduces ''Peet's on Earth;'' a Holiday Celebration of the World's Most Exceptional Coffees and Teas.

Business Editors/Retail Writers

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2003

Company Unveils the 2003 Holiday Blend Coffee and Holiday

Breakfast Blend Tea, Along with a Complete Selection of

Elegant Gift Items and Community Programs

Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. (Nasdaq:PEET), a specialty coffee roaster and marketer, today kicked off its holiday festivities with a comprehensive program, "Peet's on Earth." Beginning today through the end of December 2003, the company will be celebrating the holiday season with customers and the broad communities it serves by offering a number of special offerings and opportunities to support worthwhile, non-profit organizations. The cornerstone of the program is the introduction of the 2003 Holiday Blend coffee and Holiday Breakfast Blend tea, which represent the world's best coffee and tea lots of the year, hand-selected by Peet's experts and skillfully blended to produce the perfect balance of flavor, aroma and body.

"Developing the Peet's Holiday Blend is challenging in that the characteristics of the coffee change each year and are never repeated," said Doug Welsh, director of Coffee Purchasing, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. "What is rewarding about the process, however, is that we sample some of the year's best coffees and then work with the proportions so the flavors are perfectly balanced -- it's a completely new creation. With this year's Sulawesi as the base coffee for the blend, our customers will be pleasantly surprised by its unexpected and satisfying taste."

"Inspired by a visit to two of the oldest and best gardens in the Darjeeling district earlier this year, the foundation for the 2003 Holiday Breakfast Blend tea is a blend of second flush Darjeeling teas that are deep, winy and pungent," said Eliot Jordan, director of tea, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. "And for the tea drinker on-the-go, we have introduced Holiday Breakfast Blend in teabags, individually wrapped to carry, steep and dispense more easily, while keeping the tea fresh."

Holiday Blend Coffee

An extraordinary Sulawesi coffee forms the heart of the 2003 Holiday Blend. This new lot of Sulawesi coffee grows from some of the island's old, traditional variety trees that produce more concentrated flavors layered with fruit and nutty qualities. Additionally, while most Sulawesi coffees are aged, this lot is harvested at its peak to exhibit all the juicy flavors of a new crop coffee. This blend is balanced with a smooth peaberry coffee from Papua New Guinea and a mouth-watering Tarrazu from Costa Rica. The result is a memorable cup with ample body and a complex finish. Holiday Blend coffee is priced at $13.95 SRP (suggested retail price) per pound, or $14.95 SRP for Decaffeinated Holiday Blend coffee, and are available at all Peet's retail stores nationwide, at all six Peet's locations inside Larry's Markets in the Greater Seattle area, online at www.peets.com and through mail order at 800-999-2132.

Holiday Breakfast Blend Tea

This year's Holiday Breakfast Blend tea features second flush Darjeeling teas from two of the region's most respected estates, Goomtee and Margaret's Hope. For balance, a mild, toasty Keemun is added together with a new crop of blonde-tipped Yunnan F.O.P. The result is a floral, winy, toasty cup with moderate astringency and a lingering nutty finish. This tea is priced at $10.95 SRP per 4-ounce tin or $8.95 for a package of 25 teabags. It can be purchased at all Peet's retail stores nationwide, at all six Peet's locations inside Larry's Markets in the Greater Seattle area, online at www.peets.com and through mail order at 800-999-2132.

Sharing the Spirit of "Peet's on Earth" This Holiday Season

For coffee and tea lovers, Peet's fresh, deep-roasted coffees and hand-selected teas make distinctive holiday gifts and will be enjoyed throughout the winter season. This year choose from a wide variety of coffee and tea sampler packs, accessories and scrumptious food treats, all presented in elegant and detailed packaging.

Special gift items include the Peet's on Earth Peet's Card ($50 or more) and the Peet's on Earth Coffee Sampler, a four-piece gift set that features three single-origin coffees from the major growing regions -- Indo-Pacific, Americas and Africa -- and the 2003 Holiday Blend coffee. Each time one of these products is sold, Peet's will contribute $5 to its Peet's on Earth fundraising program, where the total proceeds from the program will benefit three non-profit organizations -- Coffee Kids, Global Education Partnership and Technoserve.

Further, established in 1986, Peet's Holiday Tips Donation program is also an important part of Peet's tradition, bringing together the company, its staff and customers in a combined effort. On December 24, 2003, Peet's will offer free brewed coffee and tea in all of its stores, and Peet's employees will donate tips received on that day to a local nonprofit organization chosen by that store's staff. Additionally, Peet's will match the tips that employees receive (up to $1,000 per store).

About Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc.

Founded in Berkeley, Calif., in 1966, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer of fresh, deep-roasted whole bean coffee for home and office enjoyment. Peet's fresh-roasted coffee, hand-selected tea and related items are sold in several distribution channels including specialty grocery and gourmet food stores, online and mail order, office and restaurant accounts and 73 company-owned stores in seven states. Peet's is committed to strategically growing its business and to maintaining a unique culture and focus on customer satisfaction. For information about Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc., visit www.peets.com or call 800-999-2132. Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. shares are traded under the symbol PEET.

This press release contains statements that are not based on historical fact and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, the Company's expectations regarding store openings and availability of locations for sites in 2002 are "forward-looking statements." Because of the uncertainties inherent in these forward-looking statements, the Company's actual results could differ materially from those set forth in forward-looking statements. Actual future store openings depend on a variety of factors including but not limited to the completion of the development projects where the planned stores are to be located, the availability of high quality retail inventory for additional store locations, the Company's ability to identify appropriate locations for future stores and to obtain leases for such stores on satisfactory terms, and the Company's operations and financial results in general. Actual results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors including but not limited to, its ability to implement its business strategy, attract and retain customers, and obtain and expand its market presence in new geographic regions, the availability and cost of high quality Arabica coffee beans, consumers tastes and preferences, and competition in our market as well as other risk factors as described more fully in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2002.