Peerless Coffee & Tea

Peerless Coffee & Tea is a genuine piece of American coffee history — Oakland's original craft roaster, founded back in 1924 by Yugoslavian immigrant John Vukasin and reckoned to be the first specialty bean shop in the Western US. A century on, it's still family-run, now by the third generation of Vukasins, from their roastery and café on Oak Street. They were early to the ethical stuff too: direct farmer relationships from the 1970s, organic certification in 1980, fair trade in 2000, and a Roaster of the Year nod from Roast magazine in 2019. A characterful, heritage pick if you want specialty coffee with a hundred years behind it.