- Pumpkin pie and Holiday Blend: It's a hearty blend and it would mesh nicely with the hearty sweetness.
- Christmas cookies and Mocha Java: Pungent, whiney full-bodied flavors. The complexity of this blend would pique the dry sugary shortbread biscuits.
- Fruit cake and New Guinea: For its smooth ability to counter that gooey heaviness.
- Chocolate and Sumatra: Sweet and earthy.
- Panettone and Guatemala: Lively with overtones of spice and chocolate.
Erica Hess has more than 11 years of experience with Peet's Coffee in a range of capacities. From training Peet's store managers on proper bean grinding and brewing techniques, launching retail sites in new geographic territories to overseeing customer service and community relations programs throughout the company, Hess has earned her title of coffee educator through hands-on efforts in many areas.
Hess orchestrated the grand opening of Peet's first retail outlet in Southern California - Pasadena - and has also harvested coffee on one of Peet's coffee growers in Costa Rica. She often spends evenings and weekends organizing company outreach programs for food banks and children's charities.
Prior to joining Peet's she worked for a number of companies in sales, training, customer service and leadership capacities, including Nordstrom, Inc.
Hess graduated with a bachelor's degree in humanities from the University of California at Berkeley.
