Best Caffeine High

It's Monday morning, a time when San Franciscans find it socially acceptable to exchange the evil eye and a grunt, the universal signals for "I haven't had my coffee yet!" Because, let's face it, most of us aren't morning people. For some, any coffee-flavored hot water is enough to get their motor running, but for others the only real coffee is strong coffee. A growing number of the latter are "Peetniks," loyal followers of Peet's Coffee and Teas. Since 1966, Peet's, a Berkeley specialty coffee chain noted for its incredibly potent caffeinated elixirs, has been supplying the Bay Area with its routine morning fix. So what's responsible for this hard-core caffeine rush? "The fuller taste is due to the coffee-to-water ratio. We use more coffee than water when brewing," says Montana McGlynn, a Peet's spokeswoman. In any case, as Peetniks will tell you, you just can't match Peet's oomph. OK, maybe you won't be leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but you'll at least be bouncing off the walls.