higher grounds coffee bar & roastery - traverse city, mi
I first discovered Higher Grounds on a trip to Traverse City a few years ago. I was very impressed with the coffee bar itself, as well as the company story. They are a great example of what a commitment to sustainable, ethical practices looks like.
They are a certified B Corporation and a Green America certified business. Their website contains a lot of information about how their commitment to sustainability is implemented day to day in their business.
In fact, it might be the most comprehensive, transparent breakdown I've seen on a company's website about what goes into all of that. In addition, they are part of the Fair Trade Proof cooperative of independent roasters, which allows anyone to trace their beans from field to cup. It's really enlightening to see the names and faces of the people growing and producing the beans, the region it's grown in, and where it ends up.
When you're done reading this, I would encourage you to take a look at Higher Grounds website and read all about their purpose and sustainability practices. Get started with these links: Purpose statement and Sustainability.
The company started in 2001 after company co-founder Chris Treter had been living and working at a cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico as part of an internship. He saw the difficulties of daily life in coffee farming communities and wanted to take further steps to help.
When he returned home to Michigan, he and his then-partner Jody began buying coffee from Maya Vinic. They roasted it and began selling it at local farmer's markets and things took off from there. Eventually they helped to form a cooperative with other roasters in North America, and started nonprofits Chiapas Water Project and On The Ground. Read more about those here.
Now for the coffee! My current favorite is their Highland Humanity blend. It's a medium dark roast with notes of cocoa and caramel, which is precisely what I look for in my coffee. Highland Humanity is a balanced, all around good coffee perfect for anytime of day. If you've never had Higher Grounds Coffee it's a great introduction. And you must try their Mexican Maya Vinic medium roast, which is the coffee that started it all!
Check out their full selection of coffee in their online shop here! They also offer very good subscription plans which are flexible and let you try a variety of coffees.
They also offer tours of the cafe and roastery, which I definitely want to do next time I'm in the area. Their facilities are located in a very interesting historic section of town featuring old world Victorian-Italianate architecture, and housing eateries, shops, a farmer's market, and community gardens. All of this is surrounded by parkland full of hiking and biking trails.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Higher Grounds. It was one of the highlights of the trip to Traverse City. If you're in the area be sure to check them out. In the meantime try some of their coffee and read about the cool things they are doing to help make the world a better place through coffee!