About TBC

It was 1981 at one of the Seattle area's great cafes, The Last Exit. My older sister, Lisa, took me to open mike night where a friend of hers was performing. I do not remember the music, but I will never forget my first sip of espresso. I was fifteen years old and hooked. From that moment, I knew coffee would become my life.

In 1993, Joe, my brother and business partner, our life long friend Doug, and I left Seattle, Washington with all our worldly possessions including an espresso cart that we just spent our combined life savings on packed into a UHaul truck. Destination: Charlottesville, VA baby! We wheeled into town in the second week of October and set up shop on November 3rd. Our location was in an alley between Baja Bean Restaurant and Plan 9 Records. It was across from the University of Virginia on a street fondly referred to by locals as 'The Corner'. I can remember the feeling of joy when we plugged in the cart and made our first coffee. That joy quickly turned to shivering as we were smashed by the worst Winter in 100 years. To learn more about our humble origins please visit http://www.highergroundsinc.com.

In 2007 we are pleased to launch our gourmet micro-roastery: Trager Brothers Coffee. Our mission is simple. Provide the freshest, highest quality coffee that is organic, fairly traded, and sustainable.

That is why we are a fully certified Organic House serving Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance coffee. Our belief in clean air, water, and land prompts us to plant trees to help offset our carbon footprint. We provide benefits and health care for our workers. We generously donate to various charities and good causes in our own community. We recycle our packaging and supplies.

We all love coffee and we can have really great coffee in a responsible way. Our children you see on the steps will not have a Polar Ice Cap by the time they are the age of the adults with whom they sit, unless we all work passionately together to combat climate change.

So when you enjoy Trager Brothers Coffee, feel good about the fact that you are consuming the combined efforts of the coffee world's best while joining in the movement for a greener world.