Higher Grounds Trading Company

Excellent coffee, fantastic green practices (there are no to-​go mugs so bring your own or stop & enjoy your drink in their lovely store or foresty patio – or take one of the donated mugs to-​go), but my fave is the presentation. Its brilliant to serve tea with a timer for the immersion. My cap had a sweet design. Mom’s iced coffee came w/​a carafe. The crew is helpful and kind. The bathroom has a charming, woodsy changing table for your bebe. I don’t know why this place is in this weird little village but I’m super grateful to Unilocal for leading me to it.

LOVE this place! Came back for the Marigold. It’s creamy and smooth with perfect espresso and chilled local milk. Plus a sprinkling of delightful orange zest to perfect the acidity. So refreshing. Grabbed a bag of seasonal Sumatra Silk. Really excited to try this! On The Ground, their nonprofit helps their farmers gain access to education and ensures they have clean water. Learn more here:

I came here based on the reviews and the roast does not disappoint. I had the house coffee of the day which I believe was Harbor Blend, a great medium roast. I appreciate the sustainability efforts of this business as well as the reasonable prices. Great coffee, well crafted!

Five stars based on daily brew and almond croissant. Coffee is wonderful and fresh roasted in house. Great prices too.

I’m a sucker for fresh, local coffee so when a friend mentioned Higher Grounds as a must stop, I was all in. There isn’t much in the way of character as far as the shop is concerned but it was really cool to be able to watch the roasterie in action. I bought one of their reusable cups and ordered a cup of the Colombian Afonso Paez. A very nice medium roast with great flavor. They have offer one already brewed coffee or a pour over of a different variety. The coffee is reasonable priced, especially for organic fair-​trade coffee. If you want to take your coffee to go, you need to either bring your own mug/​cup or purchase one. I think they also have house mugs that you can take and return if you’re a local. I wish more coffee shops would do this!

What an amazing experience!!! We are on vaca and found this place via Unilocal and are so glad we did! Atmosphere is so relaxing, staff very friendly and the coffee is top notch!!!

We had their decaf at one of the local restaurants and asked where we could find the whole bean. Wow this is the best decaf we have ever tasted!
We went directly here and sat out on the nice patio with a pot of decaf :)
Very cool place to check out!

Easily one of the better lattes I’ve ever had. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the flavor options were all made in-​house rather than a Torani syrup or some other such thing. I chose vanilla, and it was pretty heavenly. It was also the perfect temp for sipping — not too hot, not too cold.
My husband had an iced mocha, and he actually said, «Holy ***!» when he had his first taste. If you have a sweet tooth, definitely get that :)
I dig the zero waste concept, too, so that definitely plays into the rating factor.

This place has the best coffee! We visit every time we are in TC. In town for a week this time and have been to Higher Ground three times so far. Love it!

This place is everything good that coffee should be. Smooth, creamy and doesn’t need sugar. You must go here when you’re in Traverse. If you are getting your coffee to go, Bring yourself a mug or they will supply you with one!

Great coffe. Very friendly and not very expensive at all, very affordable. The wait wasn’t long for my mocha espresso and it was delicious

Awesome place!
Responsible use of waste. To-​go drinks are given in an actual reusable mug with no obligation to return the mug. This is a great way to get us all thinking about how our niceties impact the world.
I’ll be supporting this business in the future!

Ok to be honest never got a chance to taste the coffee how can you not have paper of plastic cups for Togo drinks? And I’m suppose to donate for a used mug that’s on the wall? I don’t think so. For that alone 1 star

The best mocha I have had in my life. If you are anywhere near Traverse City you need to drive here and get coffee or espresso. If you choose not to you will only be hurting yourself.
They dont have to-​go mugs. They have real mugs people donate. You should bring one and donate it because that is awesome.

The chai tea taste as if it were done with perfection. It is delicious and spicy perfect for a wintry day in northern Michigan!

I really loved the space that the coffee shop is in and the employees are super nice and helpful. I thought the merchandise was pretty cool. You can purchase some different coffee brewers that you don’t see everywhere such as the Chemex and Aeropress. I also found a small little book for tips on how to make coffee in different brewers. I only had hot chocolate while I was there, but it was a fun place to hang out and they had wifi. I’ll purchase coffee next time. :)

I appreciate all the HG does, and have been in a few times for a cup of coffee. This time I splurged on an espresso drink. I was impressed by the care and time being devoted to my drink; but when I took a sip, it was barely lukewarm. Seemed odd. Part of me wondered if I was missing some kind of rule, like if they don’t heat up drinks too much for some kind of good coffee snob reason. I’ll try them again, but wish I had back my $ 6.

Seriously, one of THE most awesome coffee shops i have ever been to!
Not only were the workers super friendly when i first walked in but I really liked what the company & shop stood for! I had never ordered a to-​go coffee drink and been denied of a paper cup with a cardboard sleeve! All because the company believes in being green and sustainable hence they do not pass out disposable cups. Say What?! *Air hug!*
It definitely was a great surprise and I was a happy camper lucky enough to score an awesome cup as a souvenir. There was also a cute courtyard right in front of the shop, where you can soak in all of nature at its finest… as you sip your coffee of course.
I really believe more coffee shops should adapt such awesomeness. Being a coffee fiend myself, coming into this shop really left a great impression making my visit to Traverse City, that much more memorable. Keep up the great work!

Mostly organic coffees from around the world. Nice and quite atmosphere and great décor. The coffee is definitely worth it reminds me of the great coffee shops in San Francisco.

I bet the coffee is amazing, and I’m sure/​hope/​maybe? I’ll be back to find out! Any reason for me to head to the commons is a good one, whether it be coffee or wine. Butttt when I wanted a cup of coffee to go with the delish scone I purchased at the indoor farmers market, I was disappointed to find out they don’t do to-​go beverages. Which resulted in A) walking back through the entire market for Cuppa Joe or B) continuing in my car to McDonalds drive-​thru, since I was passing it regardless. I’m lazy, B happened.
That’s fine, I respect the green initiative and will know next time to have a travel mug on hand. So if you go, go to sit down and enjoy the brew (not a lot of tables though, which makes it hard to do in the winter), or set an ical reminder to take along a to-​go vessel. I don’t think it would be the worst idea if they had some 100% recycled products on hand just for these instances… and I’m sorry, I can’t take coffee to-​go in their donated ceramic cups. Spillage everywhere. (I’d even purchase the said recycled container for at least .25 cents!)