Heritage Coffee Roasting Co. traces its roots to 1974, when Grady Saunders opened Quaffs Coffee & Tea in Juneau, Alaska, selling beans shipped from Seattle. In 1982 he acquired a Probat L12 drum roaster, air freighting it to Juneau and becoming one of the first specialty roasters in the state. Saunders went on to serve on the Specialty Coffee Association of America board from 1990 to 1995 and as its president in 1993 and 1994, a period during which membership grew from 268 to over 2,200 companies. The roastery operates on a roast to order model, never warehousing roasted coffee, and every bag carries a date guarantee of freshness. More than fifty years later, Heritage runs seven cafes throughout the Juneau area and has been voted the city's favorite coffee by locals for over three decades running.