Our Story

Hello! I'm Will Misback, owner and founder of A Posteriori Coffee Co. I started this company so I could help others and work with two of my favorite things, philosophy and coffee. To this end, 20% of the profits sitewide fund programs dedicated to bringing philosophy education to a wider audience. I received an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, and I firmly believe that the everyone should have the opportunity to study philosophy.

My Story

When I first arrived at college, I struggled to find a major which I was truly passionate about. With every subject I chose, I found myself feeling constrained by the choice instead of empowered by it.

That changed when I found philosophy. I fell in love with philosophy, because it gave me permission to exercise my curiosity about a wide variety of topics. Philosophy also helped me develop special relationships with friends and mentors that I otherwise would not have.

In the course of completing my degree, I experienced the good ways in which an education in philosophy can strengthen one's analytical and presentational skills. However, what struck me most was how philosophy had also impacted me in my personal development; it gave me the skills to ask and answer fundamental questions about my life. To put it succinctly, I believe my degree in philosophy changed my course for the better.

For this reason, I came to wish that I had been exposed to philosophy at an earlier age. Education is meant to prepare students for their lives, and I would have benefitted from developing the skillsets philosophy had taught me earlier.

After graduating from college with a degree in philosophy, I faced the same challenge that many a newly minted grad faces. What do I do next? I soon became interested in business and entrepreneurship. I began to research these fields and eventually experimented with building some of my own businesses.

I realized that the process of building businesses can be fun and creatively fulfilling. However, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. I didn't particularly enjoy the subject what I was working on, and I felt that my work was meaningless.

For these reasons, I decided I wanted what I work on to be centered around the thing that had created positive change in both my education and life, philosophy.

I have been an avid coffee drinker and geek since college, and I credit much of the work I did for my philosophy degree to the energy coffee gave me. I identified a gap in the market and created a product that I myself wanted. Coffee for philosophers. Through my research on the topic, I even found that several of my favorite philosophers were fans of coffee as well: Kant, Voltaire, and Kierkegaard to name a few. I was sold on the idea, and decided to move forward with it.

A Posteriori Coffee Co.

I really enjoyed working with designers on A Posteriori Coffee Co.'s logo and branding. Our logo features British empiricist John Locke. Both empiricism and our name "A Posteriori" refer to knowledge gained through direct sense experience, which is how a person ought to enjoy our coffee.

I believe businesses exist to help people. The best way I know how to do that is to make philosophy and the skillsets it teaches more accessible to people who don't traditionally have the opportunity to study it. For this reason, 20% of our profits go towards funding charities and nonprofits dedicated to increasing people's access to the philosophy education. We donate to these organizations quarterly using the results of a survey we send out to those who subscribe to our newsletter.

I make sure that all of the coffee we sell is ethically traded. Click here to learn more about our coffee. 

Shortly before his sentencing to death, Socrates famously said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." The sentiment behind that statement rings as true today as it did then. We must be curious and willing to change the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world when confronted with evidence to that end. Philosophy teaches us how to do just that, and I am thankful to have found it. In the rapidly changing modern landscape, we find ourselves thrust into novel situations each day. Philosophy helps us navigate these situations in an informed and ethical manner.

Overall, my hope for A Posteriori Coffee Co. is that it can help provide organizations focused on pre-college and public philosophy with the resources they need, so that we all may live examined, worthwhile lives, prepared to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Happy brewing,

Will Misback

Owner & Founder of A Posteriori Coffee Co.

Questions? Comments? Get in touch with us.