May 8
Grant Shealy of Neckar Coffee. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
Snugly hunkered up against the arid western foothills of the Rockies
is the lush, low-key metropolis of Boise, Idaho. Geographically remote
and politically conservative, the walls of this valley tend to resist
winds of change, although with each generation comes some progress.
Coffeewise, this was manifested in the 1990s through a handful of
early independent shops that staked their claim prior to the Starbucks
invasion, and these remain the go-to shops for Gem State capital
loyalists. Today, the sprouts of another generation in coffee are
unfurling in the light of the high desert sun.
It is an electrifying time for artisan gastronomy in the Treasure
Valley. Crafty, Northwest-style breweries are proliferating, the
Treefort Music Fest
is fast becoming an annual pin on the nation’s indie music roadmap, and
in just the past few years Boise has cut ribbons on its first Whole
Foods and its first Trader Joe’s — all significant milestones for
consumer culture here.
Brian Wight, owner of eight drive-thru
Dutch Bros
Coffee franchise locations in Boise, has observed “a dramatic upswing
in consumerism” over the past five years. “Our volumes are up 30 to 40
percent across our stores,” Wight tells Daily Coffee News. In 23 years
the Oregon-based drive-thru company has erupted into 245 locations
spread out over seven states, and only four of these stores have
seating. Dutch Bros’ fifth-ever — and first in Idaho — seated location
is slated to open at the intersection of State and 15
th near downtown this coming August — a well-researched indication as an uptick in coffee consumption here.
Boise is a well-established enclave among college football fans,
retirees, Mormons, and the NRA, but it also seems like potentially
fertile ground for burgeoning micro roasters. Grant Shealy, affable
26-year-old proprietor of Neckar Coffee, is just that. Shealy’s got big
plans for a brick-and-mortar Neckar flagship somewhere in the downtown
area within the next year or two, and the coffee business is poised to
push quality forward for all of Boise.
In the meantime, the city’s solid showing of old-guard indie
drink-builders and handful of inspiringly up-to-date go-getters keep the
people abuzz and the local industry heading in the right direction.
Here’s a roundup of the Boise coffee scene as it stands today:
Guru Donuts – 204 N Capitol Blvd (map it)
Guru Donuts. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
Yes, even Boise now enjoys a purveyor of rich, fluffy, yeasted vegan
donuts, right alongside the maple-bacons and other inventive offerings
in the downtown brick-and-mortar home of
Guru Donuts,
which opened in January 2015. An imaginative selection of fresh
decadent square and circular sweets is available daily with coffee
roasted by Hailey, Idaho-based
Maps Coffee
(not to be confused with the Kansas micro-roaster of the same name).
“We decided to partner with Maps Coffee because they do offer a lighter,
brighter roast,” manager Darryl Vickers told Daily Coffee News. “We
wanted to be unique in the valley with that, and we feel it pairs well
with our donuts.” Jens Peterson, son of the owners of longstanding
Hailey roaster
Grace Organics,
is the skateboarder at the helm of Maps. Grace has been roasting for 25
years, but Maps, the boutique-style next generation, has gone from
apprentice to primetime independence with Guru as its first commercial
client.
Neckar Coffee – www.neckarcoffee.com
Neckar Coffee. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
Neckar‘s Diedrich IR2 lives happily behind the scenes in the
Woodland Empire Ale Craft
brewery space. These two businesses, along with the occasional food
trucks that swing by to sling munchies to sudsy Woodland patrons,
constitute an exemplary ground zero of Boise’s upward trajectory in
creative sips and eats. You can find Shealy and company serving careful
pourovers at the new
Boise Farmer’s Market
most Saturdays, as well as select streets and events around town.
Within the coming months, pending requisite approvals from the city,
Neckar intends to step up production to break into the metropolitan
wholesale market.
The Crux – 1022 W Main St (map it)
The Crux. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
The Crux
is a cavernous coffeehouse by day and a venue by night, with gritty
local art on every wall and most of the square footage wide open for
performances. Local and traveling bands can rock out then return the
next morning for some Hair Bender, of the dog. Owner Bob Cooper fell in
love with the
Stumptown
coffee served to him by gifted baristas at the Albina Press in
Portland, Ore., the city in which he still runs a hardwood flooring
business from afar. Despite all training and scrutiny he, with some
dismay, recalls going through in the process of earning Stumptown’s
approval, he nevertheless jumped at the opportunity to be Boise’s
exclusive brewer of Stumptown, a deal he believes the company would not
have made today. Four years later, he’s still pretty sure he serves the
best coffee in town, and it’s hard to argue. Bob is surprised that most
sales are still just grab and go, but that’s life downtown. The upside
is that for those that prefer to take it slow, there’s usually plenty of
room on the Crux’s several couches and sunny storefront window tables.
Flying M Coffeehouse – 500 W Idaho St (map it)
Flying M. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
The
Flying M Coffeehouse
is kind of like Boise’s Central Perk, only bigger and with less
upholstery. Its doors first opened in 1995 and it quickly expanded from a
small space into the larger space next door. Their perennial espresso
blend and similarly enduring House Blend help maintain the M’s slot
among shops most often recommended to visitors as either the best in
town or at least better than the nationwide chains with which they would
seem to compete. Also on offer is a consistent selection of
single-origin coffees in whole bean form, in-house baked goods, and
smoothies. Flying M’s zanily colored walls and furnishings, local art,
and tchotchkes galore are rounded off with a cheeky novelty gift shop
occupying a semi-cordoned corner inside the cafe. Meanwhile, behind the
counter, a shiny new Nuova Simonelli Aurelia II rules, and if you squint
through the towers of branded merch you may spy a WBC sticker on the
back of one of their grinders. Service is speedy and friendly, the
atmosphere is bustling, and the clientele is as eclectic as it gets here
in Les Bois.
Dawson Taylor – 219 N 8th St (map it)
Dawson Taylor downtown
Dawson Taylor
is the earthy farm-worker-themed mosaic counterpoint to Flying M’s
hypercolor alternative vibe. Both opened in 1995, both have one downtown
location and second locations at their roasteries, and both do
wholesale, although DT is the company more likely to knock more than
once in pursuit of your business should you be setting up shop anywhere
around Boise. Artsy, unassuming, and mildly granola, the DT downtown
shop is on the northernmost pedestrian block of 8
th Street,
which is lined with posh eateries, apparel shops, and nightspots. The
ample front patio seating is a hub of community chitchat, and their
paralysis-inducing selection of coffees includes no fewer than eight
decafs, along with single-origins and blends. Brewed behind the counter
there’s a daily rotation of three regulars and one decaf, plus all
manner of espresso and milk drinks. It’s fascinating to note that, like
the set of a Hollywood underdog movie, directly across the narrow
pedestrian street is the lone Boise location of the sleek 16-store
Washington-based coffee chain
Thomas Hammer. It may take a harrowing dodgeball tournament to decide which one will ultimately prevail.
Afro Phil Coffee – www.afrophil.com
Afro Phil, the man. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
Afro Phil
is unapologetically Afro Phil. If you meet the man in any food-related
context, he will probably introduce himself as Afro Phil, and, really,
every town should have an Afro Phil. A West Boise nanoroaster with a
driver’s license that actually reads Phil Tegethoff, Afro Phil roasts
one kilo at a time on a diminutive Probatino in his home garage,
surrounded by his kids’ toys and bikes. He’ll slide up the door and sell
coffee right there, though he also sells online, ships through the
mail, and will even deliver it locally. Afro Phil has been operating for
about two years and maintains a few cafe accounts. He estimates his
business is at this point roughly half retail, half wholesale, although
he fell a bit behind in the wake of recent equipment snafus for which he
found service and support to be painfully unresponsive. Now back in the
saddle, Phil continues logging every roast in a spiral notebook and
cupping obsessively throughout the day, striving for balance,
consistency, and his marque “smoothness.” He also hosts occasional
public cuppings in his backyard, in an effort to create a better
informed and more zealous Boise coffee culture.
Java Coffee and Café – Downtown: 223 N 6th St (map it); Hyde Park: 1612 N 13th (map it)
Java Cafe downtown location. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
Java’s trademarked tagline reads “Wake Up and Live,” although as head
barista and quality control tech Jude Claffey points out, their
official coffee slogan is “Coffee That Rocks.” It’s a play on the
volcanic coffee island moniker as well as the fact that Java’s owner,
Todd Rippo, is a guitarist living in Sun Valley that has jammed with the
likes of Bruce Willis. The drink on Java’s menu called the Keith
Richards — a quad-shot Mexican mocha — is born from Rippo’s actual
experience rockin’ out with Keef. Founded in Ketchum in 1991,
Java
has six total locations, two of which are fixtures of the Boise coffee
scene. The downtown spot opened in the mid 1990s, followed a few year
later by a second location in Boise’s quaint Hyde Park neighborhood.
Downtown, Java has high ceilings, Warhol on every wall, and is the only
Java not nestled in a repurposed house. The Hyde Park location is a
freestanding house with a spacious patio and porch, and an interior with
couches and a hearth providing living-room coziness. Both offer full
breakfast and lunch, with organic, Fair Trade coffee by San Diego
roaster
Café Moto.
Big City Coffee – 1416 W Grove St (map it)
Big City Coffee. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
Big City Coffee
and Café is equal parts chow-house and coffeehouse. The tidiness of the
shop’s façade and picnic-table sidewalk seating plays against the
circus of old-timey signage exploding within, while in-house baked goods
and a diner-style, all-day breakfast and lunch menu scores high marks
with the locals. Its barn-like exposed wooden rafters and well-worn
wooden furnishings are all country, though Big City Coffee is the go-to
spot for a hot cup or capp in Boise’s thoroughly urban Linen District,
as well as at the Boise Airport, where it recently established a
presence. Big City’s coffees are roasted by
Doma Coffee Roasting Company,
the only Idaho roaster chosen as a finalist in the 2014 Good Food
Awards. Doma also garners accolades for its beautiful packaging, part of
its private label service for Big City’s retail packages, including Big
City’s Joe Cans fundraising line, proceeds of which go to support
breast cancer awareness and early detection efforts. Joe Cans include
such feistily named offerings as the Big Titty Blend, Bra-zilian Brew,
and Double D Decaf.
Janjou Patisserie – 1754 W State St (map it)
Janjou Patisserie. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
The interior of
Janjou Patisserie
is almost defiantly precise and pristine, in Apple Store-like contrast
to the rest of the town’s rustic, mountain-sporty aesthetic. Since 2008,
the artisan boutique bakery has served delicately crafted pastries
alongside traditional espresso drinks, including a faithful 6-ounce
cappuccino and 4-ounce macchiato, which are rarities in this town. Their
coffee is roasted by
Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee,
an outfit based in Ketchum, Idaho, a few hours east of Boise. (See the
“Firestarters” column of the January/February 2012 issue of
Roast Magazine for more on Lizzy’s founder and roaster Liz Roquet.)
Kahve Coffee – 5823 W Franklin Rd (map it)
The Kahve Coffee sign, made by Boise artist Noel Webber. Photo by Howard Bryman for Daily Coffee News.
The
Boise International Market is an exciting recent addition to Boise’s evolving culinary tapestry, with
Kahve Coffee
situated right up front. A coffee lover’s window to the world, Kahve
might also be the closest thing Boise has to a multi-roaster café. Their
Turkish comes from Turkey, their Arabic-style is made with coffee from
Jordan, and their Cuban is, well, from Miami. For drip and espresso,
Kahve serves fresh roasts from
Full Circle Exchange,
a non-profit social enterprise brand based in the neighboring city of
Eagle, that is devoted to empowering women and lifting communities out
of poverty through sustainable commerce. The gorgeous and intricately
gilded glass “Coffee & Tea” sign hanging over Kahve was hand-made by
legendary Boise sign artist
Noel Weber
over 30 years ago. The piece is so unique that Weber bought it back
when its original home café shuttered, and it took a fair amount of
convincing by Kahve to get Weber to part with it again. Or so the legend
goes as told by Omid, the friendly and knowledgeable Kahve barista. In
Persian, Omid’s name means “hope,” which makes him a fine representative
of Boise’s budding coffee scene.
