Idaho Find

Neckar Coffee: The Art of the Roast

By Kurt Orzeck / Photography By Guy Hand | December 05, 2018

Grant Shealy runs Neckar Coffee in Boise, Idaho.

As most Boise residents have noticed, coffeehouses are sprouting up like, well, beans in a field. And while they all emanate with whiffs of joe, some also—unsurprisingly—reek of pretension. Such is not the case, however, with Neckar Coffee, owned and operated by Grant Shealy on 10th and Main.

His sleek space offers customers a comfortable place to sip, chat and maybe do some work away from home—simple as that. What’s strikingly absent from Neckar is loud music, rude baristas and poorly made, overpriced artwork.

“I wanted people to have nothing but positive experiences at Neckar, which at the very least means building a space that wasn’t invasive and let people be themselves without being judged for not knowing the difference between a cappuccino and a macchiato,” Shealy says.

He didn’t set out to own and operate a coffee shop. A 2010 graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, Shealy majored in psychology— which might explain Neckar’s emphasis on a transparent atmosphere. As a multi-disciplinarian who also appreciates architecture and engineering, he sought a profession that would enable him to use his hands and creativity and share his creations with people.

“Coffee checks all those boxes,” he says.

After a stint at Janjou Patisserie in 2012, during which he learned about making coffee and running a small business, he bought an IR-2.5 Diedrich Roaster with a now-former partner. Neckar sold its first cups and bags of coffee, from Oakland importer Coffee Shrub, at a booth in the Boise Farmers Market in 2013 and continued doing so until July, when his shop opened.

The name “Neckar” was loosely inspired by Louis Albert Necker, a Swiss crystallographer who devised an optical illusion known as the Necker cube. Shealy says he changed the spelling “because we thought it would evoke an association with the word ‘nectar.’ I wanted a name we could build meaning around and people likely didn’t have any associations with. Neckar just fell right into place.”

Now, Shealy’s company is based in its spacious brick-and-mortar store, located in a retail/office building owned by Sawtooth Development Group. While the owner/operator cracks about how “people put baristas on pedestals,” he also revels in serving up drinks and watching his staff do the same.

“I try to avoid giving people the impression that we’re doing something to the coffee that is the equivalent to what a Michelin-star chef would do to a handful of ingredients,” he says. “But Neckar’s my baby.”