Form & Function Coffee
We stopped by Form & Function's crisp new brick & mortar on Broad St. and chatted with owner Kate Seward about beans, Boise, and brewing. The mix of people in the shop is exactly what you want to see in a coffee house: construction workers, businessmen in suits, students, people working remotely on laptops. And the coffee is truly top notch.
In April of 2017 they began selling pour over coffee and beans at the Boise Farmers' Market. By the end of May their beans were on the shelves at the Boise Co-op. They opened their brick & mortar in December 2017, located in the new Fowler building at 511 W Broad St (in between the Wylder and Boise Brewing).
Why coffee? Kate and her husband Scott saw an opportunity here. "We felt like Boise was missing something. There is so much new out there in the coffee world that we were missing out on."
At Form & Function, coffee is truly a science.They adjust their espresso machines religiously, and measure the ground beans for every single drink on a scale for consistency. They work with a green buyer who has been in the industry for a long time and works directly with farmers. They work together to determine whether the beans satisfy their sourcing requirements. They rate their coffees on a self-described "social meter". For the Sewards, the decision to source beans responsibly just makes sense: "If we don't care of our farmers, we're not going to exist. We have a responsibility to do it." One example of this is sourcing from Cafe de Mujeres in Colombia, who also work with the Sustainable Harvest supply chain.
They offer 5 single origin coffees, as well as an espresso blend and a decaf. Currently they are having their beans roasted in Berkeley. They are awaiting the arrival of their Alpha roaster, slated to arrive in May of 2018, and are really excited to be roasting their own beans on site.
In addition to their shop, you can find bags of roasted beans on the shelves at both Boise Co-op locations. The North End store also offers their coffee in bulk. And if you want your coffee delivered to your doorstep, they offer a subscription service via their website.