Beloved Beans Keep Brewing in Lower North

BELOVED BEANS Keep Brewing in Lower North

BY KATIE ROIGER

What takes an interest from an idea to a concept to a booming and beloved North Mankato business?

According to Mankato resident Clay Sharkey, new co-owner of the Neutral Groundz coffee shop on Belgrade Avenue, the process requires great community connections and a willingness to be a little unconventional.

Originally a coffee avoider, Sharkey stumbled into the bean roasting business on his honeymoon. He and his wife Britta were staying near Glacier National Park when they decided to tour a nearby coffee roasting facility because it was something they’d never experienced. During the tour, their guide described his company's main roasting equipment as a “glorified popcorn popper,” which struck Sharkey’s fancy.

“It made me think, ‘Gosh, we have a popcorn popper!’” Sharkey said. “We actually had two because we’d just gotten married. I did some Googling and discovered that you can roast coffee in a popcorn popper. You have to remove the safety feature before you can roast hot enough for coffee, though.”

Sharkey’s church friend, Eric Poppler, also wanted in on this new hobby. They set up shop on the front step of Sharkey’s apartment and experimented with temperature and bean variety.

“I couldn’t have promised you then that your coffee would have been BPA-free,” Sharkey said with a laugh. “The air popper got a little melty.” Around Christmas of 2012, the duo received their first order from Poppler’s sister-in-law, who wanted to buy one bag of roasted coffee beans. In true entrepreneurial spirit, the friends were excited about trading their newfound knowledge for some well-earned cash.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t counted on Minnesota’s frigid December air temperatures, and it turned out that their trusty air popper couldn’t perform as needed in the sub-freezing weather. They moved the popper into the apartment’s garage and added space heaters but only succeeded in blowing the circuit for the entire garage complex. Moving the operation into Sharkey’s spare room and using fans to direct the smoke out of the window had better results. They packaged their product in a bag from the coffee station at a local supermarket and a label designed and printed by Britta.

“We were not profitable that winter, but we had our first sale!” Sharkey said.

Their first foray into commercial distribution gave Sharkey and Poppler a taste of what could be. They founded Beans Coffee Company, converted a barbecue grill into a fluid bed coffee roaster, and broke into the Mankato farmer’s market scene. Once they obtained their commercial license, they began selling to the local Hy-Vees thanks to a staff dietitian who tried their coffee at the farmer’s market and loved it. Friends at Community Bank, where Poppler then worked, and at Pioneer Bank, where both friends currently work, helped them get set up with a roastery location and eventually led them to Deb Morin, owner of Neutral Groundz in lower North Mankato.

“Pioneer Bank had just gotten a property back on foreclosure and asked the prospective buyer what she was going to do with the property,” said Sharkey. “She said, ‘I want to do a home décor business, but I’ve been talking to many people in the area who really want a coffee shop.’ My boss said, ‘Hey, I have a guy who does coffee!’”

When Neutral Groundz opened in 2017, Morin brought Beans Coffee Co. on as her primary coffee source, and its founders threw themselves into helping her prepare. Not knowing what kind of traffic to expect, Sharkey and Poppler set Morin up with a few pounds of beans for the opening day of Neutral Groundz.

“By 10 a.m., they had run out of coffee,” Sharkey said. “I ran to the roastery, roasted 10 pounds as fast as I could, delivered them, ran back, and kept roasting more to get her through.”

Despite a long and loyal partnership with Morin, Sharkey and Poppler didn’t intend to go into the barista business themselves until Morin announced her decision to retire in August of 2023. She offered to sell the coffee shop to Beans Coffee Co., and the founders and their two new co-owners, Blake Hermel and Jon Michels, enthusiastically decided to try it.

“One of our real advantages was that Deb already had an existing clientele,” said Sharkey. “It was a balancing act: We wanted to put our twist on things but not change the look and feel.”

Fortunately, Morin was more than willing to show them the ropes of the daily business, including walking them through the most popular menu items. This means that North Mankato residents can rest assured of being able to order their cranberry turkey sandwiches in perpetuity.

“Deb warned us that there would be an uprising if we tried to get rid of it,” Sharkey laughed.

Their most significant innovations have been adding new menu items to mix alongside the fan favorites. These include the bestselling raspberry grilled cheese, invented by the 15-year-old daughter of Starkey’s children’s daycare provider, and specialty coffees such as the oatmeal cookie latte, the maple cream cold brew, and the hot press, which is a cold brew coffee concentrate mixed with steamed milk to create a uniquely smooth, non-acidic latte. The latter beverage is Starkey’s top pick, and he has tested many coffee drinks.

“I only have two cups of coffee a day,” he clarified. “Some people are surprised.”

Still, two cups of coffee is a significant increase for a former non-coffee-drinker. Starkey credited Beans Coffee Co.’s unique roasting method with his love of the fragrant beverage. Unlike traditional drum roasters used by largescale roasting companies, Beans Coffee Co.’s dependence on the fluid bed coffee roaster (now a conventional piece of equipment rather than a converted grill) allows them to blow the smoke from the roasting process out of the machine rather than let the porous beans tumble in the smoke and take on its bitter flavor.

“You taste a lot more of the natural flavor of the coffee rather than tasting the roasting process,” said Sharkey.

Curious about Starkey’s claim? Visit Neutral Groundz and try a cup for yourself. The coffee shop’s baristas are locally renowned for their friendliness and passion for what they do. Starkey considers it a reflection of their gratitude for the great connections they’ve made in the community.