Hari introduced our Program speaker today: Ty Ford, 20 Below Coffee
Ty and Elisha Ford are both transplants to North Dakota but have never felt more at home. Their dream of making high-quality coffee for a living while seeking the welfare of their city found fertile soil in Fargo. The roasting started in their basement in June of 2014.
The Fords joined forces with friends Michael and Danae Moran to launch Twenty Below Coffee Co. and Twenty Below Roasting Works at 14 Roberts St N in Fargo, ND on April 1st of 2015.
Ty shared about the coffee roasters’ responsibilities, from the farm operations to the roasting and handling of the product.
He provided samples of three different blends.
- Blizzard of ’66: a light roast house blend with notes of chocolate, nut, and toffee. This coffee has Central American and African components.
- Papua New Guinea: Sigri Estate AA Peaberry. Notes of spice, citrus, and cream.
- Ethiopia: Abana Estate Natural Process with notes of floral, berry, and cocoa.
End users requested tips:
- Water. Start with good water and the right temperatures.
- Grind. Match the grind to the brew method. Use a courser grind for less contact with water. A Burr Grinder works better than a Blade Grinder (weed wacker type).
- Ratio. From brown water to mud consistency to the perfect extraction from beans.
- Under-extracted makes coffee too cool, too course, weak and sour tasting, caused by too few coffee beans.
- Over-extracted leaves coffee too hot, bitter and thick, caused by too fine and too much coffee grounds.
- Perfect ratio is brewed at 195°-205°, just short of boil. The grind matches the brew method. 1:14 ratio (1 oz coffee to 14-ounces water.
Heather suggested a Coffee vs Tea Smackdown in the future.