Coffee Ratio Calculator

Coffee to Water Ratio Calculator

The time of guesswork is over! Make every cuppa delicious, just the way you like it with a couple of clicks. Here’s a quick overview of the calculator’s operation.

How It Works

1. Specify your favorite brewing method among the seven options.
2. Set the serving size (one cup to full carafe).
3. Select your preferred brew strength (light, regular, or strong).
4. Choose among three ways to measure how much coffee or water to use (teaspoons, tablespoons, or grams).
5. Use the results of how much coffee and water to use to brew the perfect cuppa.

You’ll notice you can get results in grams, teaspoons, or tablespoons of coffee per cup or carafe. While using a scale seems like an unnecessary complication to your brewing process, let us ask you a couple of questions.

What is a rounded scoop?

Is it the same as a heaping or level scoop?

How much coffee grounds does it hold?

What about a tablespoon?

The truth is no one knows. Measuring coffee by volume is far from perfect. You may think you know that the tablespoon holds around 5 grams of grounds, but that’s true only for some of the beans in your rotation. The bean origin, roast level, and grind setting will all influence the weight of a tablespoon’s worth of grounds. For this reason, we recommend you use a kitchen scale and leave tablespoons for the last resort.

Why Measuring Matters for a Good Cup of Coffee

Brewing coffee is an art form. You get to play around with single-origin beans and blends to bring out the notes and nuances of aroma and flavor. You get to experiment with optimal coffee brewing temperature and extraction time. You get to choose the strength you need for a morning energy boost or a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. There’s so much flexibility, it can be intimidating at first when you’re embarking on a java discovery journey. You don’t need to be afraid or nervous. You will run into difficulties and make mistakes, but it’s all part of the experience, so embrace it!

Brewing coffee is also a science. You get to be flexible within certain boundaries. You need to brew coffee at a temperature under 200 F, but no less than 185 F. You can add more or less grounds, but if you go outside the recommended coffee measurements, don’t expect to get drinkable results.

That’s why true coffee nerds have no space in their kitchen cabinets. They are all stuffed with coffee-related appliances and thingamabobs, from coffee makers and grinders to scoops, scales, and descaling solutions.

You don’t need to jump into the rabbit hole from the get-go. Instead, take a peek and use this coffee calculator to make your life easier. Thanks to this simple app, you don’t have to guess how many scoops of coffee per cup of the French press to use or calculate how many grams of coffee per cup to grind for a Moka pot. Set your brewing parameters and use the results to make a delicious cuppa every time!

MEASUREMENT CHART

Everyone and their dog has an opinion on the best bean to water ratio for every brewing method imaginable. That’s why we provide three strength options for you to choose from and let you specify the serving size so that you don’t have to remember your multiplication tables.

The table below is for reference only, as the calculator will do all the heavy lifting for you. Just remember that the first number of the ratio applies to coffee grounds, and the second one tells you how much more water than grounds you need to use. For instance, a ratio of 1:10 means you need 1 gram of coffee for every 10 ml of water. Besides, the water density lets us equal 1 g to 1 ml, and 30 ml makes a fluid ounce.

Since it all sounds terribly complicated, trust our app to do the calculations for you!

Best Brew Ratio for Coffee

Filter/Pour Over

Drip brewing methods are among the most sensitive to mistakes in coffee to water ratio. While automatic machines are largely immune to errors in judgment on your part thanks to scoops and labels, manual pour-over devices, like Chemex or Hario V60, require precision and patience. If you don’t use enough beans, the grounds will likely under-extract, resulting in an unpleasant sour aftertaste that will haunt you for the rest of the day. If you miscalculate and use too much coffee, the brew will taste bitter because of over-extraction. Either way, you’re looking at a cuppa (or worse - a full carafe) of ruined brain juice.

A kitchen scale is a vital investment if you want to master pour-over brewing. But it isn’t always the most convenient of devices, especially if you need a constant supply of coffee in the office. One way to get around the constant need for a kitchen scale is to try out scoops until you find the one that works well for your pour-over device and bean of choice. You can also resort to tablespoons and rely on our calculator to recommend the right amount of grounds for your serving size.

French Press

One of the most forgiving brewing methods comes with a wide margin of error when it comes to coffee to water ratio. If you prefer your java bright and refreshing, start with a light strength setting on our calculator (1:16). It will result in a stimulating tea-like drink that’s safe to drink in the afternoon. But if you’re a fan of heart palpitations and need more of a caffeine kick, use the strong setting that’s set to a 1:10 ratio. You’ll get a thick, bold, energizing beverage.

While the coffee ratio calculator will provide you with the required coffee amount in teaspoons and tablespoons, we recommend you stick with grams. After all, the French press calls for coarse grounds, and a tablespoon of those will weigh less than a tablespoon of finely ground java. Your coffee will probably taste fine whether you use scoops or scales, but a true java purist in you will never be satisfied until you get the proportions just right.

Aeropress

If you’re an Aeropress fan, you don’t need our advice on how much coffee per cup to scoop into the chamber. But if you’re still on the fence about the trendy brewing device, you’ll be happy to know that it comes with a scoop and clear markers that eliminate the guesswork from the brewing process.

The more scoops of fine grounds you load into the chamber, the stronger coffee you’ll get. Though the strength will also depend on how many servings you’re brewing at once. We recommend you fill the Aeropress so that the grounds are level with the labels until you’re comfortable enough to experiment. Finally, if you lose the scoop or want to play around with the brew strength, try out our calculator to learn how many tablespoons of coffee it takes to make a perfectly pressed cuppa.

Turkish Coffee

This brewing method is different from any other, and the coffee to water ratio is a perfect reflection of that. Instead of the usual 1:16, you’ll need to use 1 gram of coffee for every 9 ml of water. Considering an average serving is around 2 ounces (60 ml), you’ll need around 7 grams of extra-fine grounds. If you’re brewing two servings, 14 grams of coffee is the norm. If you use less grounds, the boiling coffee won’t extract enough flavor, and the brew will taste weak.

You’ve probably noticed that the grounds norms for Turkish coffee are similar to standard single or double shot espresso requirements. So if you own an espresso machine with a scoop, you can use that to portion your grounds. As the coffee is ground extra-fine, using teaspoons and tablespoons isn’t ideal, as the bulk weight will be different to medium-ground beans. You can end up with a brew that’s too strong. Besides, a heaping tablespoon is around 5 grams of grounds, and measuring out precisely 7 grams is a brain teaser you don’t need when you set out to brew a Turkish coffee.

Cold Brew

Like most immersion brewing methods, cold brew is more lenient towards messing with the ideal coffee grounds to water ratio. Traditionally, you would use a 1:8 ratio, especially if you’re merely dipping your toes into the trendy new way of brewing coffee. Once you’re more comfortable with the method and find your preferred bean, grind setting, and extraction time, you can experiment with the brew strength. However, in the case of cold brew, there can be too much of a good thing. We don’t recommend going over the 1:5 ratio. Otherwise, the brew might taste bitter, and you’ll be in for a jitter-filled day.

If the ratio seems too bold as it is (especially compared to pour-over or French press), that is because cold brew produces a concentrate, not a ready-made drink. So don’t go taste-testing after you’re done straining your cold brew. Instead, dilute it with clean water (or water + ice). Use a 1:2 ratio of java to water at the onset of your cold brew journey. If that still tastes too strong, you can dilute the drink further, though don’t go overboard, or your beverage will lose all the flavor.

Moka Pot

Marketed as a stovetop espresso maker, this clever machine produces a bold and energizing brew. That is if you use the right bean to water ratio. If you don’t, your cuppa will be weak and watery or bitter and muddy. Either way, missing the coffee maker proportions will result in undrinkable swill. Your Moka pot and taste buds deserve better than that.

Use our calculator to learn how many grams of coffee per cup you should use. You can use 1 gram of coffee for every 7 grams of water for the boldest flavor, while a 1:13 ratio will provide a much milder brew. The classic combination is 3 grams of coffee for every ounce or 6 to 7 grams for a 2-ounce serving. That’s close to what you would use for an espresso machine, so once again, you can use an espresso maker scoop if you have one. If you use a larger Moka pot to brew several cuppas at a time, use one espresso scoop for every 2-ounce serving. For more precise results, a kitchen scale is a must-have.

Siphon

There’s no room for using scoops or tablespoons when you’ve splurged on a siphon. If you want to feel like a crazy professor when brewing coffee, you’ll have to go all out on the kitchen devices. To take the aesthetics up a notch, invest in a trip scale instead of a digital one. It will take a bit longer to master, but your kitchen will finally look like a lab.

It may seem surprising that siphon calls for the same ratio of water to coffee beans as a basic drip machine. But once you consider the brewing and filtering mechanics, you’ll realize why that’s so. However, as one of the steps of siphon brewing calls for mixing grounds into hot water, the right coffee per cup ratio is even more crucial for the flavor of the finished beverage. As always, missing the happy medium will result in over-extraction (bitter coffee) or under-extraction (sour coffee). And either of those is a waste of perfectly good beans and the time you set aside for siphon brewing.

To avoid disaster, decide on your service size and strength, use our calculator to learn the required amount of coffee, and use a scale to measure it out. These simple steps will go a long way into making your siphon experimentation and taste-testing more enjoyable.

Whole Beans vs Ground Coffee - What’s the Difference?

Hopefully, you know by now that buying whole-bean and grinding at home is the way to go. Freshly ground java takes any brewing method over the top and provides that extra oomph store-ground beans are missing.

The question you should be asking isn’t ‘How much coffee to grind for a cup or a full carafe?’ Rather, the issue at hand is how much whole-bean java you should use to meet the coffee to water ratio our coffee calculator provides. If you’re a proud owner of a kitchen scale, the answer for you is super simple. The weight of ground and whole beans is the same before and after grinding. High-quality burr grinders usually come with an antistatic coating that prevents coffee from clinging to the machine’s insides. So unless you use super-oily beans that clog the burrs, you should be set. Measure the beans according to the weight provided by the coffee ratio calculator, grind, and brew.

If you’re using tablespoons or cups, things get complicated fast. Beans are much larger than grounds, and their bulk weight is different. You cannot expect to measure five tablespoons of whole beans and get the same five tablespoons of fine espresso grounds. The finer the particle size becomes, the higher its bulk weight becomes, meaning the volume will go down. As a result, you’ll miss the golden ratio by a mile and end up with coffee that’s too strong or waste the precious java.

If you’re dead set against buying a kitchen scale, set aside a couple of minutes to conduct a bit of kitchen experimentation. Take a couple of scoops of whole beans, grind them on your favorite setting and scoop out the grounds. Measure the difference in volume. You might end up with two level scoops instead of two rounded ones. Once you know the difference in volumes, factor it into your coffee brewing process.

Finally, you can grind java in bulk for a few days worth of brain juice. In this case, you lose a bit of aroma and flavor but get rid of the need to buy a scale or engage in kitchen-side Physics experiments.

FAQ

How do you calculate the coffee to water ratio?

Using our online calculator is the easiest way. Simply choose your favorite brewing method, serving size, and strength. You’ll see the amount of beans and water you should use. We use industry-standard strength settings, but you can experiment with the ratios to find the best setting for every variety in your rotation.

What is the best ratio for cold brew coffee?

Traditionally, cold brew enthusiasts use a 1:8 coffee-water ratio. For a stronger kick, you can increase the proportion to 1:5. You can also control the brew’s strength by experimenting with cold brew concentrate to water dilution ratio.

How to measure coffee for a Moka pot?

If you’re using a single-serving moka pot, it likely holds around 200 ml of water (6.6 oz). For a 1:10 ratio, you’ll need 20 grams of fine coffee grounds or around 4 tablespoons.

How to measure coffee for a French press?

You can use ratios from 1:10 to 1:16 for pressing. The amount of coffee depends on the strength you prefer and the volume of your French press. For instance, for a 12-ounce press of regular coffee (1:12), you’ll need 30 grams of coarse grounds (5 tablespoons).

How to measure ground coffee for brewing?

Ideally, you need a kitchen scale to measure out the perfect amount of grounds. However, you can also rely on our calculator to use teaspoons or tablespoons of coffee for your convenience.

How to measure coffee beans for brewing?

Using a kitchen scale is your best bet. You’ll need the same amount of whole beans as you do grounds. If you’re using scoops or spoons, experiment to learn the difference in bulk weight between whole-bean and ground java and factor it into your measurements. And you won’t need to worry about measuring whole beans if you grind in bulk.

How much coffee for 4 cups?

To get 24 ounces of filter coffee, use 43 grams of medium grounds. Measure 8 tablespoons or 24 teaspoons. These proportions will result in regular coffee at a 1:17 ratio, but you can make it weaker or stronger if you go with a 1:18 or 1:15 ratio.

How much coffee for 6 cups?

If you stick with a 1:17 coffee-to-water ratio, you’ll need 64 grams of coffee for 36 ounces of water (half a carafe of pour-over). That’s around 12 tablespoons or 36 teaspoons.

How much coffee for 12 cups?

At a 1:17 ratio, you should use 128 grams of medium-coarse coffee for a full carafe (72 ounces) of filter coffee. This amounts to around 24 tablespoons.