First and foremost, you should know that brewing the perfect cup of coffee can be as much an art as it is a science. While so much depends on careful data points and technique, much of specialty coffee brewing requires nuance and hard-to-define qualities. However, getting the right coffee ratio—the balance between coffee and water—is one of the more scientific aspects.
Enter my coffee ratio calculator, a simple tool I coded to simplify this process for you. No longer will you need to guess how many coffee scoops per cup are ideal for your taste. With this coffee calculator, you can input how much coffee plus your desired flavor/strength and get the perfect dose of coffee and water.
Feel free to ↓skip down to the calculator↓ and get to brewing. However, if you want more coffee geek knowledge, I will first cover the basics of coffee ratios and how they affect extraction/flavor.
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Coffee Ratios 101
The coffee-to-water ratio is one of the most basic aspects of brewing a good cup of coffee. Essentially, it dictates how strong or weak your coffee will taste by determining the concentration of coffee in the water.
Too little water, and you might end up with a brew that’s both intense/concentrated and also sour from under-extraction. This happens because there’s not enough water to fully dissolve the delicious compounds within the coffee grounds. On the flip side, too much water dilutes the coffee and leads to a weak cup that lacks depth. This weak ratio will also be over-extracted because the water dissolves everything it can from the coffee grounds.
Understanding this balance allows you to tweak the ratio based on your taste preference, the type of coffee beans, and the brewing method, ensuring each cup you make hits just the right note. When I buy new coffee beans, I often have to experiment with a few different ratios to dial in the perfect cup.
Is There a Coffee Golden Ratio?
A common guideline many start with is the so-called golden ratio of 1:18, which is one part coffee to eighteen parts water. You can find such a ratio in the golden cup standards of the Specialty Coffee Association or SCA. This organization sets standards and certifications for brewing and equipment.
While their default ratio is weaker than many standard recipes, they also include standards of brew strength and target extraction that they measure as total dissolved solids (TDS) with a fancy device called a refractometer.
So, I would say you should not think of coffee dosage in terms of a golden ratio because too much relies on the specific beans and brewing method. Plus, if you’re not in a coffee lab, it’s hard to know exactly how the ratio affects extraction!
How To Measure Coffee 101
Features:
- High-Precision Drip Coffee Scale: 0.1-gram increments
- Built-in timer
- Auto-off feature after 5 minutes (not activated while the timer is in use)
- Slim Design
- Anti-slip rubber feet, improved water resistance
- Uses 2 AAA batteries (included)
Measuring coffee can be done by volume, often using a coffee scoop, but this method has its drawbacks due to the varying densities of coffee beans. A typical coffee scoop holds around 10-12 grams of coffee or 2 tablespoons, although this can vary slightly based on the scoop’s design, the coffee’s grind size, and user error. However, you can get far more consistent results by measuring coffee by mass.
Why mass over volume? Different coffee beans, even when ground, have different densities. What might be a tablespoon with one type of bean could be less or more with another, leading to inconsistency in your brew. Using a scale to measure in grams ensures that no matter the bean or grind, you get the same amount of coffee each time, which is crucial for achieving the perfect coffee-to-water ratio and brewing consistently from day to day.
Is There a Formula for Coffee?
Yes, there is a formula for coffee brewing when it comes to dialing in the best coffee-to-water ratio. The key is making sure your units are the same on each side of the ratio. For example, if you decide on a 1:16 ratio, it means that for every one part of coffee, you use 16 times the amount of water.
If you’re brewing a typical Chemex pour over with 36 grams of coffee, you would use 576 grams of water. If you own a scale, you can do everything in grams, including measuring the water before heating it. One helpful fact for beginners is that water can be measured in grams or milliliters with the same numerical value at room temperature, simplifying the process.
So, since you will find milliliter marks on a typical measuring cup, you can also measure water by volume. If your measuring cup has fluid ounces on the other side, it’s even easier to calculate how many cups of coffee you can brew!
How Many Ounces Are in a Cup of Coffee?
If you ask ten people how big a cup of coffee is you might just get ten different answers. Even for me, my typical “cup of coffee” in the morning depends on what brewing method I use and how much caffeine I need to wake up! If I’m brewing a Hario V60 pour over just for myself, I can brew more or less depending on how much I want.
Most home drip coffee machines are 12-cup models that can make 60 fluid ounces at once, meaning they define a cup of coffee as 5 ounces. However, for my coffee calculator, I am defining one cup of coffee as 8 fluid ounces of brewed coffee, or 236.6 milliliters. My calculator also allows you to skip cups entirely and directly enter how many fluid ounces you want. If you’re brewing without a scale, hopefully, you at least have a measuring cup to measure volume in milliliters to get pretty close to your desired ratio.
Lastly, remember that the amount of total brewed coffee you have at the end will be slightly less than the initial water amount, since coffee grounds retain some of that water (don’t worry, I account for this in the calculator!)
Coffee to Water Ratio Calculator: Pick Your Strength And Learn How Much Coffee And Water To Use
There is no such thing as one single golden ratio coffee calculator since so much depends on the specifics: your taste preference, the brewing method, and what specific beans/roast you’re using.
I recommend starting with the average setting (1:16) and adjusting from there. However, remember that part of the fun of being a coffee geek is experimentation!
Ratio Recommendations for Specific Brewing Methods
- Drip Coffee Ratio: The best coffee-to-water ratio for drip coffee is around the SCA standard of 1:16-1:18. Remember, most drip coffee machines define a cup of coffee as 5 fluid ounces, meaning a 12-cup coffee maker makes 60 fluid ounces maximum.
- Pour Over Coffee Ratio: With manual pour-over brewing like the Chemex, I tend to use a stronger ratio, usually 1:15.
- French Press Ratio: You might have to experiment with a French Press since so much depends on the grind size. However, my recipe uses a really strong ratio of 1:12 or 1:13.
- AeroPress Ratio: There are so many ways to brew on an AeroPress. For AeroPress espresso, use a 1:5.5 ratio (18 grams of coffee and 100 grams of water). For other AeroPress brewing use a 1:15 ratio (18 grams of coffee and 270 grams of water).
- Siphon Coffee: I tend to use a 1:15 ratio for siphon coffee, although this is definitely a method you should experiment with!
Pour Over Coffee Ratio Chart
In case you want to visualize some of the typical pour over ratios for popular drippers like the Chemex, V60, and Kalita Wave, here is a chart showing the intersection of various coffee doses and water amounts.
Is There a Coffee Extraction Calculator?
Everything you taste in coffee has been extracted from the coffee bean material into the water. What does coffee extraction mean on a chemistry level? This means that soluble compounds dissolve in the water. You can measure the amount of extraction by the concept of total dissolved solids or TDS.
TDS is measured in percentage and indicates how much of the coffee’s compounds have been extracted into the brew. This extraction level is crucial because it directly affects the coffee’s strength, flavor, and balance. Too little extraction (under-extraction) leads to a sour, weak taste, while too much (over-extraction) results in bitterness. And, as mentioned above, coffee professionals measure TDS with a tool called a refractometer.
Features:
- High Precision: Range: 0-30% TDS
- Precision: ±0.02% TDS, Resolution 0.01%, Accuracy: ±0.03% TDS.
- Share recipes & data on DiFluid Café App
- IP67 water resistant
- HD LCD screen
- Rechargeable lithium battery
By placing a few drops of brewed coffee onto the refractometer, they can precisely determine the percentage of solids dissolved in the water. This measurement helps them fine-tune brewing parameters like grind size, water temperature, and brew time to achieve the ideal extraction range, which is generally considered to be between 18% to 22% for most brewing methods.
With this data, baristas can use or develop coffee extraction calculators to predict and adjust the brewing process for consistency and quality, ensuring each cup meets a professional standard. It is a way to measure extraction without solely relying on the subjectivity of human taste.
Final Thoughts
While brewing the perfect cup of coffee involves lots of technique and understanding, one crucial detail is applying the right coffee-to-water ratio. As you play with different ratios, you will begin to understand how the dose of coffee and water affects extraction and flavor. So, whether you’re using this as your pour over coffee calculator, as a French Press ratio guide, or something else like the AeroPress, I hope this simplifies the process of dialing in the perfect coffee calculation!
FAQs
What is the best coffee to water ratio for drip coffee?
The commonly recommended ratio for drip coffee and a good starting point for balanced flavor is 1:18, although this can vary based on preference. This ratio means one part coffee to eighteen parts water. For example, you would put two tablespoons of coffee (approx 12 grams) and eight ounces of water (237 grams/milliliters).
Is there a best ratio of coffee to water?
While the so-called “golden ratio” set by the Specialty Coffee Association is 1:18, the truth is that the best ratio can vary depending on your taste, the type of coffee beans, and the brewing method. Experimentation is key to finding what you enjoy most.
How many coffee scoops per cup of coffee should I use?
A general guideline is one coffee scoop (about 10-12 grams or 2 tablespoons) per 8 ounces of water. However, you may prefer a stronger taste by adding slightly more coffee. Also, scoop sizes and coffee densities can vary, so it is best to use a scale for precise measurement in grams instead of measuring by volume.
How much coffee do you put in a 12-cup coffee maker?
Following a standard 1:18 ratio for drip coffee, a 12-cup coffee maker (60 fluid ounces) requires 98.6 grams of coffee (16.5 tablespoons). For a slightly stronger brew (1:16 ratio), use 111 grams of coffee (18.5 tablespoons).
