Coffee Ratio Calculator
Find the perfect coffee-to-water ratio for French press, pour-over, Aeropress, espresso, and cold brew. Get simple water amounts, grind sizes, and temperatures.
~10.8 fl oz
Coffee grounds soak up water like a sponge. In a Pour Over, they will hold onto about 2 times their weight in water. This is why you need to pour slightly more water than you want to drink.
Why Brew Ratios Matter
The brew ratio is simply how much water you use for every gram of coffee. It is the easiest way to control how strong or light your coffee tastes. A 1:15 ratio makes a rich, bold cup, while a 1:17 ratio gives you something lighter and more delicate.
Using a kitchen scale is the secret to great coffee. A scoop of coffee can vary wildly in weight depending on how dark the roast is or how finely it's ground. Weighing in grams ensures your coffee tastes exactly the same every single morning.
Different brewing styles need different ratios because they extract flavor at different speeds. Espresso uses high pressure to squeeze out a concentrated shot at a tight 1:2 ratio, while cold brew steeps slowly in the fridge over many hours. Adjusting the ratio lets you tailor the strength to your exact taste.
Weighing your coffee is much more reliable than using spoons, since different grinds pack down differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
A kitchen scale is way better. Measuring coffee with spoons isn't very accurate because coffee beans have different sizes, and how much fits in a spoon changes depending on how fine it's ground. Water weight in grams is exactly the same as milliliters, so a scale makes everything simple.
Yes, it does. Dark roasts dissolve easily and can taste bitter quickly, so using a little more water (like a 1:16 ratio) helps keep it smooth. Light roasts are harder to extract, so using slightly less water (like 1:15) or hotter water helps bring out their bright flavors.
For most hot coffee, you want water that is just off the boil—around 200°F to 205°F (93°C to 96°C). If the water is boiling hot, it can make your coffee taste scorched and bitter. If it's too cool, your coffee will taste sour and weak. For cold brew, cold tap water or fridge water is perfect.
It comes down to the paper filter. Chemex uses thick paper filters that trap almost all the coffee oils and sediment, leaving you with a very clean, crisp cup. V60 filters are thinner, which lets more oils and flavor pass through, giving you a heavier, fuller-bodied cup.
Grind size controls how fast water extracts flavor. If your grind is too fine, the water takes too long to pass through and over-extracts, making it bitter. If it's too coarse, the water runs right through and under-extracts, making it sour and thin. You want a consistent grind size so every particle brews at the same speed.
Yes, but espresso is a bit of a special case. Instead of a long brew time with lots of water, espresso uses intense pressure to push a small amount of water through fine grounds in about 30 seconds. A standard espresso ratio is 1:2 (for example, 18 grams of coffee grounds making 36 grams of liquid espresso).
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