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CalcChef

Coffee Ratio Calculator

Coffee to water by weight for drip, French press, AeroPress, cold brew, espresso and moka pot or a custom ratio: grams of coffee, water and cups. How it works

Use the Coffee Ratio Calculator

Brew method
Strength

Lighter uses about 10% less coffee and Stronger about 10% more than the method ratio. A custom ratio ignores this.

Leave empty to use Drip / Pour Over at 1:16.

237 ml is one US cup. A coffee maker's "cup" is often smaller.

Water
480 g
Coffee 30.0 g · Ratio 1:16

480 ml, about 2.0 cups of 237 ml

Drip / Pour Over at 1:16 (62.5 g of coffee per litre of water). A common starting point for filter coffee, machine or hand poured.

For 1, 2, 4 and 8 cups of 237 ml
CupsCoffeeWater
114.8 g237 g
229.6 g474 g
459.3 g948 g
8118.5 g1896 g

Reference: the Specialty Coffee Association's "Golden Cup" is defined by the cup (strength 1.15 to 1.35 percent total dissolved solids, extraction 18 to 22 percent), not by a ratio. It is often summarised as 55 to 60 g of coffee per litre of water, about 1:18 to 1:17. Grind, water temperature and time change the result at any ratio.

About the Coffee Ratio Calculator

30 g of coffee at a 1:16 ratio takes 480 g (480 ml) of water, about 2.0 cups of 237 ml, which is 62.5 g of coffee per litre. The coffee ratio calculator multiplies the coffee by the ratio, or divides the water by it, for drip (1:16), French press (1:15), AeroPress (1:12), cold brew (1:8), espresso (1:2), moka pot (1:10) or any ratio you type. Lighter and Stronger use about 10% less or more coffee than the method ratio, so drip becomes 1:17.78 or 1:14.55.

Coffee and water by ratio

RatioCoffee per litre of waterCoffee for 350 g of waterWater for 20 g of coffee
1:2500.0 g175.0 g40 g
1:8125.0 g43.8 g160 g
1:10100.0 g35.0 g200 g
1:1283.3 g29.2 g240 g
1:1566.7 g23.3 g300 g
1:1662.5 g21.9 g320 g
1:1758.8 g20.6 g340 g
1:1855.6 g19.4 g360 g

Water by weight, 1 g = 1 ml. For espresso, 1:2 is coffee to liquid espresso out, not to water in.

Frequently asked questions

How much coffee per cup?
At 1:16, 14.8 g of coffee for a 237 ml US cup of water and 22.2 g for a 355 ml (12 oz) mug. A coffee maker’s “cup” is often smaller, so set the cup size in the calculator.
What is the golden ratio for coffee?
The Specialty Coffee Association’s Golden Cup is defined by the brewed cup: a strength of 1.15 to 1.35% total dissolved solids and an extraction of 18 to 22%. Secondary sources summarise it as 55 to 60 g of coffee per litre of water, about 1:18 to 1:17, though they do not all agree. The drip default of 1:16 is 62.5 g per litre, a little stronger.
How much coffee for 1 liter of water?
62.5 g at 1:16, 58.8 g at 1:17 and 66.7 g at 1:15, the French press setting. Choose “I want water amount” and enter 1000 g.
What is the coffee to water ratio for cold brew?
The cold brew setting is 1:8, a concentrate you dilute with water or milk afterwards: 100 g of coffee takes 800 g of water.
What is the espresso ratio?
The espresso setting is 1:2, grams of coffee to grams of liquid espresso out: 18 g of coffee gives 36 g of espresso, about 36 ml. The water put in is a little more than the espresso that comes out.
How do I make coffee stronger or weaker?
Use more or less coffee for the same water. The Strength buttons do this by about 10%: for 1,000 g of water at the drip setting, Lighter is 56.3 g of coffee (1:17.78), Standard 62.5 g (1:16) and Stronger 68.8 g (1:14.55). The 10% step is this tool's own, not a published standard, and a custom ratio is used as typed, ignoring the buttons.

Weighing coffee and water

Weigh the beans first and choose “I have coffee” to learn how much water to pour over them, or start from the carafe: “I want water amount” with 1,000 g gives 62.5 g of coffee at 1:16. Set the cup size to the mug you actually drink from, because a coffee maker's “cup” mark is often smaller than the 237 ml default. Water is weighed in grams and read as the same number of ml.

Under the result, a table scales the brew to 1, 2, 4 and 8 cups of the size you set (not for espresso). With 250 ml cups at 1:16 that is 15.6, 31.3, 62.5 and 125.0 g of coffee for 250, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 g of water.

Coffee to water ratio

  • water = coffee × ratio

  • coffee = water ÷ ratio

  • grams per litre = 1,000 ÷ ratio

  • ratio in use = method ratio ÷ strength factor (Lighter 0.9, Standard 1, Stronger 1.1)

The ratio is grams of water per gram of coffee, and 1 g of water is taken as 1 ml. Example: 30 g of coffee at 1:16 takes 480 g of water, about 2.0 cups of 237 ml, which is 62.5 g of coffee per litre.

The method ratios (drip 1:16, French press 1:15, AeroPress 1:12, cold brew 1:8, espresso 1:2, moka pot 1:10) are starting points chosen for the tool, not standards, and so is the 10% strength step: drip at Lighter is 1:17.78 and at Stronger 1:14.55. For espresso the ratio is grams of coffee to grams of liquid espresso out, and the result shows the espresso instead of water and cups. The ratio people quote from the Specialty Coffee Association, 55 to 60 g of coffee per litre (about 1:18 to 1:17), is weaker than the 1:16 drip setting here. The Coffee Brewing Guide on this site uses the SCA's 1:18.2 test ratio for drip, so its drip dose is lower than this page's for the same water. A custom ratio can be from 1:0.5 to 1:100.

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