FREE CALCULATORS › COFFEE RATIO CALCULATOR
Coffee ratio calculator: coffee to water for pour-over, French press, AeroPress & espresso
How much coffee for how much water? Pick your brew, type in the coffee or the water - the other one follows, with the bloom water and the coffee you get in the cup. Below it: the extraction yield from the TDS of your refractometer.
How the coffee ratio is calculated
ratio = water / coffee (250 g / 15 g = 16.7, written 1:16.7) water = coffee × ratio coffee = water / ratio espresso: in the cup = coffee × ratio (18 g at 1:2 = 36 g) extraction yield % = coffee in the cup × TDS % / coffee dose
Example: 20 g of coffee at 1:15 is 20 × 15 = 300 g of water. The ground coffee keeps about 2 g of water per g, so about 300 - 40 = 260 g reach the cup. With a refractometer reading of 1.38 % TDS on 300 g in the cup: 300 × 1.38 / 20 = 20.7 % extraction yield - inside the usual 18 - 22 %.
Weigh, don't scoop: a scoop of coffee can differ by a fifth from the next one, the weight does not. Pour-over ratios count all the water you pour, the bloom included; espresso ratios count the coffee in the cup.
On the scale it is done while you weigh
The coffee scale app of UP↑SCALE does this while you brew: load a recipe, weigh in your coffee, and the water, the bloom and every pour follow it - the ratio stays. It shows the brew ratio, the flow rate and the time live, guides every pour, weighs the coffee in your jug when you lift the dripper - and puts the extraction yield of your refractometer reading on the brewing control chart. Free in the browser, with your Bluetooth coffee scale.
More for Home cooks & families · open the free app · does my scale work?
Coffee ratio: questions and answers
How do I calculate the coffee to water ratio?
Divide the water by the coffee: 250 g of water for 15 g of coffee is 250 / 15 = 16.7, written 1:16.7. The other way round: water = coffee × ratio, and coffee = water / ratio. Weigh both in grams - for water, grams and millilitres are almost the same.
What is the golden ratio for coffee?
The Golden Cup recommendation of the Specialty Coffee Association is 55 g of coffee per litre of water (± 10 %), about 1:18. Most published pour-over recipes are a little stronger: 1:15 to 1:17, e.g. 15 g of coffee to 250 g of water.
How much coffee do I need for one cup?
For a mug of 250 g of water at 1:16.7 you need 15 g of coffee - the 1 cup V60 of James Hoffmann; at 1:15 it is 16.7 g. Type your cup size into the water field above and the coffee follows.
What is the ratio for espresso?
1:2 is the classic: 18 g of coffee to 36 g of espresso in the cup, in about 30 s. Other published recipes go to 1:2.2 or 1:2.7 (faster, longer shots) - an allongé even to about 1:5. The ratio of espresso counts the coffee in the cup, not the water.
What is the coffee ratio for French press and cold brew?
Published French press recipes use about 1:14 to 1:17, for example 30 g of coffee to 450 g of water at 1:15. For cold brew a common starting point is about 1:8 to drink as it is, and 1:4 to 1:5 for a concentrate you dilute later.
How do I calculate the extraction yield of my coffee?
Extraction yield % = coffee in the cup × TDS % / coffee dose. Example: 300 g in the cup at 1.38 % TDS from 20 g of coffee is 300 × 1.38 / 20 = 20.7 %. The usual box of the brewing control chart is 18 - 22 % extraction at 1.15 - 1.35 % TDS for filter coffee and about 8 - 12 % TDS for espresso.
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