Best Coffee to Water Ratio: How to Measure for Most Brewing Methods

What is the standard coffee to water ratio? Measuring coffee and water properly is crucial to brewing great coffee. Here are a few different ways to measure, using grams or ounces. These tips will work for most of the brewing methods out there.

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The first thing you should know is the coffee to water ratio is somewhat of a subjective thing, but there is a “ball park” number. When it comes to measuring coffee and water, you can do so by weight or volume. Most baristas will recommend using a scale and measuring coffee by weight. However, this isn’t your only option.

Before considering the following information, you should know that many cheap coffee pots cannot handle the “standard” amount of coffee without overflowing, assuming you are filling to capacity. If the instructions on your coffee pot come in on the low side, this is likely the reason why. Most brewing methods make use of the same ratio and guidelines successfully. If your coffee pot is incapable of providing you with proper strength coffee, I recommend you investigate one of the many other brewing options out there. For the price, the manual methods will always do the best job. I would encourage you to learn more about these options if you want to involve yourself more in the process.

Read More: A Comparison of Brewing Methods

For Beginners: Measuring Coffee and Water by Volume

Since this method for measuring coffee and water uses utensils most people already own, I think beginners should start here. The National Coffee Association recommends 2 level tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6 ounces of water. This is a good starting point to get in the ballpark of where you should be.

If you are using an automatic drip coffee pot, this is probably a good bit more coffee than you have been using. As I mentioned earlier, your coffee pot probably cannot handle this amount of coffee for a full pot. If your coffee pot isn’t particularly high end with a wide-dispersing shower head, I would recommend making about a half a pot with this ratio. Also be aware of how the lines on your carafe translate into ounces. Many drip pots use 5 ounce increments, so adjust accordingly. When measuring this way, you probably will find it easiest to start with a measuring cup rather than using lines on a carafe.

While this method of measuring coffee to water is easy to start with, it is imprecise due to different sizes and densities of coffee beans. If you want more consistency between different types of coffee, consider one of the methods below.

For True Home Baristas: For Measuring Coffee and Water by Weight

In order to be truly precise, you should measure your coffee and water by weight using a kitchen scale. Simply zero out the weight of the container for your grounds and add the desired weight. Since the weight doesn’t change after grinding, you can use this method to measure coffee in whole bean form. The same holds true for measuring your water. You should know that one ounce of water weighs about 30 grams.

Although many professional baristas recommend a ratio of 1:17 for coffee and water respectively, I personally recommend 1:18, as I like a slightly cleaner cup (and the math is easier). To use either ratio, determine how much brewed coffee you desire, in grams. Then divide that number by 18 (or 17 for the stronger stuff). For example, to get 6 ounces of brewed coffee, you would start with 180 grams of water, divided by 18, which comes to 10 grams of coffee. I know it sounds complicated, but I promise you will get used to it.

Measuring by weight allows for consistency and precision across different brewing methods. You don’t have to worry about perfectly filling a tablespoon or watching the water level on your measuring cup. Instead, you just press a button on the scale and add weight until you reach your target. Once you get into the routine, you will discover that using a scale involves fewer steps and takes less time.

If you don’t have a kitchen scale, you should get one! Not only is a scale helpful for measuring coffee but also makes portioning things much easier and is useful in cooking (especially for determining serving sizes). I own two different scales; both are inexpensive and work well. I will list those below:

• Escali Digital Scale (check price on Amazon) – I actually bought this scale originally for candle making, but it works just fine for food.
• Etekcity Digital Scale (check price on Amazon) – This scale is a little bit slimmer and more intended for use in the kitchen.

For me: A Combined Method for Simplicity

I personally use a combined approach by measuring my coffee using grams, and my water using volume. For the 1:18 ratio, I use 10 grams of coffee for every 6 ounces of water. You can also multiply the amount of water (in ounces) by 1.67 to accommodate larger serving amounts. This is a real time saver for me.

This method is my standard for quick measuring. The only time I don’t use it is if I am brewing with a Chemex or a pour-over. Both of these methods really require you to measure the water in grams for best results.

The Coffee to Water Ratio Debate

Experts debate coffee to water ratios frequently and ultimately it will come down to taste. My chosen ratios are pretty close to standard guidelines, so you can’t really go wrong by using them.

Measuring coffee properly will enable you to accurately decide if you like a particular style of bean or not. You don’t want to disregard great coffee because you used a dense bean and your coffee was too strong and bitter. Making this simple change along with buying great coffee beans will dramatically improve your daily cup.

What ratio do you use? Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question below.