Coffee Brew Ratio Calculator
Choose a brew method (pour-over, French press, AeroPress, drip, espresso, moka pot or cold brew concentrate) and enter the water you plan to use or the coffee you have. The calculator returns the matching coffee dose, water weight and approximate finished beverage volume — using the published SCA Golden Cup standard and the industry-recommended ratios for each method.
Enter a positive amount in grams; the ratio must also be greater than 0.
Coffee dose
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Water
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Finished beverage (est.)
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Formula
coffee = water ÷ N | water = coffee × N (N is the "N" in 1 : N)
- · Espresso default 1 : 2 — e.g. 18 g in → 36 g out, the modern espresso ratio (Hoffmann; SCA).
- · Moka pot default 1 : 7 (Bialetti / Hoffmann), AeroPress 1 : 14, French press 1 : 15.
- · Pour-over (V60) defaults to 1 : 16; drip / batch brew uses 1 : 17 (SCA Golden Cup ≈ 55 g / L).
- · Cold brew default 1 : 8 yields a concentrate meant to be diluted before drinking; a ready-to-drink cold brew is closer to 1 : 12.
- · Finished beverage estimates immersion / pour-over absorption at ≈ 2 mL per gram of grounds. Espresso loses negligible water — the shot weight IS the yield.
- · Cup estimates: espresso uses 30 mL single-shot units; every other method uses the 240 mL (8 fl-oz) "standard cup."
- · All weights are in grams. Water density is near 1 g / mL at brewing temperature, so grams and millilitres are interchangeable here.
- · Sources: SCA Golden Cup Standard (2017); James Hoffmann, "The World Atlas of Coffee" 2nd ed.; Stumptown & Toddy cold-brew recipes; Bialetti Moka Express user guide.
Frequently asked
Why is 1 : 16 so often quoted as the "golden ratio"?
It is the midpoint of the SCA Golden Cup standard (≈ 55–65 g coffee per litre of water, i.e. 1 : 15.4 – 1 : 18). James Hoffmann, Counter Culture and most specialty roasters publish 1 : 16 as their default pour-over ratio. Below 1 : 15 the cup tastes strong / bitter; above 1 : 17 it tastes thin. Start at 1 : 16 in the calculator and nudge ±1 to dial in your taste.
Why does espresso use 1 : 2 while pour-over uses 1 : 16?
They are completely different extractions. Espresso forces water through fine, tamped grounds at 9 bar for 25–30 s, reaching very high concentration (18–22 % extraction, 8–12 % TDS), so only twice the coffee mass of water is needed for a rich shot. Pour-over and immersion methods rely on gravity or steeping and need 15–18× water to land at the 1.2–1.5 % TDS that drinkers expect from "regular coffee." The calculator picks the right default for each method.
Cold brew 1 : 8 vs 1 : 12 — which should I use?
1 : 8 produces a concentrate that you dilute 1:1 with water, milk or ice when serving — the commercial recipe used by Toddy and Stumptown. 1 : 12 is closer to "ready to drink" but the flavour is thinner. The default here is 1 : 8 because the concentrate keeps for several days in the fridge and gives you flexibility to dilute to taste.
I do not have a scale — can I just use tablespoons?
You can approximate — one level tablespoon of medium-ground coffee is roughly 5 g, so 30 g of coffee is about 6 tablespoons. But this varies ±30 % with grind size, roast and spoon size. A cheap kitchen scale ($10–$20) is the single biggest jump in consistency you can make. This calculator supports entering either water OR coffee weight, so you can use whichever you can measure accurately.
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