Free brewing tool
How much coffee for how much water? Pick your brew method, set the ratio and type either number: the other one updates instantly.
These are the starting points the calculator uses. They are not rules: start here, taste, then adjust.
| Method | Ratio | Try this |
|---|---|---|
| Pour over (V60, Kalita, Chemex) | 1:15 – 1:17 | 15 g coffee, 250 g water |
| French press | 1:12 – 1:15 | 30 g coffee, 450 g water |
| AeroPress | 1:12 – 1:16 | 15 g coffee, 220 g water |
| Drip machine | 1:15 – 1:17 | 60 g coffee, 1 litre water |
| Moka pot | 1:7 – 1:10 | Fill the basket level |
| Espresso | about 1:2 | 18 g coffee, 36 g in the cup |
| Cold brew concentrate | 1:4 – 1:8 | Dilute it before drinking |
| Cold brew to drink straight | about 1:12 | 83 g coffee, 1 litre water |
Use the small unit menus in the calculator to switch the water between millilitres, fluid ounces and mugs (240 ml), and the coffee between grams, tablespoons and ounces. The results update straight away.
Water is easy: 1 ml weighs about 1 g. Coffee is harder to measure by volume, because beans vary in size and density: a level tablespoon of whole beans weighs roughly 5 to 7 g. The calculator uses 6 g per tablespoon, so treat spoons as a good estimate rather than an exact dose.
For cups you can repeat, a scale that reads to 0.1 g is the best upgrade you can make. Our guide to the best coffee scales compares the options.
Change one thing at a time. If the cup tastes heavy or harsh, move the ratio up by one (from 1:15 to 1:16). If it tastes thin or watery, move it down. If it tastes sour or bitter rather than simply strong or weak, the ratio is probably fine and the grind needs work: our grind size guide explains why.
For filter coffee, 1:16 is a reliable start: 1 g of coffee for every 16 g of water. Most people settle somewhere between 1:15 and 1:17.
For a 240 ml mug of filter coffee, use about 15 g of coffee at 1:16. For a large 350 ml mug, use about 22 g.
Yes, but it is read differently. For espresso you compare the dry coffee with the drink in the cup, not with the water you pour. A 1:2 ratio means 18 g of coffee gives you 36 g of espresso.
Measure the water you pour. Some of it stays in the wet grounds, so the coffee in your cup will weigh a little less than the number in the calculator.
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