Coffee Ratio Calculator
Weigh out the right amount of coffee or water for pour over, French press, drip, espresso or cold brew.
1:16 is the starting point for pour over (v60, chemex). Expect about 306 mL in the cup, because the wet grounds hold some water back. If it tastes sour or thin, grind finer or use more coffee; if bitter, grind coarser or use less.
Coffee for any amount of water
Drag the brass point to change the amountCoffee grows in a straight line with the water: at 1:16, every 100 g of water takes 6.3 g of coffee. Your 350 g of water takes 21.9 g. At 1:15 it would be 23.3 g, and at 1:18 19.4 g.
Coffee for 350 g of water
| Ratio | Coffee | Water | In the cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:12 | 29.2 g | 350 g | 292 mL |
| 1:13 | 26.9 g | 350 g | 296 mL |
| 1:14 | 25 g | 350 g | 300 mL |
| 1:15 | 23.3 g | 350 g | 303 mL |
| 1:16 (yours) | 21.9 g | 350 g | 306 mL |
| 1:17 | 20.6 g | 350 g | 309 mL |
| 1:18 | 19.4 g | 350 g | 311 mL |
A smaller second number means more coffee for the same water, so a stronger cup. Change it by about one step at a time.
How to brew it
Pour-over timeline
| Time | What to do | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:45 | Bloom: pour, swirl to wet all the grounds, wait | 44 g |
| 0:45 to 1:15 | Pour steadily to 60% of the water | 210 g |
| 1:15 to 1:45 | Pour the rest more gently | 350 g |
| 1:45 to 3:30 | Stir once, swirl, and let it drain | – |
Based on James Hoffmann's V60 method; start a timer as you begin the bloom.
How it's worked out
A brew ratio compares water with ground coffee by weight. At 1:16 you use 16 grams of water for every gram of coffee. Weight is used rather than scoops because a scoop of dark, fine coffee weighs more than a scoop of light, coarse coffee.
A milliliter of water weighs about a gram, so 350 mL and 350 g are the same here. The Specialty Coffee Association's Golden Cup recipe is 55 g of coffee per liter of water; the tool's drip setting uses 1:18.18, which gives 55 g per liter.
Not all the water reaches the cup. Wet grounds hold back about 2 g of water for each gram of coffee, so the tool shows how much coffee you will actually drink. For espresso the ratio is yield to dose: the weight of liquid espresso against the dry coffee in the basket.
Tablespoons are a rough guide. A level tablespoon of medium-ground coffee is about 5 g, but it can run from about 4 to 7 g with the grind and roast. A scale is better.
Worked examples
Ana's morning pour over
Ana fills a big mug with 350 g of water and brews at 1:16. She needs 21.9 g of coffee, about 4.4 level tablespoons. Following the timeline, she blooms with 44 g of water, reaches 210 g by 1:15 and 350 g by 1:45, and gets about 306 mL in her mug. Open this example in the tool
Ben's French press
Ben's carafe holds 34 fl oz, about 1,006 mL. At 1:15 that takes 67 g of coarse coffee, or roughly 13 level tablespoons. After the grounds soak up their share, about 871 mL is left to pour, a little under 3.7 US cups. Open this example in the tool
A double espresso
With 18 g of coffee in the basket and a 1:2 ratio, you stop the shot at 36 g of espresso in the cup. A 1:2.5 ratio would let it run longer for a lighter shot. Open this example in the tool
Reading your result
The big number is what to weigh out. Under it are the ratio, the other amount and the coffee you will end up with. If you started from the coffee you have, the big number is the water instead.
The ratio sets the strength. On 350 g of water, 1:15 takes 23.3 g of coffee and 1:17 takes 20.6 g, a difference of 2.7 g for one mug. Drip, pour over and French press usually start between 1:15 and 1:18, which the chart marks. Moka pots, cold brew concentrate and espresso sit far stronger.
Taste tells you which way to move. Sour, thin or weak coffee is usually under-extracted: grind finer or use a little more coffee. Bitter, dry or harsh coffee is usually over-extracted: grind coarser or use a little less. Change one thing at a time.
The grind should suit the method as much as the ratio does. Pour over likes a medium grind, about like table salt. French press and cold brew need a coarse grind, so the grounds stay behind the filter and the long steep does not turn bitter. Espresso needs a fine grind, because the water passes through in under half a minute.
Common mistakes
- Counting a mug as a cup. Coffee makers often call 5 or 6 fl oz a cup, while a mug holds 10 to 14. Weigh or measure the water you actually use.
- Mixing up the two numbers. A 1:15 brew is stronger than 1:17, because there is less water for each gram of coffee.
- Scooping instead of weighing. The weight of a scoop changes with grind and roast, so the same scoops can brew a different strength each day.
- Brewing cold brew at drinking strength and diluting it. A 1:5 concentrate is meant to be cut about 1 to 1; a 1:10 brew is ready to drink as is.
Questions people ask
Sources
- Specialty Coffee Association, Golden Cup Standard (brewing best practices)
- Lingle, T. R. (2011). The Coffee Brewing Handbook, 2nd edition. Specialty Coffee Association of America
Maintained by Anil ShahUpdated October 28, 2026Checked against 11 reference values