How Much Coffee Per Cup? A Simple Coffee to Water Ratio Guide
Share
Pull up a chair. Today at The Kitchen Table, we're talking about one of those coffee questions that sounds simple until you actually try to answer it:
How much coffee should I use per cup?
Too little coffee and you've got something that looks like coffee but tastes suspiciously like brown water. Too much and you may end up with a cup strong enough to put hair on your chest.
Okay, maybe not. But you get the idea.
The good news is that making a better cup of coffee doesn't have to be complicated.
First, A Little Truth From Our Kitchen
If you look at today's Kitchen Table photo, you'll see our everyday coffee setup.
That really is our kitchen. That's really our coffee maker. And yes, that's really Udderly Eclucktic Mocha ground coffee in the scoop.
But I have a confession to make:
I don't actually stand there measuring tablespoons of coffee every morning.
Our everyday coffee maker is a Cuisinart Grind & Brew. We can add whole beans, choose our settings and let the machine grind and measure the coffee for us. We can even adjust the strength depending on how bold we want that morning's pot.
Technology is wonderful, especially before coffee.
But not every coffee maker does the measuring for you. And even if yours does, understanding the basic coffee to water ratio is helpful when you're using ground coffee, trying a French press or pour over, making coffee away from home, or simply trying to figure out why your usual cup doesn't taste quite right.
So let's keep it simple.
How Much Coffee Should You Use Per Cup?
A traditional starting guideline for drip coffee is:
1 to 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6 ounces of water.
If you like a fuller, stronger cup, you'll probably find yourself closer to 2 tablespoons.
Prefer something lighter? Start closer to 1 tablespoon and adjust from there.
The important word here is starting.
Coffee beans, roast levels, grind sizes and even the way you fill a tablespoon can affect how much coffee is actually in that scoop.
That's why there isn't one tablespoon measurement that's magically perfect for everyone.
Wait... Isn't a Cup 8 Ounces?
Here's where coffee makers like to confuse us.
In the kitchen, we normally think of a cup as 8 fluid ounces.
But the "cups" marked on many coffee makers are smaller than a standard measuring cup. Depending on the machine, a coffee maker's cup may be around 5 or 6 ounces.
So if you've ever looked at the numbers on your coffee pot and thought the math wasn't mathing, you weren't imagining things.
When you're following a brewing ratio, it's better to know approximately how much water you're actually using rather than assuming every "cup" marking equals 8 ounces.
An Easy Coffee Measurement Guide
If you're measuring your coffee with tablespoons, here's a simple starting guide using approximately 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces of water:
| Water | Ground Coffee |
|---|---|
| 6 oz | About 2 tablespoons |
| 12 oz | About 4 tablespoons |
| 24 oz | About 8 tablespoons |
| 30 oz | About 10 tablespoons |
| 36 oz | About 12 tablespoons |
| 48 oz | About 16 tablespoons |
| 60 oz | About 20 tablespoons |
Remember, this isn't a rule.
It's a place to start.
Brew it. Taste it. Then adjust it until it tastes right to you.
Want to Get More Precise? Use a Coffee to Water Ratio
If you've been reading about coffee online, you've probably seen people talking about ratios such as 1:15, 1:16 or 1:18.
It sounds much more complicated than it actually is.
A 1:16 coffee to water ratio simply means using 1 gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water.
As a general guide:
1:15 gives you a stronger brew.
1:16 to 1:17 is a good balanced starting range.
1:18 gives you a lighter brew.
If you own a kitchen scale and want consistency from one pot to the next, measuring by weight is more accurate than measuring coffee by tablespoons.
But if weighing coffee in grams before you've actually had your coffee sounds like entirely too much responsibility for that time of morning, don't worry.
Your tablespoon will still get the job done.
What If Your Coffee Maker Measures Everything for You?
Then enjoy it!
That's what we do most mornings.
Our Cuisinart Grind & Brew handles much of the process for us. We add the coffee, select our settings and can adjust the brew strength depending on what we're drinking and what kind of cup we want that day.
If you have a machine that automatically grinds or measures your coffee, learn what its different settings do.
Try the regular setting.
Try it stronger.
Try different beans and roast levels.
You may discover that changing the strength setting or the coffee itself makes a bigger difference than you expected.
Automatic doesn't mean you can't experiment.
It just means the machine does some of the work.
Does the Brewing Method Change the Ratio?
It can.
Your coffee to water ratio is only one part of brewing. Grind size, water temperature, contact time and brewing method all affect what's happening in your cup.
Automatic Drip Coffee
For a traditional drip coffee maker where you're measuring the grounds yourself, 1 to 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces of water is an easy place to begin.
A medium grind generally works well for automatic drip brewing.
French Press
French press usually calls for a coarse grind and often produces a rich, full bodied cup.
A ratio around 1:15 or 1:16 is a good starting point.
Pour Over
For pour over coffee, somewhere around 1:16 to 1:17 is a useful starting range.
Pour over brewing can be especially fun with single origin coffees because it gives you an opportunity to notice some of the flavors that make coffees from different parts of the world unique.
Cold Brew
Cold brew gets its own category.
It's commonly brewed much stronger than ordinary hot coffee, particularly when you're making a concentrate that will later be diluted with water, milk or cream.
We'll save that conversation for another day at The Kitchen Table.
Why Does My Coffee Taste Weak?
If your coffee tastes watery or weaker than you'd like, don't automatically blame the coffee.
You could be:
-
Using too little coffee
-
Using too much water
-
Using a grind that isn't right for your brewing method
-
Brewing too quickly
-
Using a strength setting on your machine that isn't giving you the cup you want
Try changing one thing at a time.
That last part matters.
If you change the amount of coffee, grind size, water and brew setting all at once, you won't know which change actually made your coffee better.
Why Does My Coffee Taste Bitter?
This is another place where people sometimes assume that strong = bitter.
It doesn't.
Strong coffee simply has a more concentrated coffee flavor.
Unpleasant bitterness can be related to the roast, grind size, brewing time, water temperature or over extraction.
So if your coffee tastes bitter, simply using less coffee may not solve the problem.
Grind Size Matters Too
You can have a great coffee to water ratio and still end up with a disappointing cup if your grind isn't right for your brewing method.
Here's the simple version:
Coarse: French press and many cold brew methods
Medium: Automatic drip coffee makers
Medium Fine: Many pour over methods
Fine: Espresso
There's much more to grind size than those four lines, so we'll tackle that in another Kitchen Table guide.
So What's the Perfect Coffee to Water Ratio?
Here's my favorite answer:
The one that makes coffee you enjoy drinking.
There are brewing standards, recommended ratios and plenty of coffee people who can tell you exactly how many grams of everything should go into your cup.
Those things are useful. They give us a reliable starting point.
But you're the one drinking the coffee.
Start with a basic ratio. Brew it. Taste it.
Then make it yours.
A little stronger tomorrow.
A different roast next week.
Whole bean in the Grind & Brew one morning and some Mocha ground coffee another.
That's part of the fun of coffee.
And if you're standing in your kitchen experimenting with a fresh cup in your favorite mug, you're doing just fine.
Until next time, pull up a chair and stay awhile.
There's always room at The Kitchen Table.
Farm Raised • Faith Driven • Roasted with Purpose