How Many Grams of Coffee per Cup? Choosing a Coffee-to-Water Ratio, Dose Charts for 1, 2 and 3 Cups and a Mug, and Scoop Conversions
How many grams of coffee for one cup? How much water for two? Getting the amounts right is the first thing that trips people up when brewing at home. The bag says 10 g per cup, a recipe video says 20 g of coffee to 300 g of water, and an English-language site tells you 1:16, so which one should you follow? This guide is built around the brew ratio. It covers dose charts for one, two and three cups and a mug, the right way to work backwards from the amount you want once you allow for the water the grounds soak up, how to measure with a coffee scoop or a tablespoon, the ratio for each brew method (pour-over, the 4:6 method, Japanese-style iced coffee, French press and cold brew), how to fix coffee that is too strong, too weak, bitter or sour, and how many cups you get from a 200 g bag and what each cup costs. Every number was checked with the same formulas as the Coffee Ratio Calculator.
The short answer: about 11.5 g for a 150 ml cup, starting from a 1:15 ratio
If you think of coffee amounts as a ratio (how many grams of water for every gram of coffee), you never have to guess again when the number of cups changes. For pour-over at home, 1:15 (15 g of water per 1 g of coffee) is an easy place to start. At that ratio, one cup (150 ml of finished coffee) needs about 11.5 g of coffee and about 173 g of water poured.
| Finished amount | Strong (1:13) | Standard (1:15) | Light (1:17) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small cup (120 ml) | 10.9 g coffee, 142 g water | 9.2 g coffee, 138 g water | 8 g coffee, 136 g water |
| 1 cup (150 ml) | 13.6 g coffee, 177 g water | 11.5 g coffee, 173 g water | 10 g coffee, 170 g water |
| 1 mug (240 ml) | 21.8 g coffee, 284 g water | 18.5 g coffee, 277 g water | 16 g coffee, 272 g water |
| 2 cups (300 ml) | 27.3 g coffee, 355 g water | 23.1 g coffee, 346 g water | 20 g coffee, 340 g water |
| 3 cups (450 ml) | 40.9 g coffee, 532 g water | 34.6 g coffee, 519 g water | 30 g coffee, 510 g water |
The water column is the total you pour into the dripper, the number on your kitchen scale. Not all of it ends up in the cup: the grounds hold on to about twice their own weight in water, so you always get less coffee than the water you poured. That is why two cups (300 ml) take about 346 g of water rather than 300 g.
How the coffee-to-water ratio (brew ratio) works
The ratio is the weight of water divided by the weight of coffee. 20 g of coffee with 300 g of water is 300 ÷ 20 = 15, or 1:15; 15 g with 240 g is 1:16. Since 1 ml of water weighs about 1 g, weighing on a kitchen scale instead of using a measuring jug makes it much easier to get the same taste every time.
| Ratio | Taste | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 1:12 | Very strong and heavy | Café au lait, coffee with milk |
| 1:13 | Strong, full-bodied | Dark roasts, Japanese-style iced coffee |
| 1:15 | Standard | Everyday pour-over, the 4:6 method |
| 1:16 | Clean | Bringing out the aroma of medium to light roasts |
| 1:17 to 1:18 | Light, almost tea-like | Light-roast specialty coffee, many Western recipes |
The 10 g of coffee to 140 to 150 ml of water printed on many coffee bags and used in traditional Japanese cafés works out at about 1:14 to 1:15, a little stronger than the 1:16 to 1:17 common in English-language recipes. The Golden Cup standard long promoted by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is 55 g of coffee per litre of water, about 1:18. No ratio is the correct one; what matters is finding the one you like and sticking to it.
Working backwards with absorption: coffee = finished amount ÷ (ratio − 2)
If you want two cups (300 ml) and work it out as 300 ÷ 15 = 20 g at 1:15, you end up with about 260 ml, a little short of two cups. Ground coffee swells as it soaks up water and keeps about twice its own weight (roughly 1.8 to 2.2 times, depending on the roast). When you start from the amount you want to drink, you need to add that water back in.
- 1
Decide how much you want to drink
Think about what you actually pour, not the size of the cup. A 150 ml cup filled to 80% holds about 130 ml; a mug is about 240 ml.
- 2
Pick a ratio
If in doubt, use 1:15. If last time was too strong, try 1:16; if too weak, try 1:14.
- 3
Work out the coffee
Divide the finished amount by (ratio − 2). Remember to divide by 13 for 1:15, 14 for 1:16 and 11 for 1:13 and you can do it in your head.
- 4
Work out the water
Multiply the coffee by the ratio. This is the final number your scale should show when you finish pouring.
If the coffee dose is fixed instead, the water is coffee × ratio and the finished amount is water − coffee × 2. 20 g at 1:15 means pouring 300 g of water and getting about 260 g (about 260 ml) of coffee. If you would rather not do the maths every morning, the Coffee Ratio Calculator lets you choose "From the finished amount" or "From the bean dose" and shows the coffee, the water and the scale reading for every pour at once.
Measuring with a coffee scoop or a tablespoon
Without a kitchen scale, you can use a scoop. The coffee scoops that come with drippers and bags of coffee are mostly designed to hold about 10 g of ground coffee when level. The weight of a scoop changes with the grind and the roast, though, so treat these as rough guides.
| Measure | Approx. weight of ground coffee | Makes at 1:15 |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee scoop, level | About 10 g | About 130 ml |
| Coffee scoop, heaped | About 12 g | About 156 ml |
| Tablespoon (15 ml), level | About 5 to 6 g | About 70 ml |
| Teaspoon (5 ml), level | About 2 g | About 26 ml |
- Dark-roast beans lose more moisture and puff up more in the roaster, so the same volume weighs less than a light roast. Use a little more when measuring dark roasts by the scoop.
- Finely ground coffee packs more tightly, so the same scoop holds more than with a coarse grind.
- Whole beans leave more gaps, so a scoop of beans tends to weigh 10 to 20% less than a scoop of grounds.
- Some scoops hold 8 g or 12 g, and the US standard scoop is about 2 tablespoons. Weigh your own scoop once on a scale and you can rely on the scoop alone from then on.
Ratios by brew method: pour-over, the 4:6 method, iced coffee, French press and cold brew
The best ratio and grind change with the brew method, even for the same beans. Percolation methods, where water flows through the coffee (pour-over), extract differently from immersion methods, where the coffee sits in the water (French press and cold brew).
| Method | Ratio | Grind | Temperature and time | Water for 20 g of coffee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pour-over | 1:15 to 1:16 | Medium-fine | 88 to 92°C, 2:30 to 3:00 | 300 to 320 g |
| 4:6 method | 1:15 | Coarse | About 93°C for light roasts, about 3:30 | 300 g |
| Japanese-style iced coffee | 1:13 (hot water plus ice) | Medium-fine to fine | 88 to 92°C, 2:30 to 3:00 | 156 g hot water plus 104 g ice |
| French press | 1:15 | Coarse | 92 to 94°C, 4 minutes | 300 g |
| Cold brew | 1:10 | Medium to coarse | 8 to 12 hours in the fridge | 200 g water |
With pour-over, the usual approach is to bloom with about twice the coffee's weight in water for 30 seconds, then pour the rest in about three stages. For 20 g at 1:15, bloom with 40 g, then pour at 0:30, 1:00 and 1:30 so the scale reads 144 g, 222 g and 300 g. If your pouring speed varies, so will the taste, so deciding the times and scale targets in advance is the quickest way to get consistent cups.
The 4:6 method is the recipe Tetsu Kasuya used to win the 2016 World Brewers Cup. The first 40% of the water sets the taste (the balance of sweetness and acidity) and the remaining 60% sets the strength. With the basic 20 g of coffee and 300 g of water, you pour five times, every 45 seconds, to 60 g, 120 g, 180 g, 240 g and 300 g. Making the first pour 50 g (still reaching 120 g on the second) gives a sweeter cup and 70 g a brighter one; pouring the last 180 g in two pours makes it lighter, in four pours stronger. When you change the dose, the "Recipe & pour timer" in the Coffee Ratio Calculator splits the pours for you.
Japanese-style iced coffee is brewed straight onto ice in the server so it chills instantly. Because the melting ice dilutes it, brew it stronger, at around 1:13 counting hot water and ice together, with 40% of that total as ice and 60% as hot water. For 20 g of coffee that is 260 g in total, 104 g of ice and 156 g of hot water, giving about 220 g of coffee. You will add more ice in the glass, so grind a little finer and extract fully.
A French press simply steeps the grounds for 4 minutes before you push the plunger down, so it needs no pouring technique and gives consistent results. Cold brew uses 1:10 (50 g of coffee to 500 g of water) and sits in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours. If you plan to dilute it with milk or water, make a 1:8 concentrate. Steeping too long brings out harsh flavours, so take the grounds out after about 14 hours at most.
Fixing coffee that is too strong, too weak, bitter or sour
When adjusting the taste, it helps to separate strength from extraction. The ratio mainly changes the strength (how much flavour there is on your tongue), while the grind, water temperature and brew time change the extraction (the balance of bitterness and acidity). Change just one thing and check it with your next cup.
| What you taste | Likely cause | What to change first |
|---|---|---|
| Weak and watery (but nothing unpleasant) | Too much water | Lower the ratio from 1:15 to 1:14 (more coffee) |
| Too strong and heavy (but nothing unpleasant) | Too much coffee | Raise the ratio from 1:15 to 1:16 (more water) |
| Sour, thin, short finish | Under-extraction | Grind a little finer, raise the water by 2 to 3°C, or pour more slowly |
| Bitter, astringent, gritty finish | Over-extraction | Grind a little coarser, lower the water by 2 to 3°C, or finish the drawdown sooner |
| Sour and bitter at the same time | Grounds too fine, causing clogging and uneven extraction | Grind coarser and wet all the grounds evenly |
Water temperature should follow the roast. Light roasts give up their flavour less easily, so use hotter water (92 to 96°C); dark roasts turn bitter more easily, so go lower (82 to 87°C); medium roasts sit in between at 88 to 92°C. Boiling water poured into a gooseneck kettle drops to about 90°C, so without a thermometer you can pour straight after boiling for hotter water, or wait 1 to 2 minutes after transferring for cooler water.
Going further: putting numbers on taste with extraction yield and TDS
To check your sense of taste with numbers, you can use TDS (total dissolved solids, the concentration of coffee in the cup) and extraction yield (the percentage of the coffee's weight that dissolved into the drink). TDS is measured with a refractometer, and extraction yield is calculated like this.
The SCA Golden Cup standard puts the ideal at an extraction yield of 18 to 22% and a TDS of 1.15 to 1.35%. As a rule of thumb, below 18% coffee tends to taste sour and thin (under-extracted), and above 22% bitter and astringent (over-extracted).
Bring the ratio back into this and something interesting appears. At a 20% extraction yield, a 1:15 brew has a TDS of about 1.54%, stronger than the SCA range. To land right in the middle at 1.25%, you need around 1:18 once absorption is included. That is why the SCA standard is 55 g of coffee per litre (about 1:18). Remember "1:15 is on the strong side, 1:18 is the Western standard" and foreign recipes become easier to read. Once you have a TDS reading, enter it in the "Extraction yield (TDS)" tab of the Coffee Ratio Calculator to see where you land on the brew control chart and which way to adjust next.
How many cups from a 200 g bag? Cost per cup and how long beans stay fresh
Coffee is commonly sold in 100 g, 200 g and 500 g bags (or 12 oz, about 340 g, in the US). Divide by the coffee you use per cup to see how many cups a bag makes.
| Coffee per cup | What kind of cup | From 100 g | From 200 g | From 500 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 g | One level coffee scoop | 10 cups | 20 cups | 50 cups |
| 11.5 g | 150 ml at 1:15 | About 8 cups | About 17 cups | About 43 cups |
| 13.6 g | 150 ml at 1:13 (strong) | About 7 cups | About 14 cups | About 36 cups |
| 18.5 g | 240 ml mug at 1:15 | About 5 cups | About 10 cups | About 27 cups |
| 20 g | The basic 4:6 method | 5 cups | 10 cups | 25 cups |
Cost per cup is the bag price ÷ its weight × the coffee per cup, plus paper filters and so on. A 200 g bag for $15 works out at 7.5 cents per gram, so an 11.5 g cup costs about 86 cents, or about 91 cents with a 5-cent filter. Two cups a day comes to about $55 a month; buying the same at a café for $4 a cup would cost about $240, a difference of more than $180 a month.
- Beans are generally at their best from about 2 weeks to a month after roasting. At two cups a day, a 200 g bag (about 17 cups) lasts about 9 days, so buying 2 or 3 bags a month keeps things fresh.
- Grinding exposes far more surface to the air and the aroma fades quickly, so buy whole beans if you can and grind just before brewing.
- Store beans in an airtight container away from sunlight, heat and humidity. If you need to keep them for more than a month, freeze them in small portions and take out only what you need, grinding before condensation forms.
If you drink several cups a day, timing matters as much as quantity. A 150 ml cup of drip coffee has about 90 mg of caffeine, and a cup in the late afternoon can still be in your system at bedtime. To work out the latest time you can have coffee without affecting your sleep, see how many hours before bed to stop drinking coffee.
Using the calculator to get your dose and pour on time
- 1
Choose a brew method
Open the Coffee Ratio Calculator and Pour-Over Timer and choose pour-over, the 4:6 method, Japanese-style iced coffee, French press or cold brew.
- 2
Set the amount and ratio
Pick "From the finished amount" and choose 1 cup (150 ml), 1 mug (240 ml), 2 cups (300 ml) and so on, or pick "From the bean dose" and enter the grams of coffee you have. You can choose a ratio from 1:13 to 1:17.
- 3
Check the coffee, water and ice
"Amounts for this recipe" shows the coffee, the water (and ice for iced coffee), the grind and a water temperature suited to the roast. Grind your coffee and heat the water.
- 4
Tare the scale and start the timer
Put the grounds in the dripper, zero the scale and press start on the "Pour timer". It beeps and vibrates 3 seconds before and at each step, so pour until the scale reaches the target.
- 5
Taste, note it and change one thing
If the strength is off, change the ratio; if bitterness or sourness bothers you, change only the grind or the temperature, and compare with your next cup. The "Dose chart" lists every combination of ratio and finished amount.
Your settings are saved only in this browser, so the next time you open it you start from your last recipe. Switch between 2 and 3 cups to match the number of people, and the coffee, water and pour timing all scale with it.
FAQ
- How many grams of coffee do I need for one cup?
- For 150 ml of finished coffee at 1:15, you need about 11.5 g of coffee and about 173 g of water. The grounds absorb about twice their weight in water, so calculate coffee = finished amount ÷ (ratio − 2). For a stronger cup at 1:13 use about 13.6 g; for a lighter one at 1:17, about 10 g.
- How much coffee and water for two cups?
- For two cups (300 ml finished) at 1:15, use about 23 g of coffee and about 346 g of water. You pour 346 g rather than 300 g because the grounds hold back about 46 g of water in the dripper. If you use 20 g of coffee, pour 300 g of water and you will get about 260 ml.
- How many grams of coffee for three cups?
- For three cups (450 ml) at 1:15, use about 35 g of coffee and about 519 g of water; for a stronger 1:13, about 41 g of coffee and 532 g of water. A larger dose makes a deeper bed of grounds that extracts more, so grind a little coarser than for a single cup to keep it balanced.
- How many grams is a scoop of coffee?
- Most coffee scoops hold about 10 g of ground coffee when level and about 12 g when heaped. A level tablespoon is about 5 to 6 g. Dark roasts weigh less and fine grinds more, so weigh your scoop once on a scale to be sure.
- Is there a golden ratio for coffee and water?
- In Japan, 1:14 to 1:15 (10 g of coffee to 140 to 150 ml of water) is common, while the SCA Golden Cup standard is 55 g of coffee per litre of water (about 1:18). Tastes vary widely, so start at 1:15 and move to 1:16 or 1:17 if it is too strong, or 1:13 or 1:14 if it is too weak.
- What should I do if my coffee is weak or watery?
- If it simply tastes weak with nothing unpleasant, lower the ratio (1:15 to 1:14) and use more coffee. If it is also sour or thin, it is under-extracted: try one of grinding a little finer, raising the water temperature by 2 to 3°C, or pouring a little more slowly.
- Why does my coffee taste bitter?
- It is probably over-extracted, or you are using too much coffee. Try grinding a little coarser, lowering the water by 2 to 3°C (82 to 87°C for dark roasts), or shortening the drawdown. If it is still heavy, raise the ratio to 1:16.
- Should I use the same amount of coffee for iced coffee?
- No, brew it stronger because the ice dilutes it. For Japanese-style iced coffee, aim for 1:13 counting hot water and ice together: 20 g of coffee with 260 g in total (104 g of ice and 156 g of hot water), giving about 220 g. For cold brew, use 1:10 (50 g of coffee to 500 g of water) and steep in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours.
- How many cups of coffee can I make from 200 g of beans?
- About 17 cups at 150 ml and 1:15 (about 11.5 g each), 20 cups at one level scoop (10 g), or about 10 mugs at 240 ml (about 18.5 g). At two cups a day, a 200 g bag lasts about 9 days.
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