Find your perfect brew ratio in seconds
Most people who brew bad coffee at home aren't using bad beans — they're using the wrong ratio. Pick your method, set your water, choose your strength, and get the exact grams to weigh out. No more watery mornings. No more bitter sludge.
Guessing your ratio works occasionally — but it creates inconsistency. The same beans, the same grinder, yet a completely different cup every morning. This calculator solves that by anchoring every brew to a precise, repeatable starting point.
It returns two outputs: your coffee dose in grams and your water volume in millilitres, adjusted for your chosen method — because a pour over ratio and a french press ratio are genuinely different numbers, not interchangeable. It also shows why the ratio works, not just what to measure. That understanding turns a one-time result into a skill you keep.
Under thirty seconds from input to result — no chemistry background or barista certificate required, just two preferences and a kitchen scale.
Select pour over, drip, french press, AeroPress, cold brew, or espresso. Each method extracts coffee differently, so the calculator applies the correct base ratio for that style first. A pour over runs 1:15 to 1:17, while cold brew concentrate runs as tight as 1:5.
Light, medium, or strong. Medium aligns with the SCA golden ratio — 55 g of coffee per litre of water, the global benchmark for balanced extraction. Strong doesn't mean bitter; it means a higher coffee-to-water ratio for a fuller body and more pronounced flavour.
Your coffee dose in grams and water volume in millilitres appear instantly, with a live bar showing the proportion. Weigh the coffee, match the water, and brew. Adjust servings to scale both figures together without recalculating by hand.
Covers every major brewing method — a handy cross-reference when you're scaling a brew up for several people.
| Brewing Method | Coffee | Water | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pour Over | 15 g | 250 ml | 1:16.7 |
| Drip Coffee Maker | 14 g | 240 ml | 1:17 |
| French Press | 15 g | 240 ml | 1:15 |
| AeroPress (Standard) | 15 g | 200 ml | 1:13 |
| AeroPress (Espresso-Style) | 18 g | 50 ml | 1:2.5 |
| Cold Brew (Concentrate) | 100 g | 500 ml | 1:5 |
| Cold Brew (Ready-to-Drink) | 60 g | 1,000 ml | 1:16 |
| Espresso | 18 g | 36 ml | 1:2 |
Pour over rewards precision — start at 1:15 for a rich cup and move toward 1:17 for something cleaner and lighter. A drip maker sits at roughly 1:17 (about 14 g per 240 ml), though machines vary in brew temperature, so dial in your specific model's sweet spot.
Full immersion means grounds sit in water the whole brew, so the ratio runs slightly higher than pour over: 1:15 is the standard start for a heavier, more textured cup. It also keeps more of the coffee's natural oils, so the same number tastes stronger than in a drip brew.
The most flexible method available. Standard AeroPress runs at 1:13, but an espresso-style shot uses 1:2.5 — 18 g of coffee to just 50 ml of water. Both produce excellent results; the ratio simply depends on what you're making.
Cold brew is its own scale. A 1:5 concentrate (100 g to 500 ml) steeps 12–24 hours and dilutes before serving, while ready-to-drink uses 1:16. The extraction differs from hot brewing, so cold ratios can't just mirror their hot counterparts.
The ratio sets the foundation, but three variables decide whether extraction lands in the sweet spot. The SCA targets 18%–22%: below 18% tastes sour, above 22% turns bitter.
Grind controls water flow — finer speeds up extraction. If your cup tastes bitter but the ratio is correct, coarsen the grind before touching the coffee dose.
The SCA recommends 90°C to 96°C for hot brews. Too hot scorches the grounds; too cold leaves the brew underdeveloped and flat.
Most bad home brews trace back to the same small set of errors — here's the fastest fix for each.
For most methods it's 1:15 to 1:17 — roughly 15 g of coffee per 240 ml of water. The SCA golden ratio sets 55 g per litre as the universal benchmark, but the ideal shifts with method and taste. Use the calculator above to find the precise starting point for your setup.
Roughly one to two tablespoons per 180 ml of water. But tablespoons are imprecise — grind size changes how much fits in the spoon, so a medium and a coarse grind give very different doses. For consistency, measure in grams with a kitchen scale.
Yes, significantly. A 1:15 french press tastes nothing like a 1:15 pour over because immersion and filter brewing extract at different rates. Espresso runs at 1:2, cold brew concentrate at 1:5, and AeroPress anywhere from 1:6 to 1:15 depending on the recipe.
A full 12-cup drip maker holds about 1,800 ml, so at the golden ratio you need roughly 100 g of ground coffee for a balanced, medium-strength brew. If the "cup" markings equal only 150 ml, adjust water first, then recalculate the dose.
It's how much coffee you use relative to water. A strong ratio (1:13 or lower) gives a dense, full-bodied cup; a weak ratio (1:18 or higher) is lighter. Strength isn't bitterness — a strong ratio at the right temperature and grind tastes bold and clean.
Divide water volume in millilitres by your target ratio number. For 1:16 with 320 ml: 320 ÷ 16 = 20 g of coffee. Or just enter your water volume above and the calculator returns the exact dose instantly.
Four things turn a guessing game into a repeatable skill.
Pick your method, choose your strength, and get the exact numbers your next brew needs — no guessing, no waste.