Coffee to Water Ratio Calculator
Enter how much water you'll brew with, or how much ground coffee you have, plus your brew ratio (like 1:16), and get the other amount in grams. It's ratio arithmetic for drip, pour-over, French press and similar brews. Espresso and tablespoon measures aren't covered.
What do you want to find?
Before you brew
- Weigh the coffee instead of using a scoop or spoon. Measuring by spoon varies a lot: the US National Coffee Association's own rule is "1 to 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces", which allows twice as much coffee at the top end. A kitchen scale that reads 0.1 g makes a recipe repeatable.
- Common starting points from roasters' brew guides: about 1:15–1:17 for pour-over and French press, around 1:10 for Turkish coffee. The Specialty Coffee Association's Golden Cup benchmark is 55 g per litre (about 1:18). Start in that range and adjust to taste.
- A lower second number means stronger coffee: 1:15 is stronger than 1:17. If a cup tastes thin, lower N a little (for example, 16 → 15). If it tastes too heavy, raise N.
- The water figure is brewing water, not the drink you end up with. The grounds hold back some water, and a paper filter soaks up a little too, so your cup will be somewhat smaller than the amount you poured.
How this is calculated
A brew ratio of 1:N means N grams of water for every gram of ground coffee. So the coffee you need is your water divided by N, and the water you need is your coffee multiplied by N. This is the definition the Specialty Coffee Association uses for drip and immersion brewing. One millilitre of water is treated as one gram, just like in brew recipes. The same ratio is also shown as grams of coffee per litre (1000 ÷ N), because the SCA and some recipes give strength that way: 60 g/L is about 1:16.7, and the SCA Golden Cup's 55 g/L is about 1:18.
Common questions
What's the "right" coffee to water ratio?
No single ratio is right. The Specialty Coffee Association's Golden Cup benchmark is 55 g of coffee per litre of water (about 1:18), and it's used for testing brewers and for cupping. Roasters' home brew guides more often start at 1:15–1:17. Pick a starting point, brew, then move N by 0.5–1 until you like the result.
Can I use this for espresso?
Not really. Espresso ratios like 1:2 compare the coffee dose with the weight of the drink that comes out of the machine, not with the water that goes in. The SCA calls that a "beverage ratio" to tell it apart from the brewing ratio used here. Mixing the two would give misleading numbers.
Why does my cup end up smaller than the water I used?
Wet coffee grounds hold back part of the brewing water, and a paper filter keeps a little too. This calculator works with the water you pour, which is how brew recipes are written, so expect a slightly smaller drink. If you need a set amount in the cup, add some extra water and keep the same ratio.
Part of Kitchen Calculators