--- title: "Coffee Ratio Calculator: Grams, Cups & ml | Brew Lyric" description: "How much coffee for your water? Pick pour-over, drip, French press, AeroPress, moka pot or cold brew and get grams, tablespoons, ml, fl oz and cups." url: https://brewlyric.me/ --- Grams · ml · fl oz · cups # Coffee ratio calculator How much coffee for how much water? Choose how you brew and how strong you like it. ## How much coffee per cup? The calculator multiplies your water by a strength in grams of coffee per litre. Pour-over, drip and French press start at **55 g of coffee per litre of water**, the standard brew ratio in the Specialty Coffee Association’s home-brewer standard: about 1:18, or 13 g for an 8 fl oz cup. Slide towards “Stronger” for more coffee in the same water. AeroPress, moka pot and cold brew concentrate start at common starting points rather than any standard, so treat them as a first try and adjust to taste. | Method | Starts at | Slider range | Basis | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Pour-over | 55 g/L (1:18.2) | 45–75 g/L (1:22.2 to 1:13.3) | SCA standard brew ratio | | Drip machine | 55 g/L (1:18.2) | 45–75 g/L (1:22.2 to 1:13.3) | SCA standard brew ratio | | French press | 55 g/L (1:18.2) | 45–80 g/L (1:22.2 to 1:12.5) | SCA standard brew ratio | | AeroPress | 65 g/L (1:15.4) | 50–90 g/L (1:20.0 to 1:11.1) | Common starting point | | Moka pot | 125 g/L (1:8.0) | 100–170 g/L (1:10.0 to 1:5.9) | Common starting point | | Cold brew concentrate | 200 g/L (1:5.0) | 125–250 g/L (1:8.0 to 1:4.0) | Common starting point | A cup is a US measuring cup of 8 fl oz (237 ml); coffee makers may count their “cups” differently. Water is also shown in grams, since a millilitre of water weighs about a gram. The tablespoon count is approximate, as ground coffee weighs different amounts per spoon, and “in the cup” takes off the water the wet grounds keep (about 2.5 g per gram of coffee in a laboratory study), so it is only a rough guide. ## Sources - Standard brew ratio of 55 g of coffee per 1.000 kg of water, and a brewing temperature of 90–96 °C: [SCA Standard 310-2021, Home Coffee Brewers: Specifications and Test Methods](https://web.archive.org/web/20251104091345/https://sca.coffee/s/SCA_Standard_310-2021.pdf) (Specialty Coffee Association, 2022; archived copy, as the SCA now keeps its standards in a [members’ area](https://sca.coffee/research/coffee-standards)). - Pour-over: 22 g of coffee to 400 g of water at 200 °F / 93.5 °C, a 50 g bloom for 30 seconds, 2½ to 3 minutes in all: [SCAA Best Practice, Guidelines for Brewing with a Two Cup Pour-Over Brewer](https://web.archive.org/web/20221001230645/https://sca.coffee/s/best-practices-two-cup-pour-over-brewer.pdf) (revised 2 April 2016; archived copy). - French press: 36 g of coffee to 660 g of water at 93.5 °C, 4 minutes: [SCAA Best Practice, Guidelines for Brewing with a Three Cup French Press](https://web.archive.org/web/20220423234540/https://sca.coffee/s/best-practices-three-cup-french-press.pdf) (revised 2 April 2016; archived copy). - Water kept by wet grounds, 2.48 ± 0.19 g per g of coffee: Liang J, Chan KC, Ristenpart WD. [An equilibrium desorption model for the strength and extraction yield of full immersion brewed coffee](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85787-1). Scientific Reports 11, 6904 (2021). - US cup (8 fl oz), fluid ounce (29.5735 ml) and tablespoon (½ fl oz): [NIST Handbook 44](https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/nist-handbook-44-current-edition), Appendix C. - Ground coffee per tablespoon varies: labels in USDA FoodData Central’s branded foods give, for example, [3 tbsp = 15 g](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2624477/nutrients) and [1 tbsp = 8 g](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1097435/nutrients). ## More for the coffee and tea table Time it, steep it, count it. - [Pour-over timer](https://brewlyric.me/pour-over-timer/): Dose and ratio become a bloom and pour schedule with a step timer. - [Tea steeping guide](https://brewlyric.me/tea-steeping-guide/): Water temperature, steep time and leaf for each tea, with a timer. - [Caffeine calculator](https://brewlyric.me/caffeine-calculator/): Add up the day’s caffeine against published limits, and what is left at bedtime. - [Cold brew calculator](https://brewlyric.me/cold-brew-calculator/): Concentrate ratio, steep window, yield and dilution. - [Espresso ratio calculator](https://brewlyric.me/espresso-ratio-calculator/): Dose to yield for ristretto, normale and lungo, with a dial-in guide. ## Recommended Two free services for the online side of coffee and tea. 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[Try WebTraceCheck](https://webtracecheck.com/) ## Questions **What is a good coffee-to-water ratio?** The Specialty Coffee Association’s home-brewer standard uses 55 g of coffee per litre of water, about 1:18. It is a well-tested starting point rather than a rule: if you like it stronger, slide towards “Stronger”, change one thing at a time and taste. **How many tablespoons of coffee for one cup?** At 55 g per litre, an 8 fl oz cup (237 ml) of water needs about 13 g of coffee, or roughly 2½ level tablespoons if a tablespoon holds 5 g. Ground coffee can weigh 8 g or more per tablespoon, so a scale is more reliable than a spoon. **Why is there less coffee in the cup than the water I used?** Wet grounds keep some water back. A laboratory study of immersion brewing measured about 2.5 g of liquid kept per gram of coffee, so 26 g of coffee holds back roughly 65 ml. The “in the cup” figure uses that as a rough estimate. **How hot should the water be?** The SCA expects a home coffee brewer to keep the water at 90–96 °C (194–205 °F) while it meets the coffee, and its pour-over and French press guides use 93.5 °C (200 °F). A thermometer or a temperature-controlled kettle is the easiest way to check.