A coffee ratio compares the weight of your ground coffee against the weight of your water. It is why two people can use the same beans and end up with two different drinks. If you scoop your coffee grounds by eye, every cup will taste slightly different. Weigh your coffee and water instead and you can repeat a good cup every morning. Baristas measure coffee and water in grams for every drink they make. Kitchen scales cost less than a bag of specialty beans, and you can stop guessing the moment you put a set on your bench.
What is A Coffee Ratio?
A coffee ratio is a comparison of two weights: the ground coffee you put in and the water you brew it with. It looks like 1:16 or 1:2, where the first number stands for your coffee and the second for your water. Two grams either way can be enough to change how your coffee tastes.
Acids, sugars, and oils are dissolved out of your coffee grounds by hot water. This transfer is called extraction. Pour more water over the same amount of coffee and you will thin out everything that came out of the grounds. Keep your coffee ratio the same from one brew to the next and you can change something else, like grind size, without losing your reference point.
How to Read Your Coffee-to-Water Ratio
The first number in a coffee ratio is your coffee, and it is written as 1. The number after it is the amount of water in the same unit so you don’t have to convert it. Water weighs almost exactly 1 gram per millilitre, so 250 millilitres of water is 250 grams of water in a recipe. Coffee-to-water ratios differ by brew method. Start with these proportions of grounds to water:
- For espresso: 1 gram of coffee to 2 grams of espresso in your cup
- For filter coffee and pour-over coffee: 1 gram of coffee to between 15 and 17 grams of water
- For drip coffee: 1 gram of coffee to between 16 and 18 grams of water
- For a French press: 1 gram of coffee to between 12 and 15 grams of water
- For cold brew coffee: 1 gram of coffee to between 5 and 8 grams of water
Weighing Your Dose
Your dose is the weight of dry ground coffee you brew with. For espresso it is what you put in the basket before you start the shot. A difference of 0.1 of a gram is enough to change how your espresso tastes. Measure your coffee and water by:
- Weighing your empty coffee basket and empty cu[ on your scales
- Grinding your beans straight into the basket
- Weighing the basket again
- Adding or removing grounds until they match your desired dose
- Start the shot and stop it when your scales show the weight of espresso you are aiming for
Choosing A Ratio For Your Beans
Roast level is the first thing to check when you pick a coffee ratio for a new bag. Lighter roasted coffee is denser, and less is dissolved out of it in the same amount of time, so more water and a longer ratio suit it. Darker roasted coffee is more brittle, and its sugars and acids are dissolved out quickly, so a lower ratio with less water will keep the cup from tasting ashy.
For espresso brewing, the usual starting recipe is 18 grams of coffee in and 36 grams of espresso out over 25 to 30 seconds, which is a 1:2 ratio. Pull that first with any bag you have not used before, then decide whether the beans need more water or less. Light roasted beans can taste better at 1:2.5, but dark roasted beans can taste better shorter than 1:2.
The roast date on the bag is worth a look too. Coffee beans release carbon dioxide for days after roasting, and the flow through your basket is disturbed by that gas, which you will taste as sourness. Check that date before you blame your coffee ratio, and give a very fresh bag a few days in the cupboard.
Tasting Your Cup of Coffee
Taste your coffee black before you add water or milk. You will not pick up sourness or bitterness through those two flavours. Let the cup cool for a minute first, because sweetness is harder to detect in a very hot drink.
A sour, sharp cup means too little was dissolved out of your coffee grounds. A bitter, drying cup means too much was. A cup that is thin and weak without any sourness is a sign of a problem with your coffee ratio rather than your grind size.
Adjusting Your Coffee Brew Ratio
Change one thing at a time. If you adjust your grind size and your coffee ratio in the same brew, you will not know which change improved the cup. Keep your dose where it is and adjust grind size first, because your extraction is changed more by a small movement in grind size than by a gram of water either way.
Adjust your ratio once the cup is balanced but not as strong as you would like. Add more coffee at the same water weight and you will get a more robust cup of coffee, and you will get the same result from using less water at the same dose. Move in steps of one gram for espresso and five grams for filter coffee, then taste again before you change anything else.
Dialling in espresso follows the same sequence. Keep your dose and your target weight of espresso where they are, then grind finer if the shot pours in under 20 seconds and coarser if it takes more than 35. Once the timing is close, taste the shot, and change your coffee brew ratio only if you would rather have a different strength.
Learn Espresso Ratios In Our Barista Course
We teach coffee ratios on a commercial machine, with scales on the bench and a trainer who will taste the same shots you pull. You will weigh a dose, weigh the espresso in your cup, and adjust a recipe until the drink tastes the way you would like it to, which is quicker than guessing your way through one bag at a time at home. If you would rather stop guessing, enrol in our coffee making training and bring the beans you drink at home. We will dial them in with you on the day, and you will leave with a recipe for your own coffee maker.
Does Water Temperature Change My Coffee Ratio?
Does Water Temperature Change My Coffee Ratio?
No, your coffee ratio is a comparison of two weights and temperature is not one of them. Hotter water dissolves more sugars and acids in the same amount of time.
Is A Stronger Ratio Higher In Caffeine?
Yes, more coffee against the same water will put more caffeine in your cup. Strength and caffeine are not the same measure though, and a large filter coffee made with 30 grams of ground coffee can contain more caffeine than a double espresso made with 18 grams. Judge caffeine by how much dry coffee you used rather than by how intense the drink tastes.
Does Filtered Water Change How My Coffee Tastes?
Yes, water makes up most of your coffee. Filtered water means you have one less variable while you dial in a recipe, and your machine will stay clearer of scale. Heavily chlorinated tap water will taste like chlorine in the cup.
