Coffee Ratio Calculator

What a brew ratio means

A ratio of 1:16 means one gram of ground coffee for every sixteen grams of water — 20 g of coffee to 320 g of water. It is the single most useful number in brewing, because it fixes strength before you touch grind size or technique. Two people using the same ratio, water and beans will make recognisably similar cups; two people guessing with scoops will not.

Why methods differ

Percolation methods like V60 and Chemex run comfortably at 1:15 to 1:17 — the classic filter-strength cup. Immersion methods such as French press and AeroPress are often brewed slightly tighter, around 1:14 to 1:15, because some water stays trapped in the bed. A moka pot at roughly 1:10 lands between filter and espresso, cold brew concentrate at 1:8 is made to be diluted, and espresso at 1:2 is its own world — see the espresso ratio calculator for dose and yield.

Adjusting to taste

Move the ratio for strength, the grind for extraction. If the cup tastes weak and thin, tighten the ratio (1:15 instead of 1:16); if it is muddy and heavy, loosen it. If it tastes sour, grind finer or brew hotter; bitter, coarser or cooler. Change one variable at a time, keep the rest fixed, and taste after each change — that is dialling in, and it works faster than any amount of theory.