Coffee dose by method
Enter the grams of water and choose the brewing method: find out how many grams of ground coffee to use.
What it's for
The secret to good filter coffee is the right coffee-to-water ratio. Each method has its own: here you calculate the exact coffee dose for the water you use.
Tip
1 g of water ≈ 1 ml. For espresso the ratio is much more concentrated (1:2). Weigh the coffee with a scale for consistent results.
Why the ratio matters more than the quality of the coffee
Good coffee made with the wrong ratio comes out worse than ordinary coffee made well. The reason is that how much coffee dissolves into the water is a precise amount: below a certain point the result is sour and empty, because only the substances that come out first have been extracted; above it, it's bitter and woody, because the ones better left inside have come out too. The ratio is the simplest lever for staying in between.
The numbers by method
Filter and V60: 1 gram of coffee to every 16-17 of water (60 g per litre). Moka pot: you fill the basket without tamping, and that's its ratio already, around 1:10. French press: 1:15, with four minutes of steeping. Espresso: 1:2 in thirty seconds, that is 18 grams of grounds for 36 in the cup — a world apart, far more concentrated.
A handy detail: 1 gram of water is 1 millilitre, so the scales and the jug say the same number and nothing needs converting.
The other two levers, when the ratio is already right
If the coffee comes out sour and thin, the extraction is too short: grind finer, or steep longer. If it comes out bitter and dry, it's too long: grind coarser, or cut it short. The grind is the most powerful lever and the most neglected: the same coffee, at the same dose, changes completely between a moka grind and a filter grind.
Water matters more than people think: at 92-96 °C, that is not boiling but just off the heat (water at 100 degrees over-extracts). And if the tap water is very hard, the coffee comes out flat: half the flavour goes into the limescale.
Nearby tools
To weigh in different units there is Weight converter and for volumes Volume converter. To time the steeping the page is Online timer, and for other kitchen measures Kitchen measures.