Coffee-to-Water Ratio Calculator
Get the right coffee dose or water amount for pour-over, drip, French press, AeroPress, cold brew, or espresso.
1 ml of water weighs about 1 g. For espresso, the ratio is dose in to liquid espresso out, not water added to the machine.
How it works
Pick your brew method, and the calculator loads a starting ratio for it: 1:16 for pour-over and drip, 1:15 for French press, 1:14 for AeroPress, 1:5 for cold brew concentrate, and 1:2 for espresso. You can override the ratio number if you like your coffee stronger or weaker than the default. Then choose whether you know your water amount or your coffee dose, and it fills in the other side.
Worked example: 500 ml of water on pour-over at the default 1:16 ratio. Divide 500 by 16 and you get 31.3 g of coffee, rounded to the nearest tenth of a gram. Flip it around, if you know you want a 20 g dose at that same 1:16 ratio, multiply 20 by 16 and you get 320 ml of water. Espresso works the same math, just remember the ratio there is dose in to liquid espresso out, not water poured into the machine, since most of that water never makes it to the cup.
FAQ
Why does pour-over use the same ratio as drip?
Both methods pass hot water through a bed of grounds once, so a 1:16 ratio (about 62.5 g of coffee per liter of water) suits both. Feel free to nudge it to 1:15 for a bolder cup or 1:17 for something lighter, whichever comes out of your favorite coffee shop.
Is 1 ml of water really equal to 1 g?
Yes, close enough for kitchen purposes. Water's density is 1 g per ml at room temperature, so measuring water by weight on a scale and by volume in a kettle or measuring cup give you the same number either way.
Why is the espresso ratio so much lower than pour-over?
Espresso is measured by what comes out of the portafilter, not the water that goes into the machine's boiler. A 1:2 ratio means an 18 g dose of ground coffee yields about 36 g (roughly 36 ml) of liquid espresso in the cup, a much more concentrated shot than a filter brew.
Can I use this for cold brew concentrate too?
Yes, the cold brew concentrate preset uses a 1:5 ratio for the initial steep. Since that concentrate gets diluted before drinking, check the cold brew calculator if you want to work out the final diluted strength as well.
For more background on getting this dialed in, see the right coffee-to-water ratio for any brew, why a coffee scale improves every cup, and how to make pour-over coffee at home.