How Much Coffee Do I Need?

Skipping to the end, the answer is just enough. :) 

In reality, it all comes down to how you're brewing it, in what quantity, and how much you drink. Most methods of brewing have ideal water to coffee ratios. Here’s how they break down.

Expert coffee people often refer to the measurements in grams, rather than ounces, so here’s a quick conversion:

• 1 oz (weight) of coffee is 28 grams.
• 1 cup of water is about 237 grams.

Below, we’ll convert things to measurements that make sense, too. Some folks only measure using tablespoons, rather than weight, so it’s also helpful to remember that 1 tablespoon of ground coffee is roughly 9 grams.

With all that said, though, we highly recommend a food scale. Any simple one will do, like this one. 

If you brew your coffee using a:

Large drip coffee maker 

...to make multiple cups at once, 13g of coffee per 8oz of water. If you’re making several cups, multiply the weight. To make it easy, a full pot (8 cups of water) would require about ¾ cup of coffee (104g) to get the best flavor. You’ll find a 12oz bag of coffee yields about 3 ¼ pots worth of coffee.

Recommendation: Ninja CE251 12-cup Coffee Maker

French Press

...the coffee to water ratio is 1:15. Most French Press users make multiple cups at once, so the quick and dirty measurement is 27 grams of coffee (3 tablespoons) for every 1 cup of water. Two cups would be able to pull from a 12 oz bag about 6 times.

Recommendation: Cafe Du Chateau French Press

Chemex

…the ratio is just about the same as a French Press (1:15). For a small Chemex batch, look to brew 35 grams of coffee (or about 5 ½ tablespoons) with 2 cups of water. You’ll find a 12 oz bag of coffee serves up its resources just over 9 times.

Recommendation: Chemex 8-cup Pour-Over Glass Coffee Maker

Espresso

...then look to add 20 grams of coffee to your machine. Espresso brewing is an art form and a science, so check out this resource if you’re looking to dig into the super interesting details. You’ll find 17 shots of espresso at your disposal in a 12 oz bag of coffee.

Recommendation: Breville BES870XL Espresso Machine

Cold Brew

...you’re making our favorite kind of coffee. We like the Toddy system, but others are awesome, as well. Since the system is designed to brew a large batch, we’ll be throwing in the whole 12 oz bag and 7 cups of water. When it’s ready, you’ll have yourself a nice concentrate that you can cut with water or milk and have up to a healthy 14 cups of cold brew ready to go.

Recommendation: Toddy Cold Brew Coffee Maker