Pour-Over Ratio: How Much Coffee to Water

Before you worry about pouring style or fancy brewers, lock in your ratio. It is the backbone of every recipe in our pour-over guide, and it is the easiest way to stop your coffee tasting different every morning.

What the ratio means

The pour-over ratio is the weight of dry coffee compared to the weight of water you pour. A ratio of 1:16 means 1 gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water. So 15 grams of coffee would take 240 grams of water.

We weigh water rather than measuring it in a jug because pouring onto a scale is far more accurate, and because 1 gram of water is 1 millilitre, the maths stays simple.

Where to start

• 1:15 gives a stronger, heavier cup.
• 1:16 is a balanced starting point for most coffees.
• 1:17 gives a lighter, more delicate cup.

Many people settle around 1:16 and only move from there for specific coffees.

Strength vs extraction

This is the part that trips people up. Changing the ratio mainly changes strength, how concentrated the coffee is. It does not reliably fix sourness or bitterness. Those come from extraction, which you control mostly with grind, time and temperature.

So if your coffee tastes watery but otherwise pleasant, use less water. If it tastes sour, look at grind first. Our article on pour-over water temperature explains how heat affects extraction.

Scaling up

Ratios make scaling easy. For two cups, double both numbers: 30 grams of coffee and 480 grams of water. Larger brews take longer to drain, so you may need to grind slightly coarser. Also give the bigger pour-over bloom a little more water, roughly two to three times the coffee weight.

Use a scale

A coffee scale with a built-in timer is the most useful pour-over tool after the grinder. Put the brewer on top, tare it, add your coffee, tare again and watch the water weight climb as you pour. It removes the guesswork entirely.

A simple recipe to try

• 15 grams of coffee
• 240 grams of water
• Bloom with 40 grams for 40 seconds
• Finish pouring by 2:00, drawdown by about 3:00

Brew it three days in a row without changing anything. Once it is consistent, start adjusting one thing at a time.

Keep reading

• Pour-over technique: single pours vs pulse pours
• V60 vs Chemex: how the brewer changes your recipe