Get the coffee and water for your brew method and strength, with espresso modelled as dose to yield, cold brew's dilution computed, and the ratio you see the ratio it used.
Change the inputs that matter to your decision. Optional assumptions stay collapsed until you need them.
31.3 g of coffee to 500 g of water at 1:16.
| Coffee dose | 31.3 g |
|---|---|
| Brew water | 500 g (16.9 fl oz) |
| Ratio used | 1:16Standard — coffee to water |
| Grind | Medium-fine, like table salt |
| Brew time | 2:30 – 4:00 |
| Water temperature | 92–96 °C (198–205 °F) |
| Bloom water | 63 g2× the dose, for 30–45 seconds, counted inside the brew water above |
The ratio shown is the ratio every figure above was computed from. Weigh both the coffee and the water — a scale is the single change that makes a brew repeatable, far more than any grinder or kettle upgrade.
Practical notes about the inputs, assumptions, and result.
Eighteen grams of dry coffee in the basket pulled to thirty-six grams of liquid espresso in the cup. It is not a water measurement — the machine pushes more water than that through, and some stays in the puck. Weigh the shot on a scale under the cup as it pulls. A guide that treats 1:2 as coffee-to-water turns a 500 g kettle into a 250 g dose, which is not a drink.
The Specialty Coffee Association's range is roughly 1:15 to 1:17 for filter brewing — about 60 g of coffee per litre of water. That is a starting point, not a rule: bean, roast, grind, and taste all move it. The strength control here shifts the ratio by about 12% either way, which covers most preferences without leaving the extraction window.
Cold brew is brewed strong and diluted. At 1:5 it is a concentrate, and the usual dilution is one part concentrate to two parts water or milk, so 500 g of concentrate makes about 1.5 litres to drink. The result gives both figures, because knowing the concentrate volume without the diluted one only answers half the question.
Because coffee makers mark their carafes in 5 fl oz cups, a convention from when a coffee cup was that size. A ten-cup carafe holds about 1.5 litres, not the 2.4 litres ten measuring cups would be. Working from the carafe marks and an 8 fl oz assumption produces coffee about 60% weaker than intended.
Pouring roughly twice the coffee's weight in water and waiting 30 to 45 seconds before the main pour. Fresh coffee releases carbon dioxide that pushes water away from the grounds, and blooming lets that gas escape so the rest of the brew extracts evenly. The bloom water is part of the total, not extra.
By weight. A scoop of coffee varies by 15% or more depending on the roast, the grind, and how it settles, which swamps every other variable you might be adjusting. A kitchen scale is the single change that makes a brew repeatable — more than the grinder, and far more than the kettle.
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