Fundamentals
The coffee-to-water ratio, decoded
The single most important variable in your cup — expressed in grams, ratios, and per-method targets you can actually repeat.
Heath Squier6 min read
Why ratio matters
Ratio determines strength (how much dissolved coffee ends up in your water) and constrains extraction (how much of the ground coffee's soluble material actually gets pulled). Get ratio right and grind consistent, and every other variable becomes tunable.
Targets by method
- Filter / pour-over — 1:15 to 1:17 (e.g., 20 g coffee to 300–340 g water).
- French press — 1:15 to 1:17. Longer contact, coarser grind.
- Espresso — 1:2 to 1:2.5 (e.g., 18 g dose to 36–45 g yield). See the espresso guide.
- Moka pot — fill the basket level; use the water reservoir mark. Roughly 1:7 by weight.
- Cold brew (concentrate) — 1:4 to 1:8, steeped 12–18 hours cold, diluted to taste.
Weigh, don't scoop
Scoops lie. Ground coffee varies in density by roast, origin, and grind. A cheap 0.1 g kitchen scale is the single highest-ROI upgrade in home brewing.
Tuning your cup
Weak and sour → grind finer or extend contact. Bitter and hollow → grind coarser or shorten contact. Ratio itself moves strength up or down without changing extraction quality.