A good pour over coffee ratio is 1:15 to 1:17, meaning 1 g of coffee for every 15 to 17 g of water. For one mug, that's 20 g of coffee to 300 to 340 g of water. The Specialty Coffee Association's Golden Cup guideline sits a little lighter, at about 55 g of coffee per liter of water, or roughly 1:18.
| Coffee | Water at 1:15 | Water at 1:16 | Water at 1:17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 g | 225 g | 240 g | 255 g |
| 20 g | 300 g | 320 g | 340 g |
| 25 g | 375 g | 400 g | 425 g |
| 30 g | 450 g | 480 g | 510 g |
| 40 g | 600 g | 640 g | 680 g |
Where these numbers come from
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Golden Cup guideline recommends 55 g of coffee per liter of water, give or take 10%. That's a window of about 50 to 60 g per liter, or roughly 1:16.5 to 1:20. CoffeeGeek points out it was built around large batches and can taste weak in a single cup.
Roasters' own pour over recipes tend to land a bit stronger:
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters suggests about 1:17, such as 42 g of coffee to about 700 g of water in a Chemex.
- Blue Bottle Coffee uses 20 to 27 g of coffee with 350 g of water, roughly 1:13 to 1:17.5.
So 1:15 to 1:17 is a comfortable middle to start from. Sources differ, and that's fine. Taste is the final judge.
How to adjust your pour over coffee ratio
Start at 1:16 and change one thing at a time.
- Too weak or thin? Move toward 1:15. For 320 g of water, that means going from 20 g to about 21.3 g of coffee.
- Too strong or heavy? Move toward 1:17. For 320 g of water, that's about 18.8 g of coffee.
- Sour or bitter? That's usually the grind, not the ratio. Go a little finer if it tastes sour and a little coarser if it tastes bitter.
Small changes matter. In a one cup brew, a single gram of coffee shifts the ratio enough to taste.
A simple pour over routine
- Heat water to 195 to 205°F. Blue Bottle suggests the cooler end for darker roasts and the hotter end for lighter ones.
- Weigh 20 g of coffee and grind it medium.
- Rinse your paper filter with hot water and dump the rinse water.
- Add the grounds, then bloom them with about twice their weight in water, about 40 g. Stumptown waits 30 to 45 seconds.
- Pour slowly in circles until the scale under your dripper reads 320 g in total.
- Aim to finish in about 2:30 to 3:30, Blue Bottle's target brew time.
For the coffee dose, a MeasureMate digital measuring spoon scoops and weighs in one step and reads in 0.1 g steps, so hitting 20.0 g is quick. Tare it, scoop from the bag, and adjust. Weigh the water with a scale under your dripper, or by volume, since 1 ml of water weighs about 1 g.
Quick questions
How much coffee for a 12 oz pour over?
12 oz is about 355 g of water, so use about 21 to 24 g of coffee for a ratio between 1:17 and 1:15.
What is the golden ratio for coffee?
The SCA's Golden Cup guideline is 55 g of coffee per liter of water, roughly 1:18. Many pour over fans go a little stronger, at 1:15 to 1:17.
Should I measure pour over coffee by weight or volume?
Weight. Spoons of coffee vary with grind and roast, while grams don't.
Ratios based on the Specialty Coffee Association Golden Cup guideline, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Blue Bottle Coffee and CoffeeGeek.