Coffee Measure Converter

Coffee measurement conversions for ground coffee.

Standard coffee scoop:

• 1 scoop = 2 tablespoons = 10 g of ground coffee
• 1 tablespoon = 5 g of ground coffee
• 1 teaspoon = 1.67 g of ground coffee

Brewing ratios (coffee to water), the three the panel below reports:

• Strong: 1:12 (1 g coffee per 12 ml water)
• Standard: 1:16 (1 g coffee per 16 ml water)
• Light: 1:18 (1 g coffee per 18 ml water)

Push past 1:20 and most people call it thin rather than light. Below 1:10 you are into concentrate territory, which is a different drink meant to be cut with water or milk.

Common amounts (at roughly 1:16):

• 1 mug (240 ml): about 15 g = 1.5 scoops
• 500 ml: about 31 g = 3 scoops
• A full 12-cup drip carafe: about 110 g = 11 scoops

The “cup” on your coffee maker is not a cup. This trips up almost everyone. A carafe cup is 5 fluid ounces (about 150 ml), not the 8 oz cup you drink from and not the 240 ml a recipe means. So a 12-cup machine holds 60 fl oz, which is 1.77 litres, not the 2.9 litres you would get by multiplying 12 by 240 ml.

Get that wrong and you nearly double the dose. Twelve mugs’ worth of coffee would be about 180 g of grounds; the carafe actually wants around 110 g. Fill the basket for twelve real cups and you will brew something closer to 1:10, which is espresso territory poured through a paper filter, and it tastes like it. When in doubt, read the fill lines on the carafe in ounces and ignore the cup numbers entirely.

Note: Scoop size and coffee density can vary. These values are based on a standard 2-tbsp coffee scoop.

The reason serious coffee people weigh their beans instead of scooping is that volume lies. A scoop of light, fluffy beans and a scoop of dense, oily dark roast can differ by a couple of grams, which is enough to push a brew from balanced to weak or bitter. A cheap kitchen scale removes the guesswork. It also helps to remember that the brewing ratios are by weight, grams of coffee to grams (or milliliters) of water, not by volume. Since one milliliter of water weighs one gram, the water side is easy to measure. Start near 1:16, taste, then nudge stronger or weaker from there.