Coffee to Water Ratio Calculator

Written byOleh Soloninupdated 25 September 2026

Brewing method

What you know

Water, ml

Your own ratio 1 : X

Leave at 0 to use the method's typical ratio.

Result

Coffee, g18.8
Water, ml300
Ratio1 : 16
In the cup, ml263
MethodV60 pour-over
Cups of 200 ml1.3

A different ratio for every method

Works out how much ground coffee to use for a given volume of water in a pour-over, French press, cezve, AeroPress or espresso.

The 'golden ratio' of 1:16 was written for filter coffee and has nothing to say about anything else. Espresso runs at 1:2, a cezve at about 1:10, cold brew at 1:8 — and that last one is a concentrate meant to be diluted afterwards.

One more thing rarely accounted for: the grounds keep some of the water. For the estimate the calculator takes off 2 ml of water per gram of coffee, so 300 ml poured leaves about 263 ml in the cup; the real figure depends on the brewing method. Trivial for one brew, litres a day in a café.

How to use

Pick the brewing method — each one brings its own ratio.
Say which side you are fixing: the water volume or the coffee weight.
Enter that number and the calculator fills in the other.
Watch the “in the cup” line: some of the water stays in the grounds and never reaches it.

What 300 ml of water asks for by method

Each row is a run of this calculator with 300 millilitres of water. The ratio is the whole difference between the methods; the arithmetic is the same division every time.

The last column shows the loss: ground coffee holds water back, and the more coffee the bigger the shortfall. Espresso shows none because its ratio is set by coffee mass against the mass of the drink in the cup — at 1 : 2, 18 g of coffee gives 36 g of espresso — so the yield is entered directly and the water held in the puck sits outside the ratio.

Runs of this calculator with 300 millilitres of water.
Method	Ratio	Coffee for 300 ml	In the cup
V60 pour-over	1 : 16	18.8 g	263 ml
French press	1 : 15	20 g	260 ml
AeroPress	1 : 14	21.4 g	257 ml
Cezve	1 : 10	30 g	240 ml
Cold brew	1 : 8	37.5 g	225 ml
Espresso	1 : 2	150 g	300 ml

What this calculator shows

The coffee weight and water volume for the method you chose
How much drink actually reaches the cup after the grounds take their share
Your own ratio, if the standard one tastes thin or heavy

What to keep in mind

Grounds retain about 2 ml of water per gram of coffee. Espresso is excluded, since its ratio is measured as yield in the cup.
The ratios given are middle-of-the-road; a couple of points either way is preference, not error.

FAQs

How much coffee for 300 ml of water?

About 19 g for filter and pour-over, 20 g for a French press, 30 g for a cezve. There is no single number: it depends on the method.

What is the golden ratio?

1:16 to 1:18 by weight for filter coffee, roughly 60 g of coffee per litre. It comes from the American speciality coffee association and does not apply to espresso.

Why is there less in the cup than I poured?

The calculator takes the grounds to hold about two millilitres per gram — a working assumption that varies by method. Twenty grams in a filter keeps roughly 40 ml back — a real dent in a small serving.

How do I make coffee stronger?

Change the ratio, not the grind. A finer grind raises extraction and adds bitterness; more coffee to the same water is what gives you body.

What does a 1 : 16 ratio mean?

One gram of coffee to sixteen grams of water, and since a millilitre of water weighs a gram, to sixteen millilitres as well. For 300 ml that is 18.8 grams.

Why does less come out of the pot than went in?

Ground coffee holds water and leaves it in the filter or the grounds. At 18.8 grams about 37 ml go missing; cold brew at 37.5 grams loses 75.

Worked example

A single V60 brew

Input: 300 ml water at 1:16

Output: 18.8 g coffee, 263 ml in the cup

Note: The classic single serving. If it tastes watery, move the ratio towards 1:14 rather than grinding finer — grind affects bitterness more than it affects strength.

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Result

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