Coffee Brew Ratio
How coffee dose, beverage mass and brew ratio interact, with examples for filter, immersion and espresso.
What is brew ratio?
Brew ratio compares the mass of dry coffee with the mass of brewing water or beverage, depending on the convention used. Always state which definition you mean.
Filter brewing
A recipe might be expressed as 1:16, meaning one part coffee to sixteen parts brewing water. This is a starting point rather than a universal optimum.
Espresso
Espresso recipes commonly compare dry dose with beverage yield, such as a 1:2 dose-to-yield relationship. Actual recipes vary widely.
Change one variable at a time
When dialling in, keeping the ratio stable while changing grind can make cause and effect easier to interpret. Once understood, multiple variables can be adjusted deliberately.
Continue exploring
Green coffee
Follow coffee from plant and cherry through processing, drying, milling and storage.
Green coffee →Coffee chemistry
Explore the compounds and reactions that shape roasted coffee.
Coffee chemistry →Coffee extraction
Connect grind, water, temperature, time, concentration and extraction.
Coffee extraction →Coffee Knowledge presents technical subjects as an educational reference. Terminology, grading systems and production practices can vary by country, producer, equipment and commercial context.