Does the bloom water count toward the total water?

Yes. The bloom (the small first pour that saturates the grounds, roughly twice the coffee weight for pour-over) is part of the total brew water, not extra. In a 500 g pour-over with a 67 g bloom, the remaining pours add up to 500 g.

Tool

Coffee Ratio Calculator — method, cups, strength → grams

Nov 16, 2026 · Last verified: 2026-11-16 · runs entirely in your browser

Enter your brew method, how much coffee you want, and how strong you like it. The calculator returns the coffee weight, total water weight, bloom water for pour-over methods, and a brew-time guide — every preset traced to a named official recipe in the methodology table below.

Brew method

Size input

Cups (250 g water each · 60 g for moka · 36 g per espresso shot)

Strength

Display units

Your recipe

Coffee	—
Water (total)	—
Bloom water	—
Ratio	—
Time guide	—
Water temperature	—
Grind	—

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Methodology: where each ratio comes from

The anchor for drip coffee is the SCA Golden Cup standard: 55 g of coffee per litre of water, tolerance ±10% — a span of roughly 1:16.7 to 1:20 with a midpoint near 1:18, classically paired with an 18–22% extraction yield and 1.15–1.35% brew strength (TDS). Per-method presets below come from the equipment makers' and roasters' own published recipes, cross-referenced on 2026-11-16:

Method	Calculator presets (weak / standard / strong)	Anchor source (official)
V60 / pour-over	1:17 / 1:15 / 1:13	Hario's V60 recipe (1:15, 20 g → 300 g, 30 s bloom); Blue Bottle pour-over (20–27 g → 350 g); Fellow (1:16)
Chemex	1:17 / 1:16 / 1:14	Chemex distributor guide (37.5 g → 600 g, 1:16); classic insert "1 rounded tablespoon per 5 oz"
French press	1:18 / 1:15 / 1:13	Stumptown (56 g → 850 g, ~1:15); Blue Bottle (30 g → 350 g); Counter Culture immersion 1:15
Auto drip	1:18 / 1:17 / 1:15	Counter Culture drip 1:17; SCA Golden Cup 55 g/L ≈ 1:18
AeroPress	1:16 / 1:14 / 1:12	AeroPress official scoop method (14–18 g per cup); Counter Culture inverted guide (18 g → 210 g, 1:12)
Moka pot	1:12 / 1:10 / 1:8	Bialetti's fill-to-valve + full-basket rule (≈1:10 typical, cross-referenced)
Cold brew concentrate	1:8 / 1:5 / 1:4	Toddy instruction sheet (12 oz → 7 cups water ≈ 1:5, dilute 1:2–1:3)
Espresso	1:2.5 / 1:2 / 1:1.5	Counter Culture (18 g → 36 g, ratio window 1:1.5–2.5); illy (7 g single, 25–30 s)

Sources (nofollow): SCA — standards & Golden Cup · SCA certified home brewers (198–205 °F) · Hario V60 official · Blue Bottle French press · Blue Bottle pour-over · Fellow pour-over guide · Stumptown French press · Counter Culture brewing ratios · AeroPress temperature FAQ · Bialetti moka guide · Toddy cold brew instructions · illy espresso FAQ. Ranges are starting points, not laboratory constants — see our water temperature by roast guide for how taste consensus shifts with roast level.

Worked example: 2-cup V60, standard strength

Two 250 g cups = 500 g total water. At Hario's standard V60 ratio of 1:15, that is 500 ÷ 15 = 33.3 → 33.5 g coffee (rounded to the half gram so your scale can hit it). Bloom water is twice the coffee weight, following Fellow's rule: 67 g, held roughly 30–35 seconds before the main pours. Total brew time should land between 2:30 and 4:00 minutes. The bloom is part of the 500 g — pour 67 g first, then bring the scale to 500 g in stages.

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A 0.1 g scale makes every ratio on this page repeatable

Ratios only work if you can hit 33.5 g, not "about two scoops". A pocket gram scale with 0.1 g resolution is the single highest-leverage upgrade for pour-over and AeroPress brewers.

Check gram scales →

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best coffee-to-water ratio?

There is no single best ratio — it depends on the method. The SCA Golden Cup standard for drip coffee is 55 g of coffee per litre of water (about 1:18). Pour-over guides cluster around 1:15 to 1:17, French press around 1:15, AeroPress anywhere from 1:12 to 1:16, and espresso near 1:2. Start with the standard preset, then adjust to taste — our ratio-by-strength guide explains which lever to pull first.

How much coffee do I need for 2 cups?

For pour-over at 1:15, two 250 g cups (500 g water) need about 33.5 g of coffee. At a drip ratio of 1:17 it is about 29.5 g. For French press at 1:15, again about 33.5 g. The calculator does this arithmetic for any cup count — and for espresso "cups" means 36 g shots, not mugs.

Does the bloom water count toward the total?

Yes. The bloom is the first portion of your total water, not extra. In the worked example above, 67 g bloom + 433 g of pours = 500 g total. Methods that fully immerse (French press, AeroPress, cold brew) don't bloom in the traditional sense — the calculator shows "no bloom" for those.

What is the difference between a strong ratio and over-extraction?

Strength is concentration — dissolved coffee per unit of water — and is controlled mainly by the ratio. Extraction is how much of the grounds dissolved, classically 18–22% per the SCA, and is controlled by grind size, time and temperature. A 1:13 cup can taste strong but clean; an over-extracted 1:17 cup tastes bitter and drying. If your strong cup tastes sour instead, the grind is usually the culprit — see grind size vs extraction.

Should I weigh in grams or ounces?

Grams, if your scale supports it: coffee recipes are published in grams and 0.1 g resolution helps small AeroPress doses. 1 oz of coffee is 28.35 g. The unit toggle shows both, with grams in parentheses so you can follow gram recipes on an ounce scale.