Dose and ratio
A practical starting point is about 6 grams of coffee for every 100ml of brewing water in filter-style methods. For espresso, start from the basket you actually use. On an 18g basket, that is 18g of coffee in and about 36g of espresso out.
Those are starting points, not laws. Baskets differ. Home mugs differ. Café recipes differ. Weigh the coffee, add the water the recipe calls for, taste the result, then change one thing.
This page is about dose and ratio. If you want how far a bag goes, use how many coffees 1kg of beans make.
Two kinds of ratio
Filter methods compare dry coffee with brewing water added.
Espresso compares dry coffee with beverage weight out.
They are not the same measurement.
Grounds hold onto water. A recipe that uses 250g of brewing water will put less than 250ml in the cup. Dose from the water you pour in, not from the finished volume.
The short version
| Method | Starting recipe | What the ratio compares |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso, 18g basket | 18g coffee in, about 36g espresso out | Dry coffee to beverage weight out (1:2) |
| Pour-over | 25g coffee to 400g brewing water | Dry coffee to water added (~1:16) |
| French press | 30g coffee to 500g brewing water | Dry coffee to water added (~1:16.7) |
| AeroPress | 16g coffee to 240g brewing water | Dry coffee to water added (~1:15) |
| Batch brewer | 60g coffee to 1 litre brewing water | Dry coffee to water added (~1:16.7) |
These match the starting recipes on the FARCOFF brew guide. They are home starting points, not measurements of the cup in your hand.
Example water quantities
Use the amount of brewing water added, not a claimed standard mug size.
| Brewing water added | Coffee at 1:16 | Coffee at 1:17 |
|---|---|---|
| 200g | 12.5g | 12g |
| 250g | 15.5g | 14.5g |
| 300g | 19g | 17.5g |
| 500g | 31.5g | 29.5g |
| 1,000g | 62.5g | 59.0g |
Coffee weights are rounded to the nearest 0.5g.
60g of coffee per litre of brewing water is about 1:16.7, inside that 1:16–1:17 range. The brew guide uses 60g/L for batch brew and the same idea for French press (30g to 500g).
200g, 250g and 300g are example water quantities. They are not a claim that Australian homes or cafés use one cup size.
Filter, pour-over, plunger and batch brew
Start in the 1:16–1:17 range, then adjust.
- Pour-over: 25g coffee to 400g brewing water (~1:16). Scale to the water you are using.
- French press: 30g coffee to 500g brewing water (~1:16.7), or 60g per litre. Method: how to use a French press.
- Batch brew / drip jug: 60g coffee to 1 litre brewing water; 30g for 500ml. More: what is batch brew.
If the cup is balanced but thin, using a little more coffee for the same water is a reasonable next step. If it is sharp or dry, grind and contact time are usually better first moves than inventing a new ratio. See the taste table below.
Espresso
Espresso dose follows the basket, not the finished drink.
For an 18g espresso basket, start with 18g coffee and about 36g espresso out — a 1:2 yield. The brew guide uses that as its example: fine grind, 92–94°C if you can set it, 25–30 seconds from the pump starting.
Basket capacities vary. Some home baskets are marked 18g, some 20g, some something else. Use the capacity your basket is built for.
Milk or hot water does not change the dry dose by itself. A flat white, latte, piccolo or long black can be built on one shot or two, depending on the recipe and the café. Dose the basket you are using. Milk or added water changes the finished drink’s strength and volume, rather than the basket dose.
Preparation matters as much as the number:
- Use the basket’s recommended capacity.
- Distribute the grounds evenly.
- Tamp level.
- Leave headspace above the puck so the group head does not crush the coffee.
Do not fill the basket to the rim and hope. How hard you should tamp covers level tamps; force is less important than an even bed.
AeroPress
Start at 16g coffee to 240g brewing water (~1:15), as on the brew guide.
That is water added, not a promise about finished mug volume. Some of that water stays in the puck. You can dilute after pressing if you want a longer drink.
AeroPress is flexible. For a shorter, heavier cup, use less water or a slightly finer grind. For a longer cup, add water after the press. Grind starting point: coffee grind size chart.
No scale
Australian measuring tablespoons are 20ml. Many overseas coffee notes assume a 15ml tablespoon. Ground coffee also packs differently depending on grind and roast.
Do not treat any spoonful as a fixed number of grams.
Safer fallback:
- Use the same scoop each time.
- Brew.
- Adjust the next brew by taste.
- When you have a scale, weigh that scoop once and write the number on the bag or a note on the machine.
If the cup is off
Sourness is not always under-extraction. Bitterness is not always over-extraction. A muddy cup is not only “too much coffee.” Roast, the character of the coffee, fines, and how the brew is filtered can all show up in the cup.
Treat the table as possible causes and starting adjustments. Change one thing.
| What you taste | Possible cause | Starting adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Weak and watery, otherwise fine | More water than coffee for your taste | Use a little more coffee for the same brewing water |
| Heavy or dense, but not harsh | More coffee than you want for that water | Use a little less coffee, or add water after brewing |
| Sour, sharp, unfinished | Often under-extraction; sometimes the coffee itself | Grind a little finer, or give the water more contact time |
| Bitter, dry, hollow | Often over-extraction; sometimes roast or fines | Grind a little coarser, or shorten contact time |
| Sour and bitter together | Often uneven flow through the grounds | Improve distribution and water flow before changing dose |
| Muddy or sludgy | Fines, a grind that is too fine, or filtration | Coarser grind, cleaner filter, or decant off the silt |
The longer diagnostic is why coffee tastes sour or bitter. That page also treats a weak but balanced cup as a dose/ratio problem.
How this relates to bag size
Dose is what turns a bag into a run of brews.
A 250g bag gives about 13 complete 18g doses before you count waste, leftover grams, or coffee used while you are finding the recipe. For the full working across methods and a 1kg bag, use how many coffees 1kg of beans make.
250g is a sensible size while you are still settling the recipe. Move to 1kg when you know you will finish the coffee while it still tastes good. How quickly you brew through a bag, and how you store it, matters as much as how often you drink coffee. How to store coffee beans covers the opened bag.
Once the recipe is close
Once the recipe is close, choose a coffee whose flavour you enjoy.
Chocolate and caramel notes often sit comfortably with milk. Fruit-forward coffees can work as espresso and milk too, or as filter and long black, depending on what you like in the cup.
If you want help choosing, find your coffee or browse the range. The FARCOFF 3 Ways pack is three 250g bags — Traditional Espresso, Smooth Coffee and Sweet & Complex — in whole beans or one grind across all three. See FARCOFF 3 Ways.
FARCOFF coffees are sold in 250g and 1kg, as whole beans or ground for espresso, filter, pour over, plunger or AeroPress.
A simple way to set the number
- Decide the method.
- For filter-style brews, weigh the brewing water you will add. Divide by 16 for a 1:16 starting dose.
- For espresso, use the basket’s capacity. On an 18g basket, start at 18g in and about 36g out.
- Brew it.
- If the cup is balanced but weak or heavy, move the coffee-to-water ratio a little. If it is sharp or dry, look at grind, contact time and evenness first.
Coffee first. The same scoop when you have to. A scale when you are tired of guessing.
Browse FARCOFF coffee — 250g and 1kg. Freshly roasted in St Peters, Sydney, with the roast date on the bag.