Brewing great coffee consistently comes down to one ratio: how much water for how much coffee. Nail that, and the same beans taste the same way every morning.
Why ratio beats measuring cups
Ground coffee's volume changes with grind size and how it settles, so 'two scoops' is unreliable. Weight — grams of coffee to millilitres of water — is stable and reproducible, which is why the specialty industry measures everything on a scale.
Different methods, different ratios
Immersion brews like French press and the AeroPress sit around 1:15, filter drippers like the V60 and Chemex around 1:16.7, and espresso compresses everything to about 1:2. Each ratio is tuned to the method's extraction behaviour.
Tuning to your taste
The ratio is a starting point, not gospel. Stronger or milder is a small step in either direction — and the beans, roast and water hardness all nudge the ideal. Keep the ratio, adjust the recipe.
Frequently asked questions
For pour-over, a common starting point is 1:16.7 (coffee to water by weight) — about 60 g of coffee per litre of water. Espresso is far denser, near 1:2.
At a 1:16.7 ratio with 200 ml cups, two cups need 400 ml of water and about 24 g of coffee.
By weight — grams of coffee to millilitres of water. It's the only consistent way, since the volume of ground coffee changes with grind size.