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Earlier this month we talked about how to grind coffee beans for an amazing cup of coffee, but today we want to discuss how much ground coffee you should be using per cup.
Just as it’s important to make sure your coffee grounds are the right consistency, it’s also important to make sure you’re using the right amount of coffee grounds. Using too much or too little can cause your coffee to lack flavor or be too bitter.
How Much Coffee is in a Cup?
Since Carta Coffee Merchants is located in the United States – Kona, Hawaii – let’s focus on measurements using the imperial system instead of the metric system.
In the United States, we measure cups using ounces. 8 fluid ounces equates to 1 cup, but that’s not necessarily the case when talking about a cup of coffee.
A cup of coffee is actually not 8 fluid ounces, like a measuring cup, but it’s actually 6 fluid ounces. This is the standard serving size for a cup of coffee in the US, despite the fact that a cup, when discussing unit of measure, is actually 8 ounces.
This can cause some confusion when trying to figure out how much ground coffee to use when making one cup of coffee but knowing that the standard serving size of a cup of coffee is 6 ounces will make it a lot easier to figure out how much ground coffee to use in your cup.
Coffee Grounds Per Cup of Coffee
Now that we know that a standard serving size of a cup of coffee is 6 ounces, let’s look at how much ground coffee you should use per cup.
We recommend using 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 fluid ounces of coffee for the best flavor and strength.
Most drip coffee makers will measure out the cups for you, with a cup being 6 ounces, but if you’re using something like a French press, or are doing the pour over method, you may want to fill your entire mug with coffee.
A typical coffee mug holds around 9-12 ounces, which is obviously more than what a standard coffeemaker considers a cup. You can easily adjust your water to coffee ground ratio by assuming that for every 3 ounces of water you want to use 1 tablespoon of ground coffee. So if you’re looking to fill up your entire mug and it holds 9 ounces, you would use 3 tablespoons, whereas a 12 ounce mug would use 4 tablespoons of coffee grounds.
If you’re using a drip coffee maker in your home, the instructions are usually clear about how much water and how much ground coffee to add depending on how many cups of coffee you wish to make. The trouble is when you move to other methods of coffee making that are not so automated in their brewing process.
Why the Coffee to Water Ratio is Important
It’s extremely important to make sure that you have your coffee to water ratio correct when making coffee. If you’re off by a little you may not notice the difference, or if you’re the type that adds a lot of cream and sugar to your coffee, it probably won’t make a difference. However, if you tend to drink your coffee black, or without sugar/cream, then you could end up with a bitter cup of coffee or a less than flavorful cup.
Measuring out the proper amount of coffee grounds when making yourself a cup of coffee is essential in making that perfect cup of coffee that will get you through your day. Nobody likes a bad cup of coffee, so ensuring you’re using the highest quality coffee beans, the right roast and grind, and the proper ratio of coffee to water, will always give you a great cup of coffee each morning.
