French Press Ratio Calculator
Pick the press, pick the strength, and read the coffee. The cups it pours come out after the grounds take their share.
Sizes are the maker's cup counts; the water is what the press actually holds.
33.3g
about 7 level tablespoons
33.3 g of coarse coffee, about 7 level tablespoons, for 500 g of water at 1:15. Pour, wait four minutes, break the crust, skim, then wait another few minutes before pressing. It pours about 1.8 cups of 8 oz.
How to Use This Calculator
- Choose your press. The sizes are the maker's cup counts, which are 4 oz cups; the water is what the press really holds.
- Or type the water for a half-full press or an odd size.
- Pick a strength. 1:15 is where we start; 1:12 is heavy, 1:17 is light.
- Read the coffee in grams, with a tablespoon count for when the scale is in the other room.
The Cup-Count Problem
An "8 cup" press holds about a litre, which is four 8 oz mugs, not eight. The number on the box counts 4 oz demitasse cups, a convention older than the mug. That is why the tool starts from the water the press holds rather than the name, and why the cups it reports are 8 oz cups after absorption. If you want three real mugs, you want the 8 cup press, and you want about 66 g of coffee at 1:15.
Understanding the Ratio
A French press brew ratio is coffee to water by weight, 1:x. It tolerates a wider range than pour-over, because full immersion for four minutes is a gentle, even extraction: 1:12 makes a rich, heavy cup without turning bitter, and 1:17 stays sweet rather than thin. The grounds keep about two grams of water per gram of coffee, so the press pours less than you put in; the calculator shows that yield.
The Method We Use
Coarse grind, like coarse sea salt. Water just off the boil, around 200 °F. Pour it all in, wait four minutes, then stir the crust so it sinks and skim the foam and floating grounds off the top with two spoons. Wait another five minutes or so for the rest to settle, then press the plunger only as far as the top of the liquid, so it acts as a screen rather than a piston, and pour gently. The last half-inch in the press is mud; leave it.
That is the shape of our French press brewing guide, which goes into the why. If you are shopping, the small stainless presses we like are there too, and the grind size chart shows where coarse really sits.