Proportioning Coffee Grounds and Water

March 26th, 2009 · No Comments · Coffee Science, Tricks of the Trade

I hit up the break room today for a coffee refill and noticed that whoever made the coffee I was now drinking had filled the coffee filter almost to the top with coffee grounds. Consequently the coffee tasted excessively bitter and unbalanced. This reminded me of the fact that many people do not know how to measure the proper ratio of grounds to water for drip coffee makers.

The industry standard is between one and two tablespoons for every six ounces. This prevents the coffee from being either too bitter and unbalanced (from too much grounds) or weak and sour (from too little grounds).

It’s also possible to try and squeeze too much out of one batch of grounds. It’s strategic that drip machines just allow the water to seep down gradually. There is a variation on the drip system that sprays the coffee grounds with the goal of extracting every last molecule of coffee flavor from the beans. But this is going overboard; it’s detrimental to a making a balanced cup of joe.

Also, in case you were wondering, you cannot re-use coffee grounds to brew another batch. I’ve tried it — it makes funky tan colored water, not coffee.

Tags: Break Room Coffee