How much coffee to use: a starting point

Dose, grind and brewing time all shape the cup, and the dose is the easiest one to get right first. These are the conventional figures baristas and manufacturers work from, for each of the methods in How to choose coffee for your brew method. Start here, then change one thing at a time until the cup tastes right to you.

The starting points

• Espresso: 7 g for a single shot (6 g to 9 g), 16 g for a double (14 g to 18 g).
• Filter or pour-over: about 15 g for a 250 ml cup, which is 60 g per litre of water (14 g to 16 g per cup).
• Cafetière: the same 15 g per 250 ml (14 g to 17 g), and about 60 g for a 1-litre cafetière.
• Moka pot: about 15 g for a three-cup pot (14 g to 18 g) and about 30 g for a six-cup pot, the basket filled level and not pressed down.
• Bean-to-cup machine: between 7 g and 12 g per cup, set on the machine: about 7 g on a mild setting, 9 g on a standard one, 12 g on a strong one.
• Capsule machine: one capsule per cup; the dose is fixed by the capsule.

None of these is a promise about what your machine uses. Baskets, filters and settings differ, and so does taste; treat the figures in brackets as starting ranges.

Why a scale helps

A spoon is a poor measure: the weight changes with the grind and how full you fill it, so a recipe in spoons drifts every time you change the coffee. A small kitchen scale removes the guesswork, and once you know the dose you like, you can repeat it every morning. Weigh the coffee before it goes into the basket, the filter or the jug; for filter and cafetière, measure the water as well, because the ratio is what you are repeating from one brew to the next. A scale that reads to the gram is enough for filter, cafetière and moka doses; for espresso, one that reads to 0.1 g shows small changes. Keep the dose steady while you try a different grind or brewing time; changing the grind can also change the brewing time.

How far a bag goes

At 16 g a double, a 1 kg bag makes about 60 double espressos; at 7 g a single, about 140 singles. In a bean-to-cup machine on a standard setting of about 9 g, a kilo makes about 110 cups. A 250 g pack of ground coffee makes roughly 16 cups of filter at 15 g each, or about 16 three-cup moka pots at 15 g a pot, or about four brews in a 1-litre cafetière at 60 g. Cups per pack are rounded down. An estimate at a typical dose. Your machine, grind and recipe will move it. That is worth knowing when you decide between a 250 g pack, a 500 g bag and a kilo; How to keep coffee fresh at home has the storage side.

If the cup is not right

Weak and watery: try a little more coffee, or a finer grind. Harsh and bitter: for espresso, shorten the shot before you touch the grind; for filter and cafetière, try a coarser grind or a shorter brew. Change one thing at a time. For a moka pot, do not tamp the coffee, keep the grind made for it (a finer grind can restrict the flow) and start on a low to medium heat; if the coffee is too strong, add hot water rather than under-filling the basket. For a bean-to-cup machine, move the strength setting first, then change the coffee. If the plunger of a cafetière resists, do not force it; check the grind before the next brew.

Not sure which coffee to start with? The Coffee Finder starts from how you brew, and the FAQ keeps these figures to hand. For a café, a restaurant or an office, How much coffee to order turns these doses into a monthly quantity.

Reviewed 8 September 2026.