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Making the perfect cup of coffee is not as difficult as it might seem when you know the right measurements. Once that accuracy is achieved, you can bid goodbye to inconsistencies in your brew forever.
A nice cup of coffee to start your day or to energize you while working needs the right quantity of grounds and water. So, how much coffee would you need for making 12 cups of coffee? The short answer is 12 scoops with your coffee scooper.
But that’s not all there is to know about it! Read on to know more about making your favorite morning brew.
How Many Scoops Of Coffee For 12 Cups
You will need 24 scoops of coffee taken with your tablespoon to make 12 cups of coffee. If you are using a coffee scoop, remember it holds two tablespoons of coffee when leveled. This will come down to around 127.6 grams of coffee grounds.
You will have to keep the water ratio at the optimum. Then, you can add more coffee grounds or less, depending on the intensity you prefer.
However, keep in mind that the ratio of coffee to water should not exceed 1:15 to 1:18. Thus, it is better to keep it at a mid-level with 1:17.
Clearing The Confusion Regarding Scoops Of Coffee
If you are talking about scooping out coffee for 12 cups, let’s assume that you are using a tablespoon. If you take a tablespoon of coffee and don’t level off the top, it will be about five grams of coffee. And if you level off the tablespoon, you will get 4.3 to 4.5 gram of coffee.
Also, a leveled coffee scoop holds about two tablespoons of coffee. In terms of the ratio of coffee beans to water, you can use about 30 grams of coffee beans for 500 milliliters of water. Since we are taking 1:17 as the optimum ratio to make coffee, you can use 127.6 grams or 24 tablespoons of coffee.
So, when you go through the following steps and the chart, keep in mind that 10.6 grams is equal to two tablespoons of coffee.
Step 1: Measuring The Water
Put the cool, empty kettle on a scale and push the tare button for resetting the scale to neutral. It will make sure that you are only measuring what is there in that kettle.
Now, slowly pour water in your kettle until it hits a little over two liters. Then, put the kettle away. Also, if you are using boiling water, add a bit more of it to make up for the evaporation.
Step 2: Measuring The Coffee Beans
Reset the scales and look for a clean container or bowl to put over the coffee grounds. Now, hit the tare button once more for setting things to neutral.
After this, scoop the coffee grounds in the container until it reaches the 127.6-gram mark. So, you will need about twelve coffee scoops worth of grounds. In case you’re going with freshly grinded whole beans, make sure to measure the weight using those whole beans before you grind them.
Step 3: Time To Start The Brewing
You have the right amount of coffee and water now so start brewing. Add the grounds to the filter and add the water in the reservoir.
Step 4: Adjustment Of The Servings
Given below is a chart that can act as your starting point for making coffee. You can adjust these ratios as per your preference whenever you brew. Also, it follows the 1:17 roughly, but you can change the quantity of coffee grounds based on the intensity you like.
But make sure not to change the water quantity when you change the quantity of grounds used. So, the point is to go by the right amount of water for the brew size and only alter the quantity of coffee used. Thus, basically you are changing the taste of the coffee without altering the process of brewing it.
Quantity Of Coffee Grounds To Use
No. Of cups | Ounces | Grams | Teaspoons | Tablespoons | Cups |
1 | 0.38 | 10.6 | 6 | 2 | 1/8 |
2 | 0.75 | 21.3 | 12 | 4 | 1/4 |
3 | 1.13 | 31.9 | 18 | 6 | 3/8 |
4 | 1.50 | 42.5 | 24 | 8 | 1/2 |
5 | 1.88 | 53.2 | 30 | 10 | 5/8 |
6 | 2.25 | 63.8 | 36 | 12 | 3/4 |
7 | 2.63 | 74.4 | 42 | 14 | 7/8 |
8 | 3.00 | 85.1 | 48 | 16 | 1 |
9 | 3.39 | 95.7 | 54 | 18 | 1 1/8 |
10 | 3.75 | 106.3 | 60 | 20 | 1 1/4 |
11 | 4.13 | 116.9 | 66 | 22 | 1 3/8 |
12 | 4.50 | 127.6 | 72 | 24 | 1 1/2 |
Making Your Coffee Stronger Or Weaker: Changing The Intensity
The guidelines are the basic framework, but what happens when you want each cuppa to be stronger or weaker? Here’s your solution!
Case 1: Making The Coffee Stronger
If you are using drip brewers, putting extra grounds for adjusting the coffee to water ratios add to make the brew stronger to some extent. Coffee enthusiasts use something called a golden ratio that is somewhere around 1:15 – 1:18. But you are advised to go with the 1:17 ratio as it gets you mid-level intensity. For many people, simply going past the 1:15 ratio might not be preferable.
Case 2: Making The Coffee Weaker
At the other end of the spectrum, you can work with the ratio of 1:18 and even a bit over that ratio (not too much, though!). It will give you a weaker, lighter brew that you should enjoy with the least additions.
Similar to strengthening the brew going at the low end of the ratio, using less coffee grounds can also cause issues. It will not only make the coffee taste really weak, the fact that it’ll be over-extracted is another bummer. Therefore, you will get undrinkable, bitter-tasting coffee in that case.
Measuring Coffee As Per The Brewing Method
The quantity of coffee you use also depends on the brewing method, and here’s a brief rundown of that:
Cold Brew:
If you have never tried cold brew, it is better to start with a coffee to water ratio of 1:8. It will get you a mid-level strength that most people will like. If you want something stronger for a summer day, go for 1:5.
Pour Over:
In this case, you can start off with a coffee to water ratio of 1:17. But if measuring by scale is difficult, go by using a scoop of coffee for every six ounces of water. It will not get the precise results each time, but it will still get the job done.
French Press:
French Press is the forgiving kind, when it comes to brews. So, if you are looking for a bold and strong brew that has heavy and thick flavors, go for a 1:10 ratio. If you want something light and almost tea-like, you need to start at 1:16. However, make sure not to go beyond 1:17 in any case.
Why Is It Important To Measure Coffee?
If you want to prepare a consistent cup of coffee every time, you will have to get into the habit of measuring the grounds accurately.
Otherwise, you will end up making it too strong or weak from time to time. Since figuring out grams and milligrams can be too much of a hassle, it is better to remember the number of scoops of coffee you used for a certain number of cups.
What Is The Golden Ratio Of Brewing Coffee?
The Golden Ratio refers to a general guideline of brewing coffee, where you need to use one or two tablespoons of coffee grounds for six ounces of water. Of course, this is a basic idea and you can change the ratio as per your preferences.