Main idea: I think that the 1g:15mL of applied water + mL * [amount of coffee (g)] is too high a ratio, particularly for light and medium roasted coffees.

Experience as to why I'm writing this: I sample roasted two new coffees "A" and "B" on my 2kg roaster, in 200g charges, and finished both within 6 minutes. I kept it to a low flame, but still couldn't slow it down enough and finished the roast too quickly. Before cupping anything, I got excited and brewed it on the V60 with a fine grind size. I was disappointed, though expectedly. There was some acidity, absolutely no defects (I think), but because I roasted it too quickly up to 345F BT. HOWEVER, when I did set-up cupping with a bunch of other coffees, these same coffees A and B simply soared above the rest. They were light. Thin, but NOT thin at the same time, due to the sensation of a 'body' from the chemicals present. Imagine distilling fruit juices, and sipping that: it would be thin like water, but the explosion of flavor just overtakes you. Immediately after cupping, I wanted to try brewing coffee "A", this time on a french press, to simulate the immersion-exposure environment. And to really compare it to cupping, I let it stand for up to 8 minutes. When I poured it into my cup, I found myself back to a sour, underdeveloped, underwhelming coffee "A".

So what was the difference? Brew ratio! I don't monitor brew ratio when cupping, and just pour to the brim of the cup. For sure, though, it might be a ratio 11 or ratio 12. When I brewed the french press, I did a 15+1 ratio.

As with the inventor of the Kong coffee brewer, I'm baffled as to why I can't achieve the same flavor from the cupping table to the brewing equipment.

A lot of the shops I go to use this ratio, even one that is "SCAE certified", although that certification may only be for training coffee professionals and issuing certificates. And you know what, I've had 1 or 2 underwhelming, underdeveloped light roasted coffees from there. But there's so many of them working there! Could they be so inutile as to dishout bad coffee? I wouldn't believe so. But they should quit the 15+1 brew ratio, if they intent to continue roasting light.

I want to ask people out there: have you abandoned the 15+1 ratio? Do you use a narrower ratio for light roasted coffees? For light roasted coffees, do you prefer the V60 over the french press? Of course there's the Aeropress, but most of the consumers won't have that device.


Photo: Coffee A is the left most cup. Just look at that bright, tranluscent lightness.

As for brewing ratio's, I find for drinking the stuff, I usually use more coffee than recommended. However, I also use that AeroPress that nobody owns. When I comes to taste in the cup, I think the extraction process has a whole lot more to do with that than the brew ratio. I'm not saying the ratio doesn't matter, but a bad extraction can ruin any ratio.

For the roasting and being a light roast. Temps are only good for the machine they are being used in but at 6 minutes and 345F, I'm usually just going from yellow and getting into the early tan of the Maillard phase, still 50 degrees short of first crack, and that's a coffee I would never even try to sample.

I drink " light roasts for want for a better description ... I enjoy both V60 and French Press , but they are making different drinks ( one if pour over and paper filtered , once is immersion brewed )
Having said all that i am a fan of long steep french press - to get maximum sweetness ( 30g > 500g water )
If i want a quicker and cleaner drink ( in comparisom to a french press ) then ill have a v60 ... ( 12g > 200 g water )

I normally use 1:16 for pour-over and 1:14 for immersion, but when I was making myself a siphon of Chromatic Coffee's PNG Kungin this morning, I was noticing that the markings on the pot tend to call out for more coffee than this, it's starting to think about using MORE coffee in my Behmor BraZen not less. I go back and forth, though, thinking I should use more coffee for more flavor or less coffee for better flavor separation. For me, 1:16 and 1:14 are only starting points and not an absolute rule but I usually fall back on them because they do make a good cup of coffee.

Not sure what the 1:15 + 1x(?) is all about, sounds a bit too complicated for making coffee first thing in the morning.

Brewing ratio isn't the only key to unlocking good coffee, nor is the 15:1 ratio that important in understanding good brewing.

A standardized brewing ratio is simply a guideline to be used as a fixed variable in trying to get to the ideal extraction and TDS. There are so many more variables involved in getting to a good cup of coffee that it helps to have many of them pegged to a generally favorable metric in order to test for the best result.

With that said, my guess is that your issue has less to do with brewing ratio and more to do with the fact that 1) you're using 3 different brewing devices and expecting the same result 2) your coffee is underdeveloped and therefore lacks solubility.

If you really want to test the whole ratio issue, test different ratios using the same brewing method. And even then it probably only tells you the best brewing ratio for the specific roast, grind size, water temp, agitation, and brew time. Change one of those other variables, and you'll have to change the optimal brewing ratio. It's confusing, and that's why it's so fun.

yakster wrote:I normally use 1:16 for pour-over and 1:14 for immersion... I go back and forth, though, thinking I should use more coffee for more flavor or less coffee for better flavor separation. For me, 1:16 and 1:14 are only starting points and not an absolute rule but I usually fall back on them because they do make a good cup of coffee.

Not sure what the 1:15 + 1x(?) is all about, sounds a bit too complicated for making coffee first thing in the morning.

+1

I don't have any way of measuring TDS or extraction levels, so I'm relying on taste. I tend to start with the same baseline ratios as yakster and then adjust the ratio, temp, brew time, etc from there to get the most out of any particular coffee. And of course, since I'm relying on taste it's very subjective. The goal is what is tasty to me, not a specific number.

That being said, to answer the original question: for my taste, I tend to use more coffee beans when brewing a given volume of very lightly roasted coffee.

I thought the golden cup ratio was 1:18?

Personally, when I do brewed coffee, I usually use my woodneck. I find that for larger cups I like 1:10 or so, and for smaller ones 1:4 with the blue bottle method. With other methods I use closer to 1:15-1:16. I think that more than anything it's personal taste and the method you use.

I think it depends on the phase of the moon. 1gram to 15ml is approx. 2 grams per ounce and I thought I was suppose to be 1.6 something per ounce. Which all of it really means nothing, because I know I'm just going to brew it the way I like it. My cup consist of 11 ounces of water and 19 grams of fairly fine ground coffee through an AeroPress. Never have figured to see what that ratio is.

I don't stick to one Brew ratio. It depends on the coffee, brew method and my personal taste. There is no perfect ratio ,I'm sure that in barista competitions the ratio is all over