I am waiting for a digital scale to arrive next week. Until that I do not know how much should I put in my Mazzer Mini, to get approximately 14 grams. I have no point of reference yet—what 14 grams look like in a double basket 58 mm.

Some time back I saw somebody here say how many regular sized beans make one gram. Was it 3, was it 5? I am not sure now, and I can not find the post now.

Can somebody suggest a poor man's way to get 14 grams of coffee in the basket?
Thank you.

14 grams is approximately two tablespoons.

Light roasts weigh more than dark roasts (they still have more moisture in them) and some beans are much larger than others, so my guess is that without a scale your best estimate will be one double basket of unground beans.

Thank you for the quick replies.

Two tablespoons? It is a little bit dependant on the fluffiness of the grind, is not it? And how big the hill on the spoon should be? And it depends on the table spoon design and shape

As for the double basket of the beans, it is a better suggestion. But how big the hill over the top should be?

Vad wrote:Thank you for the quick replies.

Two tablespoons? It is a little bit dependant on the fluffiness of the grind, is not it? And how big the hill on the spoon should be? And it depends on the table spoon design and shape

As for the double basket of the beans, it is a better suggestion. But how big the hill over the top should be?

That would be two tablespoons of beans before grinding, and as I said, it's an approximate measure, which is the best you're going to do without a scale.

A tablespoon is a measure of volume, so a tablespoon measure should hold the same amount, regardless of its design and shape.

I don't have a scale, but I can tell you that I routinely use my single shot basket to measure beans to grind and fill my double shot basket. If I fill the single shot basket (no hill over the top) just to the top with beans and grind those beans I have the correct amount of coffee for a double shot basket.
Take care,
Mark

Vad wrote:Some time back I saw somebody here say how many regular sized beans make one gram. Was it 3, was it 5?

Can somebody suggest mi a poor man's way to get 14 grams of coffee in the basket?

I just weighed 50 beans at 6.5g, which works out to about 8 beans per gram. That's 108 beans per 14g, but remember that this will vary with the type of bean and degree of roast.

Poor man should work on patience, and wait until scale arrives next week.

Vad wrote:Thank you for the quick replies.



As for the double basket of the beans, it is a better suggestion. But how big the hill over the top should be?

You don't need a big hill over the top. For me a level basket is close to 14 g's. You would think that ground coffee would be more compact, but if you have a fluffy grind I tend to find it is less compact than the original beans.

If you can adjust your input so that your output has little waste if you first do the WDT and then level it off, you probably won't be off by more than a gram. (At least that has been my experience with my equipment)

Hugh

Then again, Beethoven used exactly 60 beans for each cup of coffee, so that would make a double 120 beans. Provided you like Beethoven.

GVDub wrote:14 grams is approximately two tablespoons.

You mean two scoops. One of the common sized coffee scoops out there, e.g the one that comes standard with Bodum FPs is a 7.25 gram scoop or 1.5 tablespoons, thus three tablespoons is what you want for a ballpark 14 grams.