How Many Coffee Beans Per Cup?

Have you ever wondered how many coffee beans it takes to make the perfect cup of coffee? The coffee bean goes on quite the journey, from the tree to the roaster and finally to your cup. Think about the number of beans needed to make a pot of coffee.

There are about 120 coffee beans in a six-ounce cup of coffee. If you want to make the coffee more robust, you need to add more beans. Measuring your beans before brewing is an excellent habit to get into.

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Using a digital kitchen scale to quantify your beans is a good option. Sometimes, you need to experiment with different amounts of beans to create the proper brew when making coffee. Read below and learn more about how many coffee beans are necessary for each cup of coffee.

What is the Average Amount of Beans in a Cup of Coffee?

The average amount of coffee beans is about 120 coffee beans for a six-ounce cup. You can modify the number of beans you use depending upon how strong you want your coffee. However, 120 beans are the standard amount of beans you should use to make a well-balanced, quality cup of coffee.

You should always measure your beans before brewing because it is wasteful to make an entire pot and only drink one cup and then dump the rest. You should also know that saving it for later is a bad idea because the coffee will be over-extracted, which results in poor taste.

Many people know how much to put in a pot of coffee, but not just one cup, as it is not common knowledge. However, it is simple math.

If a pot makes 8 cups of coffee and there are 120 coffee beans in a cup, you must multiply 120 beans by 8. It would take about 960 beans to make an entire pot of coffee. For espresso, it takes about 50 to 60 beans per one-ounce shot.

Since there are two espresso shots in a Starbucks Grande latte, it takes about 100 to 120 beans to make a latte. See, it is all simple math to figure it out. When looking at how many ounces of coffee beans per cup, you will use .53 ounces of coffee beans, or 15 grams.

Note that the amount can vary according to brewing method and cup size or what type of bean you are using.

If there are about 450 grams in one pound of coffee, and you are using 15 grams per cup, you would need to divide 450 by 15, and you will see that you get approximately 30 cups of coffee out of a one-pound bag.

The factors that need to be taken into consideration when trying to find out how much coffee beans you should use in each cup of coffee include the following:

  • Brewing method
  • How finely ground the beans are
  • Coffee strength

The very best way to measure coffee beans is to use a digital kitchen scale. The following are instructions as to how to do this correctly:

  • Put a lightweight container on a kitchen scale that is digital.
  • Pressing the zero button will subtract the container’s weight from the display on the scale
  • Carefully pour coffee beans into the container
  • Check the weight displayed on the scale
  • When you get to the correct number of ounces, stop pouring

Toss the beans into the grinder, then brew in the coffee maker. Once you have mastered the act of measuring coffee, you can experiment with the beans to create a pristine cup of coffee just for you.

If you do not have a digital kitchen scale, you can grind the beans until you have at least two tablespoons of ground coffee. Coffee beans are measured in weight, while you measure coffee by volume. The standard amount of coffee is two tablespoons.

What Are the Different Ways to Brew Coffee?

There are many ways to brew coffee. It all depends on your preference. Drip coffee machines tend to be the most common type of coffee machine. The following are all the different brewing preferences:

Drip Coffee Machine

The drip coffee machine has a filter that keeps the grounds from leaking into the pot. You pour the water into the reservoir. The reservoir bucket has a tube leading from the bottom of the basin, which brings hot water to the drip area.

The showerhead obtains the hot water, spraying it onto the coffee grounds. The two-section heating element has an aluminum extrusion with a tube that permits the water to travel through it and a resistive heating element.

The heating element heats up when you pour water into the coffee maker, and it keeps the coffee warm once the process is complete. The resistive heating element rests upon the aluminum water tube and the warming plate.

Coffee makers typically have a switch that controls the power that the heating element utilizes. It detects when the machine gets too hot, but it also maintains an even temperature.

For the standard coffee maker, the ratio of water to coffee is 1:15. Using medium-fine ground beans is the best choice for a drip coffee maker.

French Press

With a French press, you make your coffee manually. You will use a thin glass beaker and a plunger. You put the coffee grounds into the beaker and pour hot water into it.

The plunger has a special filter to keep the grounds from leaking into your cup. The best water to coffee ratio is 1:12. You should use coarsely ground beans for the French press.

Percolator

Use coarsely ground coffee in the pot basket and put it in the pot. Fill the pot with water. Filtered water works best. Determine the amount by the fill line.

Get the coffee basket and the stem and put them inside the pot. Place the percolator lid at the top. Begin applying heat to the pot. You can easily use a stovetop for this process, which takes about 10 minutes.

When the water comes to a boil, it travels up the stem, comes out at the top, and showers the coffee with stean and hot water. When the water reaches the boiling point, you will decrease the heat, and the bubbling water will travel up the tube. An electric percolator is even easier to use.

AeroPress

This contraption is a manual coffee brewer that utilizes pressure to brew coffee. It is produced when the two cylinders press into each other. There is a vacuum on one end of the cylinders used to generate pressure.

The water comes out through the coffee bed when you press the AeroPress. You will use a significant amount of pressure, and the coffee is less acidic than when it is brewed in other forms.

The longer the coffee remains in the cylinder, the stronger it will be. You should use finely ground beans with an AeroPress. The ratio of coffee to water for the AeroPress is 1:7.

Chemex

The Chemex brews coffee by employing the infusion method. It uses a heat-resistant beaker and thick filter paper to ensure fresh and sediment-free coffee.

The Chemex is similar to drip coffee in terms of its taste, and the unbleached filters are thicker than the kind utilized by auto-drip filters. It creates a more complex, bolder cup of coffee.

The Chemex uses a coffee to water ratio of 1:16. It requires one tablespoon of medium-ground coffee.

Espresso Machine

This machine needs to be on the finest setting for grinding coffee, which will give you a 1-ounce shot. You need to heat the espresso machine for about 15 to 30 minutes. Pull one blank shot, so the water heats up.

Put 7 grams of ground espresso beans into the portafilter. Press down espresso, so it packs down into the portafilter. Engage the portafilter onto the brew head and then push the button to start the shot. After about 20 seconds, you will stop the shot.

Most people do not have espresso machines in their homes, as they tend to be expensive. This reason is why places like Starbucks are so popular. People want their espresso! Many coffee drinkers like to drink espresso in lattes.

The following is a chart which contains prices for all the different machines:

BRAND MACHINE NAME WHERE TO BUY COST
Ninja™ Drip Machine CE251 Programmable Brewer Amazon $Under 100
Bodum™ French Press 1928-16US4 Chambord French Press Amazon $Under 50
Farberware™ Perc 2-4-Cup, Stainless Steel, FCP240 Amazon $Under 50
AeroPress™ Coffee and Espresso Maker Amazon $ Under 30
Chemex™ Pour-Over Glass Coffeemaker Amazon $ Under 50
Wirsh™ 15 Bar Espresso Maker with Milk Frother Amazon $ Under 160

As you can see, the Espresso maker is the most expensive item in the chart.

What Kind of Coffee Should I Drink?

Whatever type of coffee you drink, all of it comes from a specific bean. You should know the difference between the beans to know what to expect in a cup of coffee.

Blonde, medium, and dark are the different kinds of coffee. The following is a rundown of all the types of coffee and a description of their flavors.

Blonde Roast

Blonde roast coffee is the lightest coffee bean you can brew. You will brew blonde roast coffee from lightly roasted coffee beans. If coffee is a blonde roast, you can use blonde espresso in a drip coffee machine to boost the caffeine content.

If coffee is roasted for a more extended period, it becomes a darker roast. Blonde roast, a lighter bean, is roasted for a shorter period. It is only roasted until the first crack can be seen within the bean.

The texture of the blonde roast is light and acidic. If you fancy your coffee black, you will taste a subtle touch of citrus flavor, completely different from the average cup of black coffee. Sometimes after drinking an excellent blonde roast, you may notice a slight lemon flavor lingering in your mouth.

It is part of the appeal of the blonde roast, as it is acidic and much smoother than the darker roasts. As mentioned previously, the blonde roast has the most caffeine of all types of coffees. If you are craving a good pick-me-up from your favorite coffeehouse, a blonde roast is the way to go.

Medium Roast

Medium roast coffee is roasted between the end of the first crack and right before the second crack within the bean. Some medium roasts have darker properties and are roasted at the beginning of the second crack.

Medium roast is a more balanced and well-rounded roast. Most coffeehouses like Starbucks keep a batch of medium roast brewed for their customers daily.

Medium roast is the signature coffee type for most regular coffee drinkers. The beans have been caramelized enough to have a hint of sweetness to it. As far as bitterness goes, medium roast is between blonde roast and dark roast.

Dark Roast

Dark roast beans are roasted until after the second crack, and the beans are dark brown colored. Dark roast has a heavier-bodied flavor profile and is the lowest acidity of all the coffee roasts. Dark roasts tend to be bitter, but their bold, robust flavor is unmistakable.

Dark roasts and medium roasts have less caffeine than blonde roasts. Dark roast coffee beans puff up and become enlarged when heated. Measuring coffee by weight is generally more of a reliable method than measuring by volume.

Dark roast coffee almost has a toasty and chocolatey flavor to it. Dark roasts are popular in espresso drinks. Dark roast is the standard espresso used for all espresso drinks at Starbucks, which includes lattes. You must order any other roasts you want to use in place of dark roast specifically.

How Many Coffee Beans You Need

Computing the number of coffee beans in a cup of coffee is a simple math equation. Your most important decision is to determine how strong your coffee is and what type of beans to use.

There are also various brewing methods you may want to try. The next time you sit down and have your cup of java, remember the journey that the beans took to provide you with your favorite morning brew.

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