Yes, anything in the 1:14 to 1:16 range is typical. As it is with a French press. I sometimes even go a little stronger with my French press depending on the grind.

btw, I consider this only full flavored coffee, not too strong at all. Anything much less than this tastes like dishwater to me.

It probably depends on the roast. I used to live within a mile of the 2nd or third Peets Coffee (way stronger than Starbucks) and occasionally had a cup of their super strong coffee. My wife stopped multiple times per week. Now I admit that I don't make coffee for my wife that strong any more, but I doubt that it is one half their strength, but more like 2/3 of peets. It is still well stronger than most country folk around me in North Carolina drink.

I just use scoops and the wife gets at least two scoops. They are marked 30ml. I just measured two scoops and they only weighed 16 gm total and found that I fill her cup with approx 12 oz coffee although just now a scant volume weighed 331 grams (~11.5 oz) . Now 16grams is way less than 60 (liquid grams and water are equal). 16 divided by (331 + 16) is .046 or 4.6% I was weighing French Roast by Starbucks from Costco. Even by wrist feel I can tell that these beans are VERY light and dry (they smell slightly over roasted). If one weighed less dry beans they could weigh much more. I would easily guess they could weight twice as much which would get one to the 6 rather than the 3 to 3.5% range.

I don't know the weight but I use one scoop per cup of coffee plus one for the pot. So if I'm making 2 cups I put 3 scoops in. I use whole bean french roast and I grind it halfway between medium and course.

I use Peet's Major Dickason from Costco. They roast it on, let's say, Wednesday and it's delivered on Friday so I know it's fresh and it's a dark roast (it's not weak to begin with).

Mike - I agree that we are fine with it so it really isn't a problem. The question is how can I be so far off from where it is "supposed" to be. I guess the real question is by doubling the amount of coffee that I use wouldn't that make it undrinkable? Am I missing an unforgettable taste experience - lol?

It's a matter of what you are used to :-) Certainly at the strength I brew mine - almost identical to your readings - it is not undrinkable........at least to me. And Peet's Major Dickason is one of my favored blends. All my favorite blends or coffees are dark roast.

Live in Seattle and grew up with Seattle's Best, Tully's and Starbucks. And received a Chemex as a wedding present. When I finally met my inlaws - midwesterners - they thought my coffee was way too strong while I thought theirs - Folgers or Chock Full o'Nuts - was just colored hot water :-)

I would just keep making it like you are making it and not worry about how someone else likes theirs. We all have our own likes and dislikes. I don't know grams but I use an electric drip maker and use about 2/3 cup (2 ounces by weight) for our whole pot of coffee which is a 12 cup maker.

I don't drink coffee, but I make it the way my father taught me. In a drip machine, I use 1/8 cup of dark roast to 1.5 cups of water. People say it's good coffee. It looks good. :) Some coffee looks sad.

I do use a Chemex and I roast and grind my own beans. Elery just showed me an article about the ratio of water and like you, I like mine far differently. I use 1 cup of whole beans to 8 cups of water, a medium grind on the beans. So, I guess that's would be a 1:8 ratio, except that the beans are not ground when I measure them, I have no clue at all what that cup of whole beans becomes when ground.

My friend Chrystal used to drink coffee that she called "rocket fuel", she said she wanted to be able to break off a hunk and chew it. Dad was on the other end of the spectrum, and used 2 tablespoons of Folgers to make an 8 cup pot in the morning, that was just brown water. My coffee is somewhere in the middle there..

I totally ignore whatever the "experts" tell me and just do what I like, and that's what works for me.

Annie

I currently and for several years use a Senseo with dark roast pods. One pod makes about 4 oz of good coffee, 2 pods for a whole mug full. When I made drip coffee I used a rounded tablespoon for every cup of water.

I grew up in New Jersey and now live in Iowa and most Iowans drink what some call "flower coffee" so weak you can see the flowers in the bottom of the cup....or church basement coffee, even weaker! I call that stuff dirty water...( where did the italics come from?)

Just looking online at a bag of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee; one 45 oz bag makes “up to 150” 6 oz cups. So that’s .3:6. Or 1:20. So 800 grams of water would get 40 grams.

Their instructions are by volume: a heaping tablespoon per 6 oz.

When I make coffee with Dunkin’ Donuts grounds, I tend to throw in a little extra after scooping it out. Probably not quite to the 2 tablespoons per 6 oz that Starbucks calls for, but close. Probably around the 1:16 you’re seeing.

If my early morning pre-coffee calculations are right, I’m guessing I’d consider your coffee pretty weak. But like others have said if you like it then that’s what counts. If I were you though I’d at least once try a pot made “correctly” just to see what it’s like.

ETA - I’m generally using a machine, but I’m thinking that’s essentially the same as pour over?

You people drink some strong a$$ coffee! HAHA! When I make my husband his one cup in the black and decker one cup maker, I put just under 12 ounces of water (by volume) to a 1/8 cup scoop measure of coffee. It's quite strong if you ask me. He puts a lot of milk in that cup of coffee.

We are most likely at the stronger end of the scale. I've never measured. We had a 'tweak week' years ago with the new grinder. Adjusting grind and amount for a Chemex pot filled one thumb width below the collar. Roasted beans to full city. We like it black.

No pale vegan hipster, young or old, can convince me to enjoy my coffee blonde roast and thin.

I just measured out one thumb width below the collar and it came out to exactly 800 grams (on the nose). So now all I need to know if how many TB of coffee you put in.

chas: you are right. I never thought about it but a TB can weigh more or less depending on the weight of the coffee. I just filled a TB full of coffee and it weight 6 grams which means I use a hair over 4 TB of coffee for 800 grams of water which is about 27 ounces. It all comes to around 3 cups (mug like cups - not the dainty ones).

I don't like paint remover or oven cleaner, lol. I like 2 scoops (2 tablespoons?) Maxwell House Original Roast to 5 cups water(the measure on a Mr Coffee). It is about 3 regular mugs. No sugar, no cream, no junk from Starbucks. I am NOT going to spend the time grinding beans.

JZ I say start by doubling it, LOL

I don't need to grow hair on my chest!

Jerzeegirl, that brings back a memory. My Dad use to say that except he'd entice us to eat something by telling us it would put hair on our chest. I miss him.

My dad did that too😄

I also don't measure that precisely, and I make only cup a day, not a whole pot. I make mine with about 12-14 ounces boiling water over 2 scant scoops of whole beans, freshly ground. I've never measured the ground coffee, just the whole beans, and I measure the water in the cup I'll be using before boiling it.

I just measured out one thumb width below the collar and it came out to exactly 800 grams (on the nose). So now all I need to know if how many TB of coffee you put in.

I'm curious but keep forgetting to weight my coffee.....

At home I make our coffee on the weak side, figuring we're both going to drink a full pot each and we don't need that much caffeine. I don't know how much difference pour-over vs drip makes. We use a bonavita drip brewer, 20 grams of fresh-ground beans to 1150 grams of water (I just measured).

In a restaurant, I do enjoy stronger coffee, but I don't drink as much of it in one sitting.

One thing I'm sure of: you can't make a good cup of coffee from lousy beans, no matter how you brew it or what you put in it. (Shuddering at the remembrance of the official coffee mess at my last place of work!)

Forgot to add that the type of roast makes a difference too. I prefer a medium roast to dark roast.

About 50g, close to 2 oz, about or near 12 tbsp. I've always been curious how many pots we brew from a lb of coffee. So that is 8 pots. A pound of green beans is 6-7 dollars. A dollar a brewed pot. (rounding up) Not bad.

Nickel: That is a weak brew. Do you also use milk? I put in just a couple of drops of 1/2 and 1/2 to add some sweetness but not enough to change the flavor.

Sleevendog: That's exactly what the brewing videos I watched are suggesting. I am going to try to brew a cup per those measurements. I am guessing I would not be able to drink it. But I just have to.

So I kind of have been making coffee "wrong" for the past six years. I made a cup per sleevendog's specs and I have to admit taste-wise it was delicious! Way more the way my DH usually likes his coffee (when he makes coffee for himself he uses a French press). Way more like espresso that I love but a shot of espresso is always so small. I can appreciate how good it takes but the bottom line is that, sadly, it is way too strong for me.

Well like we’ve been saying if you’re happy with your coffee, that’s what counts. But if you do decide to play a bit, there’s a lot of wiggle room between what you’re using and what “they” say to use. You might just find a happy middle ground.

And like I said, I never really cared what was 'correct'. I did learn about the 'bloom' and 2-3 days after roasting, rest and off-gassing...5-7 days again still prime. I've not visited any coffee forums since we figured out what we wanted. I did learn a lot ! But not interested in much other details. in fact, we don't care much for expresso. Once we found our good method pour-over, that suits us so much better than fussing with more machines. We are good.

I switch to cold brew matcha/green tea by 9 am...fresh ginger/lemon. (we are getting old)...but suits us.

Playing a bit finds the sweet spot. May change, but for now its good.

Haha. I also switch to matcha at 9 am. I use the Ito En that you can buy at Costco. I drink WAY too much of it. I have never tried the cold brew.

I might try the middle ground FOAS. I am always careful to weigh exactly 25 grams of coffee but DH is not as careful (he often goes over 25 grams). When he does I can always taste it.

Haha, yes Costco. Two bags, ice, quart, add more water noon-ish. I drink way over water consumption recommended...cold brew. Slow release brew. Barely tinted water but so good.

jerzeegirl -- yes to milk. At home (to my copious weak brew!) I use a local brand of skim milk that is not homogenized -- its mouth feel is as smooth as full fat milk, I was amazed the first time we had it. Regular homogenized milk, let along cream, overwhelms the taste.

Not homogenized skim milk? you homogenize to mix the fat particles evenly through out the milk....with skim there should be no fat particles.
I have found that a great deal to do with the good taste of the coffee has to do with how clean the pot is. that's why the coffee from those huge industrial 60 cup pots is so awful!

Regular homogenized milk, let along cream, overwhelms the taste.

I agree. That's why I use just a thimble full. Really enough to make the coffee burnt umber color (per Crayola).

I guess non homogenized skim milk is what's left after the cream rises up and they remove it. It's probably what the cows are grazing on that makes the milk taste so good!

Homogenization was developed to act on the fat particles -- but the process would affect all the particles that make up milk, wouldn't it? My unscientific guess is that it's the protein or other molecules left in a more natural size that gives unhomogenized skim milk its richer mouth feel.

If you have the opportunity, do your own taste test. The difference between every other skim milk I've had, and the non-hom. version, is unmistakable.

ETA: fun threads here in the cooking forum, thanks :-)