How Many Cups Of Coffee Are In A Bag Of Beans?

Foodies can feel confident about buying a box of dried pasta and knowing how much spaghetti that box will make. When it comes to coffee, however, there's no one-size-fits-all figure for how many cups come in a bag of beans. There is, however, a reliable gauge for figuring out how best to suit your java needs, and how you do it depends on how you brew it. 

A successful cup of coffee is all about well-balanced proportions, and the ideal coffee-to-water ratio is generally 1:16 (one part coffee per 16 parts water, by weight). For instance, in order to brew 12 grams of coffee, a barista would need 192 grams of water. 1:16 is the golden ratio for using electronic drip coffee makers and for brewing pour-over coffee (and there's a correct type of coffee bean to use for pour-overs, for the record). When brewing French press coffee with its coarser grind size, a slightly lower 1:15 ratio yields a better-performing cup.

To calculate the number of cups of coffee you can expect to brew from a bag of beans, simply divide the weight of the bag by your coffee-to-water ratio, keeping in mind that it takes about 15 grams (0.53 ounces) of coffee beans to brew a single 8-ounce cup. So, a 12-ounce bag of beans will brew roughly 22 8-ounce cups of French press coffee (1:15). Or, the same 12-ounce bag will brew 24 cups of pour-over or drip coffee at 1:16.

This equation also works for calculating the exact weight of coffee ground you'll need per cup. For example, if you wanted to brew four cups of coffee (32 fluid ounces) in a French press, you would need 2.13 ounces of ground coffee (using the 1:15 ratio, 32 divided by 15 is 2.13). Beyond preferred brewing methods, coffee-lovers should also take two more variables into account: desired coffee strength and cup size. Foodies who like extra-strong coffee sipped out of a large mug are going to get numerically fewer cups of coffee out of a 12-ounce bag of beans than sippers who like it weaker. If you prefer a heaping scoop of coffee grounds in your brew, plan on getting several fewer cups out of each bag of beans.

Regarding mug size, mugs typically clock in around 8-12 ounces, but larger 16-ounce mugs are also available. If you opt for a jumbo mug, consider it the equivalent of two standard cups of coffee for bean calculation purposes. In the meantime, before you reach the bottom of the bag, we have a few tips for how to buy and store specialty coffee beans, according to an expert to get the most mileage out of your high-quality beans. There are a few rules for how long you can store ground coffee before it starts to go stale, too.