For French press, start with 1 gram of coffee for every 15 to 16 grams of water. A 1:15 recipe tastes more concentrated than 1:16 when everything else stays the same.
That range is a starting point, not a rule. Weighing both ingredients makes the recipe easy to scale—and makes it clear whether you changed strength or changed extraction.
Key Takeaways
- Start at 1:15 or 1:16 by weight: 20 g of coffee to 300–320 g of water.
- Use the press's fill limit, allowing room for grounds and the plunger.
- Change strength with ratio before changing grind and steep time together.
What 1:15 and 1:16 mean
The first number is coffee; the second is water. At 1:15, multiply the coffee dose by 15 to find the water weight. For 20 grams of coffee, that is 300 grams of water. At 1:16, the same dose takes 320 grams of water.
Because 1 gram of water is very close to 1 milliliter in everyday brewing, the number on the scale is convenient. Still, use the press markings as a filling guide rather than a substitute for weighing. Grounds, foam and the plunger all need room.
A respected recipe does not have to use the same ratio. Stumptown's French press guide, for example, uses 56 grams of coffee with 850 grams of water—roughly 1:15—and a four-minute brew. Use your own brewer's instructions when they specify a different method.
French press ratio chart
Pick a water amount that fits below your press's safe fill line after the dry coffee is inside. The rounded doses below are practical starting points.
| Water | Coffee at 1:15 | Coffee at 1:16 |
|---|---|---|
| 240 g | 16 g | 15 g |
| 300 g | 20 g | 19 g |
| 450 g | 30 g | 28 g |
| 500 g | 33 g | 31 g |
To calculate another batch, divide the water by the ratio number. For 420 grams of water at 1:15, the answer is 28 grams of coffee. Rounding to the nearest whole gram is sensible for a home recipe.
A straightforward four-minute starting recipe
- Heat enough water for brewing and preheating. Follow the temperature guidance for your coffee and brewer. A French press does not require the controlled spout used for pour-over.
- Weigh and grind the coffee. Start coarse, using 20 grams for a 300-gram batch at 1:15.
- Add 300 grams of water. Wet all of the grounds without splashing beyond the safe fill level. Stir gently only as needed to remove dry pockets.
- Set the lid on with the plunger raised. Brew for four minutes unless the coffee or press instructions call for another time.
- Press slowly on a stable counter. If resistance is unusually strong, stop rather than forcing the plunger.
- Pour promptly. Transfer coffee you will not serve right away to another vessel so it is no longer sitting with the grounds.
This recipe follows the broad approach used by established coffee roasters, but the ratio is the part to keep when scaling. Your grind, water, roast and filter will still affect the cup.
Scale the Recipe Without Overfilling the Press
Work from water weight
For 400 g of water, a 1:15 recipe uses about 26.7 g of coffee; 1:16 uses 25 g. Those calculations set the ingredients, not the finished yield. Choose a smaller batch if water plus grounds would exceed the press's working fill or leave insufficient room for the plunger.
Separate a strength test from an extraction test
If the coffee tastes balanced but too concentrated, compare 1:16 with the same grind and steep. If it tastes unpleasantly sharp or drying, keep the ratio steady while checking grind, mixing and time. Record the change so the next cup can tell you whether it helped.
How to fit the recipe to a 350 ml or 600 ml press
The Yozcoffee double-wall glass French press is offered in nominal 350 ml and 600 ml sizes. Both use a stainless steel mesh plunger and have printed milliliter and ounce markings. Choose one size per order; the listing does not include both.
Nominal capacity is not the same as finished coffee. Do not assume a 350 ml vessel should receive 350 grams of water after coffee has been added. Begin with a batch that leaves obvious room for the grounds, surface activity and raised plunger, then use the product's markings and instructions to judge the safe fill.
The 350 ml option is better suited to a compact personal routine. The 600 ml option provides more brewing room when you regularly serve more than one small cup. Neither is ideal if you want paper-filter clarity or a brewer that heats water for you. The related guide on reducing French press sediment explains what metal mesh can and cannot filter.
Adjust strength without losing the plot
If the coffee is balanced but too intense, try 1:16 before changing the grind. If it is balanced but too light, try 1:15. That changes concentration while leaving the brewing process recognizable.
If the cup tastes sharply sour, drying or harsh rather than merely strong or weak, ratio may not be the only issue. Keep the dose and water steady while checking grind and brew time. The coffee taste troubleshooting guide separates flavor problems from concentration.
Do not fix grit by adding more water. Check filter fit, pouring and grind instead. A manual steel-burr grinder with 40 settings gives you numbered positions to revisit and is listed for French press use. It requires hand grinding and cannot promise a sediment-free cup.
Tools that make the ratio repeatable
A scale is more useful than a scoop when you change beans. Scoops measure volume, while bean density and grind texture vary. The Yozcoffee digital coffee scale with timer has a 2 kg maximum load and a 140 × 124 mm platform. Make sure your press sits securely and the combined weight stays within that limit; move the press off the scale before plunging.
Any suitable kettle can heat French press water. If you also make pour-over and want adjustable temperature, the 0.9 L electric gooseneck kettle offers 40–100°C control and heats only on its supplied base. Its gooseneck spout is optional for immersion brewing, so do not buy it solely because French press requires one—it does not.
A two-batch adjustment test
- Brew one batch at 1:15. Record coffee, water, grind setting and four-minute brew time.
- Brew the same coffee at 1:16, keeping grind and time unchanged.
- Taste both at a similar temperature. Choose by strength and balance, not by which number sounds more correct.
- Save the preferred ratio, then adjust grind only if the flavor still needs work. Use the grind size chart as a starting reference rather than copying another grinder's setting.
The useful ratio is the one you can repeat and enjoy. Once it is written down, a larger or smaller batch becomes simple arithmetic instead of a new recipe.
Product specifications checked September 11, 2026. Cover: AI-generated editorial illustration, not a product photograph or measured test.
