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How much coffee grounds do you use?
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Posted by: LlamaLarry

I am having a bad morning already, but this time I get to "blame" Alton Brown. ;) Before you get all riled up, I really like AB and it is rare that a week goes by that I don't cook something from/inspired by his recipes. But. . .

I just watched his show on making coffee. He recommended 2 Tbsp of grounds per 6oz water. He poured hot water through a basket filter into a thermal carafe and all was well. This morning I wanted to give his ratio a shot, determined that my auto drip machine indeed held 12 6oz servings - meaning 24 Tbsp of grounds. Knowing that that was *A LOT* more than I normally use, I measured it out into a new container then scooped it into the basket with my normal scoop. I stopped at *12* scoops vs my normal 5. I have no idea how much was left from my original measure but no more would fit into my basket.

10 minutes later I had the most bitter brew I have ever made as an adult. Seriously, *NOT* Good Eats.

I imagine that his ratio works best with the method he demonstrated on the show, but damn was that some bad brew.

How many scoops ("standard" coffee scoop from the store) do you use in your coffee? I guess while I am at it, what kind of machine do you use?

Posted by: Marco

1 scoop beans per two "cups" water. Dunkin' Donuts French Vanilla beans, grind 'em, put grounds in Krups coffeemaker.

Posted by: LiveBlues

My scoop is just an 1/8 cup measuring cup. I use 1 scoop per 4 cups of water (coffee pot cups, not 8oz cups). But I tend to like it a little weaker than most.

Posted by: pyrite504

Being a true follower of Alton I have tried the 2 tablespoon method with several different types of coffee, and each and every time I have been rewarded with a acid brew that could chew through unobtanium.

It's just too much. And I like strong coffee. I go 1 tablespoon per cup.

Posted by: laria

We use a Gevalia coffee scoop, I don't know how much it holds. We fill up the grinder with beans from the local roasting place, grind em up, and then put 1 scoop per 8oz of coffee. I have also tried the 2 scoop method, and ended up with coffee that was very acidic.

Posted by: LlamaLarry

quote:
I have tried the 2 tablespoon method with several different types of coffee, and each and every time I have been rewarded with a acid brew that could chew through unobtanium.

Man, I hear ya, I am seriously wondering if I can stay at work as my stomach is *killing* me - yes, I am a dumbass and drank about 12 oz or so, half my "cup". Does anyone actually drink a 6oz serving? I doubt a single cup in my house holds that little aside from the china set that never leaves the hutch. ;)

Posted by: JustAllie

I recently saw that "2 tbsp per 6 oz" instruction in a magazine article, and I honestly thought it was a typo.

I like my coffee strong, but I use about 2 1/2 tablespoons and 30 ounces (5 "cup" mark on the coffeemaker) of water for my morning pot of coffee. That works out to one tablespoon for every 12 ounces of water.

I use Gevalia coffee. Maybe the instructions are for Maxwell House or a similar weak brew?

Posted by: MikeekiM

quote:
Originally posted by pyrite504
Being a true follower of Alton I have tried the 2 tablespoon method with several different types of coffee, and each and every time I have been rewarded with a acid brew that could chew through unobtanium.

It's just too much. And I like strong coffee. I go 1 tablespoon per cup.

I use 1 tablespoon per cup (cup as defined by the karafe)... But I use a regular coffee mug which amounts to 2 karafe cups...

So for me, it's 2 tablespoons per mug...

I like my coffee black and strong, and this is not too acidic for me... Those who are claiming that 2 tablespoons per cup is too strong, are you talking cup or mug?

EDIT: Sorry..I read the earlier messages in the thread and it appears that I am aligned with all of you all... BTW, I use two heaping tablespoons...

Posted by: DPF

Now, I like mine STRONG, and find that I am limited by my grinder. We have a Bunn coffemaker, makes a pot in 30 seconds (que Homer: 30 seconds? But I want it nooooowwwwww!?!?!!!!!!). I would think this would adversely affect the strength of the coffee, but it doesn't seem to. Anyway, I grind the beans, I've never been able to find ground coffee that can compare, not even close, and I prefer straight up Colombian Supremo. I basically squeeze as many beans into the grinder as it will take, then grind them to confectioners sugar type consistency just to get the most flavor out of each nano-ounce of actual bean matter. I have found that to be more important than the amount of beans. If I double the grain size, it would take more twice the beans for the same result.

Oh, and it's an eight cup pot, not 10-12. I have no idea how many actual tablespoons of ground beans it ends up being. But it makes an even pile about an inch deep in the basket. Seems to be just about about right.

And a little hint for those who don't know. Keep a spray bottle with water near the coffee maker. Before putting the basket with grounds into the maker, soak the grounds evenly. You'll find this helps avoid a lot of the bitterness. If you put the dry grounds in what happens is the grounds clump in the middle and then the acids float up into the water that sits on top of the clumped up grounds and flow around the grounds producing a much more acidic cup. By soaking the grounds evenly prior to starting the drip you avoid this clumping and the acid is less concentrated versus the amount of actual coffee in the cup. You're actually getting the same acids, but more coffee flavor so it's got a much better balance and improved taste.

Oh, and I like coffee.
-DPF

Posted by: gregpr

1 tablespoon of whole beans per 6 oz cup.

Posted by: jsmeeker

the two tablespoon per cup seems to be the "standard" that the experts tell you yo use.. I tried it long before I saw the Good Eats coffee show, and I thought it was too much...

The thought is that using so little coffee is that you wind up over extracting the beans. Use more coffee, and you won't over extract as there is a lot more coffee to go around. Anyway, from what see see in this thread, it seems that the 2 tablespoons per serving is a bunch of hooey.

Posted by: laria

quote:
Originally posted by mshiu
Those who are claiming that 2 tablespoons per cup is too strong, are you talking cup or mug?

Per 8oz of water.

Posted by: geko29

For "crappy" coffee (read: folgers, maxwell house, basically anything cheap in a can) I use about 2tblsp per 3 cups, so that'd be 8tblsp for a 12 cup carafe.

For the good stuff, which is darker/stronger, I use 1 extremely heaping teaspoon per cup. That probably works out to about 6 tablespoons per carafe.

Posted by: GoodSpike

I don't think it's proportional. You need more per ounce if you're just brewing a cup than if you're brewing 12 cups.

I use mugs, not cups, which I believe are about 2 cups (not measuring style cups but coffee cups). I use about 2x the amount of coffee to make 4 mugs that I would use to make 1 mug.

Posted by: laria

Our coffee maker has this little floating thing on the side of it that goes up as you pour in water so you know how many "real" cups are in there...I don't drink just 8oz of coffee. :) My mug holds more like 2.5 cups, or 24 oz.

Edit: Math is hard. 20 oz.

Posted by: Drewster

I used to use 2 scoops (the scoop that comes with grocery store canned coffee) for the first cup, and then one for every cup thereafter. I do this for *real world* cups, not the teeny 8oz cups that only appear in fine china. On our coffee maker, 2 cups is about at the "3" mark on the carafe, and 4 is at the "5 mark".

Since watching the Good Eats episode (and using a 14oz tumbler in the morning), I'm aiming for the "3" mark of coffee and using 2-1/2 scoops. This fills my tumbler and gives me 1/2 cup to sip as I putter about the house.

And since I love my new tumbler, here's a picture. :D
http://www.thermos.com/thermos/docroot/images/product/JMH402.jpg

Posted by: justapixel

DPF stole my post! :eek:

I like my coffee strong, so the 2 table spoon per cup is about what I do. I grind my own Starbucks espresso beans. :)

Posted by: pyrite504

Holy Frijole!

Is there anything left of your stomach after 10AM, or do you have Wolverine's mutant healing factor?

quote:
Originally posted by justapixel
DPF stole my post! :eek:

I like my coffee strong, so the 2 table spoon per cup is about what I do. I grind my own Starbucks espresso beans. :)

Posted by: JPinAZ

I weigh my beans before grinding & brewing. I'll usually go with 7-10 grams per 6oz. Try finding a local roaster who doesn't turn everything black a la Charbucks. Using the freshes beans possible will make a difference.

Posted by: GoodSpike

quote:
Originally posted by JPinAZ
I weigh my beans before grinding & brewing. I'll usually go with 7-10 grams per 6oz. Try finding a local roaster who doesn't turn everything black a la Charbucks. Using the freshes beans possible will make a difference.

Starbucks roast per the European method, to bring out the flavor of the coffee beans. American style roasting is lighter because it produces more product (roasting lightens the beans) and because inferior beans cannot withstand the more intense roasting.

Before Starbucks, most Americans thought Yuban and/or Columbian coffee was high quality coffee. :rolleyes:

Posted by: omnibus

We have a Cuisinart drip coffee maker with a replaceable charcoal water filter.

I measure the water to the 10 cup mark (measures 48 oz.) on the carafe and we use a 1/3 cup measuring cup for the Folger's coffee grounds.

I think the "V" shaped basket and filter makes for a better pot of coffee than the Mr. Coffee style basket.

Posted by: JPinAZ

quote:
Originally posted by GoodSpike
Starbucks roast per the European method, to bring out the flavor of the coffee beans. American style roasting is lighter because it produces more product (roasting lightens the beans) and because inferior beans cannot withstand the more intense roasting.

Before Starbucks, most Americans thought Yuban and/or Columbian coffee was high quality coffee. :rolleyes:

Not really. The darker the roast, the more "roasty" flavors you'll get, which is quite different from the flavor of the coffee. Different degrees of roasting will bring out different flavors. With a lighter roast you'll get more acidity & complexity. As the roast gets darker, you'll get more body & bittersweetness. Some coffees taste better at lighter roasts than darker & vice versa.

Posted by: GoodSpike

quote:
Originally posted by JPinAZ
Some coffees taste better at lighter roasts than darker & vice versa.

That's what I said. Inferior coffees cannot handle the more intense roasting.

Posted by: loubob57

I use 3 1/8 cup scoops of Community Dark Roast and 7-1/2 cups (as marked by the coffe maker). That fills my 1 quart thermos which gives me 3 mugs of coffee for the day.

Posted by: Timbeau

For me it depends on how I have it ground. I grind a pound of beans in the supermarket and put half in an airtight package with the food saver, the other half I use. The supermarket grinder has a lot of settings, one in particular for drip coffee makers and one finer setting. If I use the finer setting the coffee is ground pretty fine and I use one level tablespoon per 6 oz. cup of coffee. If soemone else buys the coffee and ginds it for the proper drip coffee maker setting, then I use one very heaping tablespoon per 6 oz. cup.

The temperature of the water is supposed to have a bearing on the coffee produced also. Hotter water makes better (stronger?) coffee than cooler water.

Perhaps AB's method was proper for pouring lukewarm water over the loosely ground beans but not so good for hot water over a finer grind?

Posted by: DMHinCO

quote:
Originally posted by JPinAZ
Try finding a local roaster who doesn't turn everything black a la Charbucks. Using the freshes beans possible will make a difference.

This is absolutely the most important and accurate sentence in this whole thread.

Implied, but not stated is that your local roaster is not going to bother roasting the cruddy Vietnamese robusta that goes into canned coffee. He is probably sampling and selecting the highest quality arabica beans available to him. Make sure he has roast dates on his bins.

Formerly, my client was Zach & Dani's and if you roast your own, you know it is fresh.

Oh, and AB uses that device because he can then use water that is 205 degrees which is also important.

Posted by: Drewster

DMHinCO - where does one buy unroasted beans?

What device, exactly, was AB using? It appeared to be a grinder/coffe maker in one, yes?

Posted by: JPinAZ

The best place (IMHO) to buy green coffee is from www.sweetmarias.com

Posted by: suzyq

I use one tablespoon per 6 oz of water, per the roaster's instructions.

I buy Small World Coffee (roasted in NJ I think) and my local market blends 80% organic guatamalan and sumatran and 20% of usually yeman mocha or ethiopian harrar or some variation thereof. It's the only coffee I buy. :)

Posted by: LlamaLarry

I will measure my scoop and try again tomorrow morning at 1 Tbsp:6oz and report back. Once I measure my scoop I will also give what I blended up today.

For all the folks that do do 2tbsp:6oz, how do you get all that coffee (~1.5c for my machine) to fit into your baskets or do you brew smaller amounts? My wife and I have HUGE mugs and can really only get 2.5-3 mugs from a 12 6oz serving carafe.

Posted by: Drewster

OK, I just measured using a 1-cup (8 oz) measuring cup.

6 cups = "10" on the Krups carafe
2 cups = "3.5" on the Krups carafe
1.5 cups = our larger coffee mugs
1.25 cups = our regular-size coffee mugs
1 cup = a *very full* cup from our dinnerware set.

Posted by: laria

I really hate Starbucks coffee. Not all coffee, even good coffee, needs to be roasted as dark as they do. I think they roast it that dark to mask the variations between lots...how else can they be the coffee shop equivalent of Applebees or the Olive Garden! ;)

We buy our beans from a local roaster. Right now we have a bag of Guatemalan Huehuetenango and a bag of a blend of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Sumatra Iskandar. :)

Posted by: jsmeeker

quote:
Originally posted by atlauren
OK, I just measured using a 1-cup (10 oz) measuring cup.

6 cups = "10" on the Krups carafe
2 cups = "3.5" on the Krups carafe
1.5 cups = our larger coffee mugs
1.25 cups = our regular-size coffee mugs
1 cup = a *very full* cup from our dinnerware set.

you have a 1 cup measure that is 10 oz?? Where is it from? England? :confused:

Posted by: Drewster

quote:
Originally posted by jsmeeker
you have a 1 cup measure that is 10 oz?? Where is it from? England? :confused:

Actually I don't know how many ounces are in that 1 cup measure. It's a new measure set, and according to the table on the inside flap of "How to Cook Everything", 1 cup = 10 oz.

(Although I remembered a cup being 8 oz.)

Posted by: jsmeeker

quote:
Originally posted by atlauren
Actually I don't know how many ounces are in that 1 cup measure. It's a new measure set, and according to the table on the inside flap of "How to Cook Everything", 1 cup = 10 oz.

(Although I remembered a cup being 8 oz.)

That's one messed up book... Is it published for the American consumer??

Posted by: Drewster

quote:
Originally posted by jsmeeker
That's one messed up book... Is it published for the American consumer??

yup.

Come to think of it, there was a note about US and UK imperial measurements, but only one value listed. I'll check again when I get home.

I suppose I could verify the cup measure as well.

Posted by: Drewster

Update. I don't know how to read. (sig fodder, anyone?)

I was reading from the Imperial Measurements table. It was the first instance of "cup" on the page as I scanned down. Right next to it is the Measurement Conversions table, with standard US measurements.

D'OH!!!

I fixed my table in the post above.