If you’ve ever had a bunch of guests over for coffee, you are probably familiar with how challenging it can be. For example, for 8 guests, you should know how much coffee for 8 cups you need. Simple answer: You must use 8 standard-sized scoops of coffee for 8 cups.
Various factors may influence this amount though. These include factors like the measurement method, brewing method, type of coffee beans, and sometimes even the quality of water.
With a reliable guide made by coffee lovers for fellow coffee lovers, you’ll eventually figure out which water-to-coffee balance actually works best for you. ☕
How much coffee for a perfect cup of coffee? (the Golden Ratio)
Putting those factors into consideration might sound complicated and confusing. Hey, there’s no need to be intimidated! Because it doesn’t require rocket science for the exact numbers and measurements.
Let’s discuss the golden ratio for coffee first. Yes, coffee has a so-called golden ratio and there are actually quite a few of them. They depend on your preferred coffee strength. It refers to the ratio between water and coffee.
Here are a few factors that could affect your coffee outcome:
Your container
Will you be serving your coffee with a mug, or a cup? It’s essential to first determine how much liquid your container can hold. Do this before testing out any one of the ratios mentioned in this article.
Source: https://gossby.com/
A usual mug can fit somewhere between 8 to 12 ounces. You need to find out how much coffee your mug or cup can fit and adjust accordingly.
Brewing method
Another thing to keep in mind is the brewing method. Brewing methods are usually categorized into two: Percolation, and Immersion (sometimes referred to as Infusion).
This means that applying the same ratio for either brewing method might show inaccuracies, so it is best to personally determine which ratio works best for each. Here are a few tips:
- Percolation is the most common process of brewing coffee. With this process, water is forced through a vertical tube that passes over the coffee grounds before dripping back to the bottom of the pot as it heats.
The recommended coffee grounds to water ratio with percolation is 1:15 to 1:18.
- Immersion is where a french press falls under. This way, water is poured into coffee grounds in consideration to grind size and how long the coffee and water interact.
You can start with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. That means 23 grams of coffee for every 350 ml of water.
In general, the recommended ratio ranges from 1:14 to 1:18, from strongest to lightest coffee strength.
How much coffee for 8 cups?
When making 8 cups of coffee use 8 scoops of coffee grounds or around 75 to 100 grams, which is 15 to 20 tablespoons.
Assuming that you will be using a coffee machine to prepare 8 cups of coffee, let’s measure a cup as 6 ounces and apply the golden ratio to determine the right amount for different strengths of coffee.
You will figure out the right amount of coffee you need by applying the appropriate ratio and considering your preferred coffee strength. Check out the table below 👇:
How many scoops of coffee for 8 cups?
Using the standard coffee scoop, you would need around 8 scoops of coffee to make 8 cups. Just be ready for a bit of miscalculation though.
Now, a coffee pot cup is 5 ounces while a cup of water is 8 ounces. This means that a 12-cup capacity coffee maker is around 60 ounces and can make 7 cups of coffee.
So yeah, this is where you might feel “the math ain’t mathing.”
Different grinds may also affect how much coffee a scoop can actually hold. This is true even for a standard scoop, so make sure to keep that in mind and adjust accordingly.
The different coffee grinds are as follows:
- Coarse Grind. This coarser coffee grind is ideal for brewing methods that require immersion in water.
- Medium-Coarse Grind. This slightly smoother but still fairly large coffee grind works well with most pour-over brewers.
- Medium Grind. Medium This sandy-textured coffee grind is a popular choice for Aeropress and other drip-brewing coffee makers.
- Medium-Fine Grind. This grind has the appearance of silky sand but does not stick together and is an excellent choice for most pour-over brewers.
- Fine Grind. Finer grind than table salt fine grind packs together well which is ideal for espresso machines.
How many tablespoons of coffee for 8 cups?
You can make your favorite cup of coffee using 15 to 20 tablespoons.
Just to be clear though, this is with the assumption that every 1 level tablespoon is 5 grams.
Unfortunately, tablespoons are not created equal.
The amount of coffee that carry can vary between 5 to 8 grams. Pretty inconsistent way to measure coffee!
Personally though, this is the most convenient way to prepare coffee. I mean, since every household would surely have one tablespoon around. 🤷
How much coffee grounds for 8 cups? (grams)
You need between 75 to 100 gr of ground coffee for making 8 cups of coffee.
If you feel like using a weighing scale would be more accurate than using either scoop or a tablespoon. But, probably more time-consuming.
Personally, I don’t think I can do this early in the morning on a workday. My brain would probably still be too asleep to read the scale. 😴
Some brands of coffee grounds have their own recommended amount in grams for coffee-to-water balance. Probably because the shape and size of the grounds might affect which ratio works best for certain brands.
So it’s best to adjust accordingly using the recommended ratio as a reference.
How many ounces of coffee for 8 cups?
In terms of weight, around 2.6 to 3.5 ounces of coffee is recommended to prepare for 8 cups.
For volume, however, a coffee maker with an 8-cup capacity would require 40 ounces of water for 15 to 20 tablespoons of coffee.
As usual, making your own adjustments based on your own preference is suggested before you pick a ratio you plan to stick to.
You don’t have to be a chemist or food scientist for this, though. Any coffee lover should take their time to experiment with the right ratio that fits their preference the most.
It might take a while to determine which balance works the best, and it might even cost you quite a few cups that are —meh. 🤢
But hopefully, the recommendations in this article would serve as effective references for your ideal coffee.
What’s the best way to make coffee for 8 cups?
As a recap for those who have the standard coffee scoop, 8 scoops would work best instead of measuring with the tablespoon.
Lastly, for those who prefer to rely on their own kitchen weighing scale, measuring 75-100 grams of coffee would work best to prepare for 8 cups.
The best way to make coffee for 8 cups may vary from person to person. And preparing coffee for a group can be more challenging than when you’re preparing a single cup for yourself.
The best way to prepare coffee for a group would be by using large-capacity coffee makers.
If you prefer the taste of coffee from a french press, you can get something like this one below.
If you think drip coffee is the way, here are a few results I found on Amazon. These coffee makers can already churn up 8 cups of coffee as you chat with your guests.
To prepare the best-tasting coffee for 8 guests, you should know how much coffee for 8 cups you need. There are just quite a handful of people you need to impress, and a shame for quite a lot of coffee to go to waste.
