Main Takeaway - A 12 ounce bag of coffee beans (like the ones we sell) will, in most cases, brew 23 cups of coffee. 

If you've got a moment, it's worth checking out the caveats because you might not fit within "most cases." You're safe to use the 23 cup estimate IF all of the following criteria apply to you,

• You're brewing filter coffee, using a 1:16 dose ratio (coffee-to-water)
• You're pouring 8 fluid ounce cups - for a lot of people "a cup" of coffee might be bigger than that
• You're measuring out your coffee for brewing by weight (grams), rather than by volume (like Tbsp, or scoops)

In this article, I'll briefly explain the math and also cover some other brewing methods if what I've suggested above doesn't apply to your situation.

First, The Math

Ok, I hate to math you.

If you aren't a math person, feel free to skip this section. Personally, I'm an engineer. And I know many of the folks who like our coffee like numbers. If that isn't you, forgive me!

There are really 3 things to understand,

1. The "dose ratio" is a measure of the amount of coffee-to-water used for the best result in a particular brewing method. For filter coffee, it's usually 1:16
2. 1 mL of water weighs 1 gram, which is super-convenient and also means that the math works better in the metric system (sorry, America!)
3. 12 oz = 340 grams

So, if you're starting with 340 grams of coffee and brewing at a 1:16 dose ratio that means you'll use 5,440 grams of water in the process. And, because 1 mL of water weighs 1 gram, that translates to 5,440 grams of water.

It's true that some water will be absorbed by the filter or the coffee grounds during brewing, but the "loss" is negligible. At least for the sake of napkin math, it's good enough to assume 5,440 mL of brewed coffee will come out the other side.

Now, converting back to the Imperial system, that equates to 184 fluid ounces. If you divide that total volume of brewed coffee into 8 fluid ounce servings (cups), it gives you 23 cups of coffee.

Now that I've apologized 3 times in one explanation, let's move on :)

Drip Coffee

• Coffee: 12 ounces
• Grind Size: Medium
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15 to 1:17 (1 gram of coffee for 15-17 grams water)
• Servings: 21-25 cups, 8 fluid ounces

Espresso

• Coffee: 12 ounces
• Grind Size: Fine
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:2 
• Servings: 17 shots

French Press

• Coffee: 12 ounces
• Grind Size: Coarse
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:12 to 1:15
• Servings: 17-21 cups

AeroPress

• Coffee: 12 ounces
• Grind Size: Fine to Medium
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15 to 1:16
• Servings: 21-23 cups

Closing Thoughts