There is nothing more disappointing than waking up and going to brew a fresh cup of coffee just to realize you are out of beans. If this happens more than you would like to admit, we have done the math so you can know how many cups of coffee to expect to get from each 12oz bag of coffee you purchase.
How many cups of coffee can you get from a 12-ounce bag?
On average, a 12oz bag should brew around 17-21 cups of coffee. However, there are several different factors that can impact this number, from the size of your cup to what brew device you use to how strong you like your coffee. While there are definitely variables, there are a few factors you can think through to figure out how much coffee you are using in a week and how frequently you should be stocking up.
Common coffee bag sizes
When shopping for coffee, you’ll find bag sizes range from 8-12 ounces, with 12oz coffee bags being the most popular. On average, coffee consumers purchase a 12oz bag of coffee every 1 to 2 weeks, depending, of course, on how much coffee is being consumed. Methodical sells 12oz bags of coffee with 2lb and 5lb sizes available online for home and wholesale customers.
How much coffee to use per cup
When pouring your daily cup of coffee, it is important to think about what size mug to use. The average sized mug is 8 to 12 ounces, so we will calculate using our diner mug, which is right in the middle at 10oz or 284 grams.
For this recipe, we’ll be using a coffee to water ratio of 1:18, which is 1 gram of coffee to 18 grams of water. So if we divide our mug size by our coffee to water ratio, 284/18, we get 16, which is the amount of coffee we need to brew one cup. Which means purchasing a 12oz (340 gram) bag of coffee will give you around 21 cups of coffee. Again, keep in mind this ratio is for a 10oz cup each time.
Good coffee to water ratio
In addition to grind size and brew time, coffee to water ratio is an important factor to think about when brewing coffee. The ‘golden ratio’ is 1:18, which is 1 gram of coffee to 18 grams of water.
Learn more: Coffee to Water Ratio: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Ratios | How to Grind Coffee Beans
What about brewing espresso from a 12-ounce bag?
You may be wondering if the coffee to water ratio we used above would give you 21 shots of espresso too. The short answer is no. The ratio for espresso is very different because it is much more concentrated! We recommend a ratio of 1:2, which in most cases is 20 grams of coffee for a 40 gram espresso shot. With that ratio in mind, a 12oz bag of coffee will get you 17 shots of espresso.
Learn more: How to Pull a Shot of Espresso
Brewing Aeropress from a 12-ounce bag
The constraint of the Aeropress is how much water will fit within its chamber. Therefore the mug size matters less than your Aeropress recipe. Our recommended recipe for brewing Aeropress coffee using the inverted method is to use 18 grams of coffee ground medium/fine, like table salt. With this recipe, you can expect to get 18 cups of 9.8oz of coffee out of a 12oz (340 gram) bag of coffee.
Learn more: How to Brew Aeropress Inverted Method
Now there are many different Aeropress recipes out there that use different amounts of coffee. For instance, another recipe we recommend using the non-inverted method, only uses 12 grams coffee per cup. And this would get you 28 cups of coffee.
Learn more: How to Make Aeropress Coffee (non-inverted method)
Brewing pour overs from a 12-ounce bag
The pour over method is the most popular way to brew coffee by hand. For our recipe, we recommend 28 grams of coffee to produce a heaping 16oz cup of coffee. With this recipe, you’re looking at 12 cups from a 12oz (340 gram) bag of coffee.
Learn more: How to Make a Pour Over Coffee
Brewing French press from a 12-ounce bag
The French press is probably the best brew method to begin your home brewing journey. It’s very simple to use. But French presses come in a myriad of sizes. So how many cups of French press coffee you can get out of a 12oz bag of coffee really depends on the size of the press. But for our recipe, to make two 10.5oz cups of coffee, we’ll use 38 grams of coarsely ground coffee. That will give us just about 18 cups of coffee from a 12oz (340 gram) bag of coffee.
Learn more: How to Brew a French Press
Serving Coffee for a Party or Event?
If you are purchasing and brewing coffee for an event, these calculations can be reformatted for our larger bags as well. If you purchase a 5lb bag and were to serve coffee in 12oz (340g) to-go cups, continuing to use the ratio of 1:18, you would divide 340/18 to get 19 grams of coffee per cup. With there being 2,268 grams of coffee in a 5lb bag, divide 2,268/19 to get 120 (12oz) cups of coffee per 5lb bag. Who knew coffee would require so much math?
The beautiful thing about coffee is the simplicity in how it's brewed, but the endless complexity to mastering it. All our ratios and recipes listed here can be modified to your liking. There are all kinds of ways to tweak your recipes to find your perfect cup! Our hope is that you feel a bit more certain in how much Methodical coffee to purchase for your home or for your upcoming party or event!
You might also like:
