How To: Brewing Coffee at Home Without A Scale

By Bolor Erdenebat, Crown Barista

As a barista working at a well equipped café, I can’t imagine myself brewing or pulling an espresso shot without a scale. It tells us exactly how much water and coffee we are using, and it enables us to be consistent with each brew as well as to each other.

During this pandemic, we are all trying to stay home, but we must have our daily caffeine! Not everyone has all the tools at home. So, here are some tips on how you could brew an excellent pour over of coffee without a scale.

For this example, I use 24.5g of coffee to 380g of water — a 1:15.5 ratio. (You could also do 1:14 or 1:18 ratio depending on what recipe you’d like to use. In order to weigh out 24.5g of coffee beans or ground coffee, I used a ¼ measuring cup and filled it up all the way as shown in the picture below.

Afterwards, using a bigger measuring cup or a mason jar that has measurement, you can measure out approximately 380ml (13oz) of water and boil that to 205°F. If you don’t have a measuring cup, grab a 12oz mug and fill it up all the way to the top and use that to brew coffee, your final brew should be an inch (2.5cm) below the rim of your mug. Then, proceed to brew normally! Put a filter on your pour over device and make sure to give it a thorough rinse with hot water. Your first pour needs to be about twice the volume as the coffee you are using, and let it bloom for 45seconds. After the bloom, you can pour in a slow circular motion and fill it up all the way and let it drip for about 10seconds. Repeat this process a few times until you run out of water.