Live Brew · pour-over calculator
Make the ratio easy.
Live Brew is a free pour-over ratio calculator: enter the coffee, brew-water, or finished mug amount you know and get the rest for your ratio.
Enter the finished drink capacity, not the water poured through the coffee. A scale measures weight; fluid ounces measure volume.
Choose an exact ratio
Coffee to weigh
Brew water to pour
237 g water ÷ 16 ≈ 14.8 g coffee
Coffee : water = 1 : 16
Taste check-in
Choose a taste to see one specific starting suggestion.
Taste choices show fixed tips; the note is saved only in this browser on this device.
Saved brews stay on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to copy or download them.
Your brew history
Saved recipes and taste notes will appear here.
Back up or restore
Your brews live only in this browser. Download a backup file to keep a copy or move to another device. Restoring adds brews; it never replaces or deletes what you have.
For spreadsheets, not backup: keep the .json backup too. Open Google Sheets, tap a cell, paste. Copying places your brews on the clipboard, which other apps on your device may read.
Pour-over ratio basics
What is a good starting coffee-to-water ratio for pour-over?
1:16, meaning 1 g of coffee to 16 g of water, is a common starting point and is the default in Live Brew. The calculator lets you choose any ratio from 1:14 to 1:18.
How much coffee do I need for 500 g of water at 1:16?
About 31 g of coffee. Divide the water by 16: 500 g / 16 = 31.25 g.
How do I make my pour-over stronger or weaker?
Change the ratio. Use a little less water per gram of coffee for a stronger cup, for example moving from 1:16 to 1:15. Use a little more water for a weaker cup.
How much water do coffee grounds keep?
Grounds retain about 2.1 g of water per gram of coffee, so a finished mug holds less than the brew water you pour. Live Brew uses this estimate in finished-mug mode; retention varies by coffee, grind, and brewer. Source: UC Davis coffee-brewing control chart study, https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.16531.
My pour-over tastes sour or bitter. What should I change?
If it tastes sour or sharply bright, try a slightly finer grind to extract more. If it tastes bitter or drying, try a slightly coarser grind to extract less. Change one thing at a time.
Add to your home screen
Open this calculator like an app, even offline in the kitchen.
- iPhone or iPad (Safari): tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.
- Android (Chrome): tap the ⋮ menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.
On iPhone, the home-screen copy keeps its own saved brews, separate from Safari. Download a backup first, then restore it in the app.