# How Much Coffee Per Cup? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640 "2004-01-04T14:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/1 "2004-01-04T14:27:28Z")
I use one of those filters that fits on top of a coffee cup, and a 10-12-oz mug. I’m using 5 scoops of whole beans – Trader Joe’s Organic Bolivian. I don’t think I’m using too much coffee, but how much do others use? 11811 ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/2 "2004-01-04T14:44:50Z")
I use two rounded tablespoons per 4oz water in my ibrik. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/3 "2004-01-04T15:33:03Z")
Granules: One heaped teaspoon Powdered: One mountained teaspoon (like ‘heaped’ but steeper) Ground: One shallow tablespoon ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/4 "2004-01-04T15:53:10Z")
5 scoops of whole beans??? Are you saying you don’t grind the beans? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/5 "2004-01-04T16:52:42Z")
I don’t know how big _your_ “scoops” are, but with _my_ scoop, 3 level ones of whole beans is enough for a whole 12-“cup” pot. And yes Mr. **Homebrew** , they’re finely ground after measuring and before brewing. My scoop is 2 TBS, so that’s 6 TBS of whole beans for a pot. The pot holds 6-1/2 fluid measuring Cups-worth of coffee, despite being laebeld a “12-cup” pot. Aside: _Aren’t American measuring units wonderful? Dry “cup” \<\> fluid “cup” \<\> coffee “cup”. And we still rule the world. Imagine what we could do with decent engineering units?_ For single-cup brewing with a cup-top filter I use 1 level TBS of finely ground coffee for an 8 oz mug. Sometimes I heap it a bit, but usually 1 level is plenty. Single-cup brewing is inherently a lot less efficient than whole-pot brewing, but I think you’re wasting an awful lot of coffee. Too little coffee definitely produces a weak brew, but beyond a certain quantity, the time the water spends filtering through the coffee becomes the more important factor. So after a certain point, adding more coffee doesn’t increase the brew’s strength, just the cost. Also, for the same amount of coffee, a finer grind will deliver a somewhat stronger flavor. So if you want to be efficient, grind it very fine and start with a small amount and work up until you first get to an acceptable strength. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/6 "2004-01-05T02:52:46Z")
I have a 2 Tbsp. coffee scoop. I use four scoops, level, for a full 8-cup coffee pot. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-coffee-per-cup/222640/7 "2004-01-05T02:58:37Z")
Depends on the coffee. When I’m using my usual French Market Chicory, I use 3 heaping tablespoons for a 3-cup (mug) pot. If I have to punt with the backup Folgers, I go to 4 tablespoons.