I finally understood the water ratio mistake I was making for years

Richard Green · 2026-02-22T16:31:00.511694+00:00

My french press coffee always came out too weak or too strong, and I blamed the beans. The realization was that I was eyeballing the water, not weighing it, which threw off the extraction completely. How do you guys ensure consistency in your measurements without overcomplicating things?

grace8307mo ago

Seriously, it's just coffee, not rocket science.

8

kelly.wyatt7mo ago

Wait, you were just eyeballing the water for years without weighing it? I can't believe that didn't drive you crazy sooner. My french press was a total guessing game until I got a scale, and even then, I was off by grams and it tasted like dishwater. Like, one time I added what I thought was enough water, but it was so weak it looked like tea. Another day, I overdid it and got a sludge that could strip paint. Weighing everything changed the game. Now I use 30 grams of coffee to 500 grams of water, and it's perfect every single time.

3

the_piper7mo ago

Absolutely, weighing makes all the difference. I had the same issue with my pour-over until I started using a scale. Now my coffee is consistently decent, which is all anyone can ask for.

2