Espresso Brew Ratios Explained (With Cheat Sheet)

If you walk into a specialty coffee shop and ask the barista for their espresso recipe, they won't tell you the machine settings. Instead, they will give you three numbers: Dose, Yield, and Time.

For example: "18 grams in, 36 grams out, in 28 seconds."

The relationship between the Dose (the dry coffee you put in) and the Yield (the liquid espresso you get out) is called the Brew Ratio.

It is the single most important variable for controlling the flavor of your espresso. If you do not own a 0.1g coffee scale, you are flying blind. Here is how to use ratios to instantly fix sour or bitter espresso.

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1. What is an Espresso Ratio?

An espresso ratio is simply described as Dry Coffee : Liquid Espresso.

The global standard baseline for a modern double shot of espresso is a 1:2 Ratio. This means for every 1 gram of dry coffee you put in your portafilter basket, you aim to extract exactly 2 grams of liquid espresso into your cup.

If your basket holds 18 grams of dry coffee, a 1:2 ratio demands you stop the pump immediately when your scale reads 36 grams of liquid espresso.

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2. Why Ratios Control Flavor

To understand why changing your ratio fixes bad flavor, you have to understand exactly how water dissolves coffee. It happens in three distinct stages:

1. The Sour Stage (First 10 grams): The very first drops of espresso are incredibly thick, syrupy, and intensely sour (acidic).
2. The Sweet Stage (The Middle 15 grams): The water begins to dissolve complex sugars and caramel flavors. This balances the initial sourness.
3. The Bitter Stage (The Final 10+ grams): All the good flavors have been extracted. The water begins to aggressively dissolve harsh, dry, plant-like tannins.

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3. How to Break the Rules (The Cheat Sheet)

A 1:2 ratio is just a starting point. Depending on the roast level of your coffee beans, you dynamically change your ratio to "capture" more or less of the flavor stages.

The 1:1 "Ristretto" (For Dark Roasts)

Recipe: 18g in, 18g out.

• Why: Traditional Italian dark roasts are very brittle and extract extremely fast. If you run a dark roast to a 1:2 ratio, you will hit the "Bitter Stage" very quickly, resulting in an ashy, burnt taste. By stopping the shot early at a 1:1 or 1:1.5 ratio, you capture only the heavy chocolate notes and avoid the harsh bitterness. The resulting shot is incredibly thick and syrupy.

The 1:2 "Normale" (For Medium Roasts)

Recipe: 18g in, 36g out.

• Why: This is the gold standard for standard specialty blends. It allows enough water through to extract the sweet caramels, perfectly balancing out the initial acidity.

The 1:3 "Lungo" (For Light Roasts)

Recipe: 18g in, 54g out.

• Why: Lightly roasted, single-origin African coffees are incredibly dense and hard to dissolve. If you stop at a standard 1:2 ratio, you won't have used enough water to extract the sugars. The shot will taste like pure lemon juice (sour under-extraction). By pushing the ratio to 1:2.5 or 1:3, you force more water through the dense puck, dragging out the hidden sweetness to balance the bright acidity. The shot will be thinner in body, but significantly sweeter.