How Much Coffee for a Chemex 8-Cup (and Other Big Pour-Overs)
Brewing pour over for one is forgiving. Brewing a full carafe is where people end up with a bitter, over-extracted pot or a weak one, because they scale the coffee but not the method. Here are the numbers and the two changes that matter.
Start with a ratio, not a scoop
Pour over recipes use a weight ratio of water to coffee. A common starting point is 1 gram of coffee for every 15 to 16 grams of water. Scoops vary too much with grind size; a cheap kitchen scale is the single best upgrade for batch brewing.
Doses for the brewers we compared
Using 1:16 as the starting ratio, rounded:
| Brewer | Stated capacity | Water | Coffee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemex Classic 8-Cup | 40 oz (about 1,180 ml) | 1,100 to 1,180 g | 70 to 75 g |
| Bodum Pour Over 34 oz | 34 oz (about 1,000 ml) | 950 to 1,000 g | 60 to 63 g |
| Coffee Gator 27 oz | 800 ml | 750 to 800 g | 47 to 50 g |
| Hario V60 Size 03 | 1 to 6 cups | 600 to 900 g into your own server | 38 to 56 g |
| Kalita Wave 185 | 4 cups | 500 to 600 g into your own server | 31 to 38 g |
Leave a little headroom in a carafe, since the grounds hold some water and the bed takes space. The Chemex 8-cup comfortably takes a 70 g dose with about 1,100 g of water.
Change one: grind coarser
A big batch sits in contact with water longer because there is more of it to drain. If you use your single-cup grind, the brew will run slow and taste bitter. Go one or two steps coarser on a numbered burr grinder for a full carafe, then adjust by taste.
Change two: pour in stages
Pouring a litre in one go floods the bed and channels. Instead:
- Wet the grounds with about twice their weight in water and wait 30 to 45 seconds.
- Pour in three or four additions, keeping the water level steady rather than filling to the top.
- Aim for a total brew time of about 4 to 6 minutes for a full Chemex; shorter for the smaller brewers.
If the brew runs well past 6 minutes, go coarser. If it finishes in 3 and tastes thin, go finer.
Keep it hot
Glass carafes lose heat quickly. Pre-warm the carafe with hot water before brewing, and serve straight away. Chemex notes its brewed coffee can be covered, refrigerated and reheated; for the best cup, drink it fresh.
Write it down
Once a batch tastes right, note the dose, the grind setting and the time. Different beans need small changes, but the recipe is now yours, not the internet's.