How to Use a Coffee Scale for Pour Over

Sour or thin: grind a little finer.
Bitter or dry: grind a little coarser.
Too strong or weak: change the ratio. See our coffee-to-water ratio guide .

By Best Pick Guide Editorial Team · Updated October 22, 2026

A scale takes the guesswork out of pour over. Once you've weighed a few brews, you'll know exactly why a cup tasted good, and how to make it again.

What you need

Weigh the beans. Put a cup on the scale, press tare to zero it, and weigh your coffee. A good single cup starts at about 15 g of coffee.
Grind to a medium grind for a cone dripper.
Set up. Put the mug or carafe on the scale, the dripper on top, and rinse the paper filter with hot water. Pour that rinse water away.
Add the coffee to the filter and tare the scale to zero again.
Bloom. Start the timer and pour about twice the coffee's weight in water, so 30 g for 15 g of coffee. Wait 30 to 45 seconds while it bubbles.
Pour the rest slowly in circles until the scale reaches your target, about 250 g for 15 g of coffee. That's roughly a 1:16 ratio.
Let it drain. Note the total time. Many single-cup pour overs finish around 2.5 to 3.5 minutes.

Auto-start timers begin when you start pouring, so you don't need a free hand. The TIMEMORE Basic 2.0 has one, plus a flow-rate display.
Ratio settings work out your water target for you. The Maestri House S3 lets you set a ratio from 1:1 to 1:18.

Change one thing at a time:

Wipe up spills right away, and don't pour hot water directly onto the display or buttons.