Question 1

What does 60 g/L mean as a 1:x ratio?

Accepted Answer

1:16.7. A litre of water weighs 1000 g, so 60 g of coffee per litre is 60 g per 1000 g, which is 1000/60 = 1:16.7 by mass. The two conventions describe the same brew; divide 1000 by the g/L figure to get the x.

Question 2

Is 1 ml of water really 1 g?

Accepted Answer

At room temperature, yes, within 0.2% (0.998 g/ml at 20°C). That is why recipes quoted in ml of water convert directly to grams. Hot water is about 4% lighter per ml (0.963 g/ml at 93°C), which only matters if you measure hot water by volume instead of weighing it.

Question 3

Why do James Hoffmann and others quote g/L instead of 1:x?

Accepted Answer

Because it scales in your head: at 60 g/L, half a litre takes 30 g and two litres take 120 g, no ratio arithmetic needed. It also matches how cupping standards are written; the SCA cupping protocol is 12 g per 200 g of water, which is 60 g/L.

Question 4

Do I need to correct for hot water density?

Accepted Answer

Almost never. Scales measure mass, so if you weigh your water, temperature is irrelevant. The correction only applies when a recipe gives a hot volume, like espresso machine outputs in ml, and you want the true mass.

Question 5

Does the converter send my data anywhere?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything runs in your browser, and the shareable link just encodes your inputs in the URL.

Coffee Ratio Converter

The three ways recipes quote strength