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Is it better to make espresso by hand with an electronic scale or a spoon? What is the best ratio of coffee powder to water?

Published: 2026-04-22 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/04/22, As we all know, the measuring spoon is a measuring tool with standard capacity scale that we can often see in daily life. Its function, as its name suggests, is to measure. In the process of making coffee, we often use measuring spoons. It's just... In the vast majority of cases, we just put

As we all know, the measuring spoon is a measuring tool with standard capacity scale that we can often see in daily life. Its function, as its name suggests, is to measure. In the process of making coffee, we often use measuring spoons.

It's just... In the vast majority of cases, we just use it as an ordinary spoon to scoop beans, not to weigh coffee beans. So some friends will be curious. Is it necessary to use a scale to measure it little by little when there is something as convenient as a measuring spoon?

There really is! Because the measuring spoon measures volume rather than weight, we cannot measure the amount of beans we want well. The reason is also very simple, because different coffee beans will have different sizes and weights, which is mainly affected by the variety, planting, and roasting degree of the coffee beans. Since the calculation is based on volume, even with the same flat spoon, the weight measured will have different situations. Especially when weighing coffee beans with different degrees of roasting, the deviation is not small. Some coffee beans weigh 9g of bean seeds, and some weigh 11g of bean seeds. Such a gap will have a certain impact on the coffee we extract and brew, because without knowing that the amount of beans will change, other parameters when we brew will not change due to changes in the amount of beans. change. So even if the error is only 1g, the taste of the brewed coffee will be different.

Qianjie once conducted such an experiment, which was to change only 1g of powder to brew coffee while the extraction parameters, including the amount of water injected, remained unchanged, and then compare the differences in concentration and taste. The coffee bean used in Qianjie's experiment was Qianjie Guixia Village Estate·Red Label Guixia. It is a sun-treated Ethiopian coffee bean. It is roasted in medium and light and has a very attractive aroma of flowers and fruits. It is an Ethiopian Guixia that is very popular among friends. Then it happened that it was one of the coffee beans for this event, so interested friends can learn about Tianmao and Taobao's Qianjie flagship store. Then the extraction parameters are as follows: powder amount used: 14g, 15, 16g Water used: 225ml Grinding degree: 75%~80% sieving rate of No. 20 sieve, brewing water temperature: 92°C, brewing time: 2 minutes, water injection method: three-stage stage

The brewing process is skipped directly. Let's take a look at the results ~16g: The coffee brewed with 16g of Guixia Village Red Label has a concentration of 1.49%, and the extraction rate is 21.98%. It will have a strong flavor, and we can drink the full flavor of berries, citrus, apricot peaches, and oolong tea. 15g: The concentration of coffee brewed with 15g of Guixiacun red label is 1.38%, and the extraction rate is % 21.88. It has the right concentration and smooth taste. It also has the flavors of berry, citrus, apricot, and oolong tea, but it is relatively less prominent, but the layers will be more distinctive. 14g: The coffee brewed with 14g of Guixia Village Red Label has a concentration of 1.30%, and the extraction rate is 22.27%. Its taste will be relatively balanced, and then the taste will be light. Although the flavor is not as strong, it will be more obvious than the first two cups. In addition to berries, citrus, apricot peaches, and oolong tea, we can also capture the elegant floral fragrance.

It can be seen that although all three cups of coffee taste equally good, the places where it tastes good are different. The reason for the difference is that although the gram weight of beans has changed, the parameters have not changed. Therefore, the concentration and extraction rate of coffee will change due to the increase or decrease of beans on the original basis. To sum up, you can know why coffee shops use electronic scales instead of spoons to measure coffee beans. Even if the measuring spoon will be more convenient and even if the small error will not have a negative impact on the taste of coffee, people are still more willing to use electronic scales as a measuring tool for more stable production.

It is worth mentioning that the method used in the above example in Qianjie is hand-brewed coffee. If it is pressurized extraction of espresso coffee, the difference in extraction will be more obvious. Even if it is only 0.5g, the taste of coffee will also make a big difference. Therefore, stable production will be more important to coffee shops than simplicity.

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FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。