Your Coffee Ratio Matters More Than You Think

In this episode, I dive deep into one of the most overlooked aspects of brewing great coffee: ratios, or as I like to call it, strength level. I share my personal journey from brewing at a 1:10 ratio (pretty strong, mainly to satisfy my wife's preference for bold coffee) to discovering that different roast levels demand completely different approaches. I talk about how my palate evolved as I moved from 1:10 to 1:11, then 1:12, 1:13, and eventually settling around 1:15 as my general sweet spot. But here's where it gets interesting—I explain why I now brew dark roasts at 1:16-1:17 to open up their balance and sweetness, medium roasts at 1:15 for optimal clarity, and light roasts anywhere from 1:13-1:14 or even pushing to 1:17-1:18 with higher extraction to bring out complexity and acidity.

By listening to this episode, you'll learn how to identify your own ideal brew ratio through intentional experimentation and pattern recognition. I share practical guidance on testing different ratios to understand what you actually like in your coffee, rather than blindly following what others recommend. You'll discover why the ratio you choose is half the battle in conquering any coffee, and how finding your personal preference creates a repeatable system that lets you truly enjoy coffee for what it is. Whether you're drinking light, medium, or dark roast, this episode will help you understand why your ratio matters and how to dial it in for maximum enjoyment.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:14 My Journey: Starting at 1:10 Ratio
• 2:33 Opening Up: Moving to 1:11, 1:12, 1:13
• 3:31 Finding the Sweet Spot at 1:15
• 4:43 Dark Roasts: Why I Use 1:16-1:17
• 6:12 Medium Roasts at 1:15: Balance Matters
• 7:30 Light Roasts: Going Stronger or Weaker
• 8:47 Figuring Out Your Personal Preference
• 10:09 Building a Repeatable System
• 11:30 Testing Different Ratios: Practical Advice

Transcript

[00:00:09] I believe one of the things that we don't talk about as much as we should is ratios, or another word: strength level.

[00:00:21] A lot of us coffee geeks have this idea or logic of where we like our coffee, right? Certain coffees are different, but I believe once we start seeing a pattern, that's when we should really start to pay attention.

[00:00:37] What I mean by that is for the longest, I would do like a 1:10 ratio, which is pretty strong, mainly because whenever I have coffee, I have it with my wife and she tends to like a stronger cup of coffee. And I'm not in the business of making separate coffees tailored to different people all the time. It's one of those things—why would I do that? Why would you do that? I know you're trying to accommodate as many people as possible, but the thing about it is you're trying to figure things out as we're going through this whole journey together or not together or whatever you may be doing.

[01:18] As we try and test coffee, I think it gets to the point where we kind of figure out what our ideal ratio is. So like I said, for the longest, it was 1:10. It was heavy. It was hard to decipher what I was tasting, but it was still tasty, you know?

[01:50] And then it got to the point where either I was working somewhere and I had to accommodate more people. Sometimes I'll get little comments like "it's too strong" or something like that, which is perfectly fine. But those are the times that you start to experiment more, kind of see things for what they are.

[02:17] As you start to open up your palate and your understanding of coffee, things start to change. That makes sense. Of course things start to change. So as I kept on drinking and exploring, I started to make the coffees a little bit weaker. And I started to notice that I was understanding more what I was tasting. It wasn't just this heaviness of strong coffee. It had a little bit more character to it.

[02:56] So then it was 1:11, 1:12, 1:13. 1:13 is kind of like an odd, weird number. And I'm kind of that person who doesn't have that much coffee. So if I have 10 grams, I only put 130 grams in there and I'm tasting it. And I can be good for the most part of the day. Not everybody's like that. But then I started inching closer and closer to 1:15.

[03:32] And to me, personally, that's where you want to be. It's a good sweet spot. You can taste the coffee, it's strong enough, and you can enjoy it. You can decipher exactly what you're tasting for the most part.

[03:54] And then it started getting a little crazy. Then I started drinking other coffees—a light roast Colombian. It was fruit forward. And then now, naturals. Naturals have been working out pretty well at a stronger ratio.

[04:25] And then we have light roast and dark roast and everything in between. And then I started to enjoy coffee at those different ratios. For instance, for me, I like coffees—for a darker roast, I can do 1:16, 1:15, 1:14 and all that stuff. But especially initially when you first drink the coffee, it could tend to get too in-your-face and all that stuff. But then it starts to mellow out.

[05:05] But I like my darker roast coffees at 1:16, 1:17 ratio. I believe it opens it up even more so you can taste a little bit more of the balance of the sweetness and acidity. Yes, it does have it. If you don't believe me, try it. Try anybody's, I don't care.

[05:31] And that's kind of my running thing with at least dark roast the way I see it. Medium roast, most of the time is 1:15. I like it there, a little bit stronger, because to me, that's more balanced.

[05:46] Whenever I try 1:16, even 1:17 and 1:18, the taste is there, but it's faint. And it doesn't do much for me. And I'm like, wow, interesting stuff, right? How you can keep drinking coffee and you can start to explore and experience it for what it is.

[06:15] And then it gets to the point where you're like, "Whoa, this is what I'm tasting. This is what I like in coffee." And I think that's the biggest kicker in all of this: what do we like in coffee? Why do we like it? It goes back to that whole thing—why do we like certain things? Is it coffee dependent? I'm sure it is from time to time. But in this case, in this situation, yeah, it matters.

[06:42] And when we know that it matters, we start to pay attention even more. And when you pay attention, then you can be more intentional with the process, the methodology. The way that you go about actually selecting or drinking your coffee. And I like to say "conquer" because every coffee is different.

[07:05] And sometimes you won't be able to conquer it as much as you think that you can. But I guess what I'm saying is that the ratio is part of you getting there. And then I think initially, you're going to have to try different ratios.

[07:25] Like for me, I like a stronger cup in a lighter roast. I like a 1:13, 1:14 ratio, sometimes even 1:10. And then I'll probably dial it in with a little bit more water. But lately, what I've been doing with lighter roast is that I've been brewing the cups at 1:17 ratio, 1:18, and then extracting them even more because I think that brings out even more complexity and acidity, because that's what light roast does for you.

[08:09] So I guess what I'm saying here is that once we start to understand our coffees, the brew ratios, then we can, so to speak, start to enjoy that coffee experience, that coffee for what it is. You can go ahead and just have a ratio that you go to all the time. But I guess the biggest thing is that you have to figure that out for yourself.

[08:36] Sometimes when I make coffee for other people, they're like, "Damn, that's weak," which is perfectly fine. I'm not here to tell you what to taste. I'm not here to tell you this is the ratio that you're supposed to use. All I'm really saying here is that you need to figure that out for yourself.

[08:59] There's so many indicators here and there for you when you drink your cup of coffee, when you enjoy it, when you don't enjoy it. Things that you do like about it. Things that you don't like about it. And then once we get closer to understanding that, more than half the battle is done.

[09:20] Because it's just building up a routine. Building up a system that's repeatable. Because it's kind of cool to not necessarily know the roast degree. Somebody may tell you whatever is on the bag. But we mess up all the time as roasters. Sometimes it's a light roast, you know. We say it's a light roast, but it's more like a medium roast.

[09:50] But it doesn't matter. We have that bag in front of us. And when we have that bag in front of us, we're sitting there and we're contemplating and we're like, "Okay, how are we going to actually make this cup of coffee?" Let's try our go-to ratio, 1:15. Let's taste it.

[10:16] Does it taste like something that you think that you would like to go on this journey with? Change the ratio. Go a little bit more extreme. Try a 1:12, 1:10 ratio on that side of it. Try to even open it up to 1:17, 1:16. Push past your comfort zone.

[10:32] And then once you find that sweet spot for that coffee with the ratios, you can do this with a scale or a scoop. It doesn't matter. You can figure that out. But once you figure that out, then you can go on to the other things.

[10:53] Like which paper you want to use, why you want to use it. Why that's critical for you. What is this coffee telling you? And then when you get closer to understanding that, then that's where you can really start to enjoy that coffee for what it is.

[11:14] So yeah, this is me just talking about how important it is to know your coffee, to know your ratio and why it's important. Because at the end of the day, if you don't like what you're drinking, then why are you drinking it?

[11:34] That can mean coffee itself. That can mean any beverage whatsoever. Because all we're trying to do here is to turn this water, mix it with some beans at the right ratio, as magical as we can, as much as we understand the things that we're trying to do.

[11:58] So let me know what you think. What's your go-to ratio? Do you have different ratios for different coffees and all that stuff? Different roast degrees, if you like to play around with that. Or are you strictly a lightly roasted person? But do you have different recipes? Is it dependent on the temperature of the water?

[12:20] There's so many variables. But at the end of the day, there is going to be some type of routine, some type of consistency of what you like and what you don't like. Once you open up your eyes to that a little bit more, you're going to be in a better shape.

[12:41] So this is Oke at EverydayBean signing off. I'll talk to you later. Bye.