Espresso Ratio: Dose, Yield and Brew Ratio Explained

The espresso ratio, or brew ratio, compares how much dry coffee goes into the basket with how much espresso comes out in the cup. It is the simplest way to describe a shot and the easiest way to repeat one. Once you know your ratio, you can explain a recipe to another barista in one line: 18 grams in, 36 grams out, 28 seconds.

This lesson explains the terms, how to calculate a ratio, what ristretto, normale and lungo mean, and how changing the ratio changes the taste.

Dose, yield and ratio

Five Senses Coffee defines the brew ratio as the relationship between the dose and the yield, and says a scale that reads to 0.1 g is needed to measure both. Weighing the yield is more reliable than reading millilitres, because the crema on a fresh shot makes the volume hard to judge.

How to calculate an espresso ratio

Divide the yield by the dose. 36 g ÷ 18 g = 2, so the ratio is 1:2. To work backwards, multiply the dose by the ratio you want: for a 1:2 shot from 20 g of coffee, stop the shot at 40 g.

The table shows the yield to stop at for each dose and ratio. For brewed coffee such as pour-over or French press, the ratio works differently, with much more water. Use our coffee to water ratio chart or the coffee ratio calculator for those.

Ristretto, normale and lungo

Five Senses and Clive Coffee both use roughly 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 for these three shots. If you’re not sure where to start, Five Senses recommends 1:2. They also note that most of their students end up preferring something between 1:1.5 and 1:2.5. See our guide to the ristretto for the short end of the range.

What the Philippine barista standard says

TESDA’s Barista NC II training regulations describe a good shot by dose, volume and time rather than by ratio. For a single shot, they give 7 to 9 g of coffee, 25 to 35 ml of espresso, and 20 to 30 seconds. They set 14 to 18 g for a double, water at 195 to 205 °F (about 90 to 96 °C) and 9 to 10 bar of pressure. If you’re training for the NC II assessment, learn these numbers as well as the weight-based ratio.

How to use the ratio to change the taste

1. Start with a baseline. Choose a dose that suits your basket, aim for 1:2, and note the time. Write all three down.
2. Taste it. Is it too strong and heavy, or thin and watery? Sour, or bitter?
3. Change one thing at a time. For a stronger, heavier shot, move toward 1:1.5. For a lighter shot with more clarity, move toward 1:2.5.
4. Keep the time similar by adjusting the grind. Five Senses suggests keeping the brew time the same when you compare ratios, so you’re tasting the ratio and not a change in time. Grind finer to slow a shot down, coarser to speed it up.
5. Write down the recipe you like and use it as the bar’s standard, so every barista pulls the same shot.

Our dial-in lesson walks through this process with a shot log, and espresso troubleshooting covers what to do when a shot tastes sour or bitter.

Café tip: keep the house ratio the same for every drink and change only the number of shots. A latte made with a 1:2 double tastes the same whichever barista makes it.

Cafés buying 10 kg or more can see wholesale pricing for our espresso blends. More lessons are in the Caffeine Brothers Coffee Academy.

Sources

• Five Senses Coffee: Brew ratios in espresso
• Clive Coffee: Dialing in espresso by taste
• TESDA: Barista NC II Training Regulations (espresso parameters)