Tool
Espresso dose and yield calculator
Espresso is measured dose to yield, both by weight. Three directions, with the terminology explained rather than enforced.
Target yield
36 g
1:2.0 is in the range most people mean by a standard espresso.
How this was worked out
Yield = dose × ratio
18 × 2 = 36 g
Stop the shot when the scale under the cup reads this.
- To change how concentrated it is
- For a more concentrated shot, lower the second number: stop at 27 g from the same 18 g dose (1:1.5).
- For a lighter, longer shot, raise it: stop at 45 g from the same 18 g dose (1:2.5).
- Keep the same
- The dose and the grind. Change only where you stop the shot. It will run a few seconds shorter or longer as a result, which is expected and is not a reason to touch the grinder in the same step.
- When the ratio is the wrong thing to change
- Change the ratio when the flavour is right and the shot is simply too intense or too thin. If it is sour and sharp, or bitter and harsh, at a ratio you like, that is usually the grind, and the espresso dial-in assistant works from taste and flow together.
- What this cannot tell you
- The arithmetic is exact. It says nothing about how the shot tasted or how long it took, and the names for short and long shots are drawn in different places by different cafés. Yield has to be weighed: crema makes the same weight of espresso fill very different volumes.
Open the espresso dial-in assistant
Exact arithmetic on your numbers
What to do with the result
- You have a dose and a yield and are about to pull the shot: Dialling in espresso: the workflow
- You want to know where the common starting ratio comes from and what it is not: Dialling in espresso: starting points
- The shot is pulled and you have a time and a taste to read: Espresso dial-in assistant
- It tastes wrong and you are not sure the ratio is why: Make my coffee better: espresso
How it works
Yield is the dose multiplied by the ratio; dose is the yield divided by the ratio; and the actual ratio of a shot you have pulled is the yield divided by the dose. Every number here is a mass in grams, including the yield — espresso volume is unreliable because crema is mostly air and varies with how fresh the coffee is.
What the inputs mean
- Dose
- The dry ground coffee in the basket, weighed before brewing.
- Yield
- The mass of liquid espresso in the cup, weighed on a scale under the portafilter. Not the volume, and not including anything added afterwards.
- Ratio
- Written 1:2, meaning one part dry coffee to two parts liquid espresso by weight. This is a different measurement from the filter coffee-to-water ratio and the two numbers are not comparable.
Worked examples
A standard double
- Dose 18 g
- Ratio 1:2
Result: Stop the shot at 36 g in the cup.
Checking a shot that ran long
- Dose 18 g
- Yield 52 g
Result: 1:2.9 — towards lungo territory, which will taste thinner and may taste harsh.
Common mistakes
Measuring yield by volume
Crema is mostly gas and its volume varies with the coffee's age, so two shots of identical mass can fill visibly different amounts of a cup.
Comparing an espresso ratio to a filter ratio
1:2 and 1:16 measure different things. Filter counts all the brew water; espresso counts only what reaches the cup.
Changing the ratio when the shot tastes sour
A longer ratio extracts more and will mask it, but the usual cause is the grind. Change one thing, and start with the grind.
What the result does not mean
- Hitting a target ratio does not mean the shot was good. Ratio says nothing about whether the puck extracted evenly.
- The ristretto, espresso and lungo labels describe where a ratio sits on a spectrum. They are not drink definitions, and cafés draw the lines in different places.
What this does not account for
- Espresso ratio here means dose-to-liquid-yield, not the coffee-to-water ratio used for filter brewing.
- Does not account for grind, distribution, tamp or machine pressure — ratio is one variable among several.
- Style labels are descriptive conventions with fuzzy edges, not definitions.
Where to go next
Learn the technique
Equipment involved
Drinks and methods
Other tools
Practise this in a lesson
Become a Barista · Level 2
The task: Enter your basket's dose and work out the yield for 1:1.5, 1:2 and 1:2.5. Write the three target weights on a note by the machine before you pull anything.