How many pots does a pound of coffee brew?

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This is a question that I get quite often. Of course, it really depends on how much coffee you are using to brew a pot in the first place, and that comes down to how much coffee you use per cup! That is a whole can of worms on its own! For great details on that topic, check out the article about how to brew the best cup of coffee.

Most drip coffee makers are going to be capable of making about 12 cups of coffee. That doesn’t mean you should be making the full pot though. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is the ratio of ground coffee you should be using to how much water you should use. The recommendation based on the Specialy Coffee Association of America is to use about 2 to 3 tablespoons of ground coffee per 8 oz of water. Thats a little more coffee than what most people are used to, but it truly does result in the best cup you can get!

Its all about proper extraction. Grind size, and the length of time the water is in contact with those grinds results in one of three things. Proper extraction, over extraction or under extraction. When the correct ratio is used, the result is a clean cup of coffee with no bitter, sour or other ‘off’ flavours in the cup. Over extracted and under extracted coffees will exhibit different taints, none of which are good. Bitterness, an off aroma, very light body and sourness are just a few of the attributes to look for when coffee is not prepared properly.

So how many pots of coffee will a pound of coffee brew then?