How many scoops of coffee for 10 cups, 8 cups or one cup
With a standard 2 tablespoon scoop (about 10 g), 10 cups of coffee takes 8.7 scoops if a cup is 5 oz, 10.4 if it is 6 oz and 13.9 if it is an 8 oz mug. That is at 1:17, a middle-of-the-road strength. The answer depends on how big your "cup" is and how big your scoop is, so each gets a table below.
clearlycoffee.com says 1 scoop per cup, so 10 scoops (20 tablespoons) for 10 cups, and counts a cup as 5 or 6 oz. That is stronger than 1:17: 10 scoops in ten 5 oz cups is about 1:15, and in ten 6 oz cups about 1:18. If you like it strong, one scoop per cup is a fine rule.
Scoops by number of cups
| Cups | 5 oz cups | 6 oz cups | 8 oz cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 cups | 3.5 scoops 35 g | 4.2 scoops 42 g | 5.6 scoops 56 g |
| 5 cups | 4.4 scoops 44 g | 5.2 scoops 52 g | 7 scoops 70 g |
| 6 cups | 5.2 scoops 52 g | 6.3 scoops 63 g | 8.4 scoops 84 g |
| 7 cups | 6.1 scoops 61 g | 7.3 scoops 73 g | 9.7 scoops 97 g |
| 8 cups | 7 scoops 70 g | 8.4 scoops 84 g | 11.1 scoops 111 g |
| 9 cups | 7.8 scoops 78 g | 9.4 scoops 94 g | 12.5 scoops 125 g |
| 10 cups | 8.7 scoops 87 g | 10.4 scoops 104 g | 13.9 scoops 139 g |
| 11 cups | 9.6 scoops 96 g | 11.5 scoops 115 g | 15.3 scoops 153 g |
| 12 cups | 10.4 scoops 104 g | 12.5 scoops 125 g | 16.7 scoops 167 g |
| 13 cups | 11.3 scoops 113 g | 13.6 scoops 136 g | 18.1 scoops 181 g |
| 14 cups | 12.2 scoops 122 g | 14.6 scoops 146 g | 19.5 scoops 195 g |
A scoop here is 2 level tablespoons at 5 g each, so 10 g. Scoops are rounded to 0.1. One cup comes to 0.9 scoops (5 oz), 1 (6 oz) or 1.4 (8 oz), so for a single cup a tablespoon or two is easier to measure than a scoop.
Which cup is your cup?
Drip machine makers such as Mr. Coffee and OXO count a cup as 5 oz, so a 10 cup machine holds 50 oz. Many coffee bags use 6 oz. An 8 oz mug is the size most people pour. To fill a machine to its line, use the 5 oz column. To count the mugs people will drink, use 8 oz. The 12 cup coffee maker page has the full-machine doses in grams and the number of mugs they fill.
Ten cups with a different scoop
Scoops come in different sizes. A flat 1 tablespoon measure holds about 5 g. Brew Coffee Home treats a 2 tablespoon scoop as about 8 g, and its table lands on 10 scoops (82 g) for ten 5 oz cups at 1:18. This table counts the scoops for 10 cups at 1:17 with each size.
| 10 cups of | Coffee | 1 tbsp (5 g) | 8 g scoop | 2 tbsp (10 g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 oz cups | 87 g | 17.4 | 10.9 | 8.7 |
| 6 oz cups | 104 g | 20.9 | 13.1 | 10.4 |
| 8 oz cups | 139 g | 27.8 | 17.4 | 13.9 |
Not sure what your scoop holds? Level it once into a bowl on a kitchen scale. The grams per tablespoon page covers tablespoons and heaped spoons.
Calculate your own batch
Starts at 87 g, the dose for ten 5 oz cups at 1:17. Divide the grams by what your scoop weighs to get scoops.
Change any field and the others update. Scoop-based doses usually land between 1:15 and 1:18. Start near 1:17.
Water: 50 fl oz, 6.3 cups
What's next
I'm thinking about a brew log that saves your recipes with a note on how each cup tasted. It isn't built yet. The button below only adds one to a counter, so I can see if enough people want it.
Thanks, counted.
Roast level changes what a scoop weighs
Light roasts are denser, so the same scoop holds more coffee. Brew Coffee Home weighed a level tablespoon of ground coffee in its own tests: 4.4 g for dark roast, 5.2 g for medium and 6.4 g for light. Doubled for a 2 tablespoon scoop:
- Dark roast: 8.8 g per scoop
- Medium roast: 10.4 g per scoop
- Light roast: 12.8 g per scoop
That is one site's grounds on one scale, so read it as a direction. A pot of light roast made by scoops comes out a bit stronger than the same pot of dark roast. After switching roasts, weigh one level scoop once and adjust the count from there.
Related pages
Stovetop pots count 5 oz cups too, see the percolator coffee ratio page. Coffee per cup lists grams and tablespoons for other cup counts.