The Cheat Sheet - Converting Measurements

By now, you've checked out our simple "Brew How To" guides on making coffee with a variety of coffee makers, and we hope they have helped you get started down the path of getting the most out of your specialty craft coffee. We created this site to be a guide to the everyday coffee drinker who decided to test the waters - or maybe even take the plunge - in drinking a higher-quality product each morning than their trusty can of big brand coffee. For those who don't reside in countries that ascribe to the metric system, who refer to their liquor in "fifths" instead of "750 milliliters", and who measure their ingredients in cups and tablespoons instead of more exacting grams, reading directions on how to make a proper AeroPress, Chemex, or other pour over device can be confusing (editor's note: if not to anyone else, it was to us). Often, we had to resort to Google searches for each measurement we wanted to convert to tablespoons, which was quite taxing and usually resulted in overly lengthy coffee making sessions. With that in mind, below is our Cheat Sheet for rough conversions between American standard measurements to metric. The math is not exact here, because we rounded off the measurements to keep it simple. Please feel free to bookmark this page, as it likely will come in handy on more than one occasion. As an added bonus, we have a sample award-winning AeroPress recipe at the bottom of this post with its approximate conversion. Give it a shot! Without further ado, here are the conversions: Teaspoons/Grams 1 teaspoon = 5 grams 2 teaspoons = 10 grams 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon Tablespoons/Grams 1 tablespoon = 14 grams 2 tablespoons = 28 grams 3 tablespoons = 43 grams 4 tablespoons = 57 grams 5 tablespoons = 71 grams 6 tablespoons = 86 grams 7 tablespoons = 100 grams Cups/Tablespoons/Grams 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons = 57 grams 1/3 cup = 5 heaping tablespoons = 76 grams 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 114 grams 3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons = 172 grams 1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 230 grams Heating Water without a Thermometer Note: Different coffee makers and coffee "recipes" will have different recommended coffee temperatures. If you want to be exact, get a Bonavita that heats to a specific degree. If you are fine with estimating, below is our guide for ballparking the water temperature in your pot. 70-80°C = 158-176°F What this looks like: Tiny bubbles appear on the edges and bottom of your pot. 80-90°C = 176-194°F What this looks like: The tiny bubbles begin to rise, and a gentle steam will begin to rise with it. A high-pitched sound may also occur. 90-95°C = 195-203°F What this looks like: Large bubbles, more steam, lower-pitched sound. 100°C = 212°F What this looks like: Boiling water. It doesn't get hotter than this. Okay! Now that we're armed with the above information, what can we do with it? Basically, you can approximate any coffee recipe you want! For example, let's try the AeroPress recipe that won Nick Hatch of Canada a second place trophy at the 2015 World AeroPress Championship. Sounds daunting, right? Not anymore! Here's his recipe: Coffee: 17.5g Water: 260g @ 85°C Brewer: Upright Filter: Paper

1. Grind coffee at "17" on a Baratza Virtuoso grinder 2. Heat water to 85°C 3. Add 50-60g of water 4. Stir five times 5. Allow 25 seconds of bloom 6. Add the rest of the water in 20 seconds 7. Press down for 60 seconds, into a chilled cup

Total brew time - 1:45 Using our above conversions, here is how to make an approximation of this amazing cup: Coffee: One heaping tablespoon Water: A little over a cup of water; pull it off the burner when tiny bubbles begin to rise, and a gentle steam will begin to rise with it. Brewer: Upright Filter: Paper

1. Grind the coffee to a "medium" grind, and pour the grinds into your assembled AeroPress 2. Heat water until you see tiny bubbles begin to rise, and a gentle steam beginning to rise with it 3. Add a 1/4 cup of water to the AeroPress 4. Stir five times 5. Allow 25 seconds of bloom 6. Add the rest of the water in 20 seconds 7. Press down for 60 seconds, into a chilled cup.

Total brew time - 1:45 Not so difficult, right? Try this and other coffee recipes that you find on coffee websites. You can make a decent approximation of any coffee recipe that uses the metric system. Don't let the use of grams and celsius scare you away from your perfect cup anymore. And hey, do you have a favorite recipe that you'd like to share? Let us know! Happy brewing. - The Cortado Sources: tea story.co; worldaeropresschampionship.com