How Many Cups of Coffee in a 1kg Bag of Beans?

Key points

1kg = ~50 espressos (20g per shot), but it varies by brew method.
Alternate brewing method yields: Aeropress ~66, Pour-over ~55, French Press ~40, Moka ~55.
Freshness counts – beans taste best within 2 weeks of opening.
Usage depends on taste, grinding waste, and daily habits.
Get more from your beans: buy whole, weigh, store well, clean gear.

Knowing how many cups you will get out of a standard 1kg bag of beans means you can better anticipate how long they will last you - so you can either buy a new batch, or adjust your coffee subscription accordingly. However, there is more to calculating how many coffees in a 1kg bag of beans, than just the amount of roasted beans in the bag…

The basics: How many coffee servings in 1kg?

If we convert 1kg into 1000g, we can calculate approximately how many cups there will be in a bag. Assuming you are brewing espresso, which takes around 20g of coffee per dose depending on the blend:

1000g / 20g = 50 coffees per bag

This is a very general way to look at it - in reality, there are several things that will impact how quickly you get through that 1kg bag. That includes:

Your preferred brewing method, and how precise you are
The roast level of the beans & roaster’s dose recommendations
How many beverages you are drinking daily (or how many people in your household are drinking coffees every day)

Your coffee brewing method

Different brewing methods require different amounts of coffee. Here’s a general guide to how much coffee you will use for each method, and how many cups that will result in per kilo bag of coffee beans:

Espresso Brewing

Shots pulled from an espresso machine are often what we think of first for 'a coffee', particularly as smaller home machines become more accessible. As per above, this is around 20g of coffee for 30ml of espresso. That’s around 50 cups at that dose.

However, you should always check the recommended dose before brewing. A few grams might not seem like much, but following dose recommendations helps maximise flavour.

For example:

Vittoria Oro Special Bar Beans has a recommended dose-in of 21g - 22g dry coffee.
Vittoria Espresso Supreme Speciality Beans has a recommended dose of 23g

Related: What is specialty coffee?

Aeropress

Known for simplicity and portability, Aeropress brewing is a crowd favourite for those who don’t want to invest a lot of money or bench space when brewing coffee.

We generally recommend around 15g of dry coffee for an Aeropress. This should be approximately one Aeropress scoop - level, but not tamped into the scoop. You will end up with around 66 coffees from a 1kg bag of beans.

Pour-over (drip-filter)

A favourite of coffee snobs everywhere, pour-over coffee drippers like the Chemex, Hario V60 or Kalita Wave give you unparalleled control over every cup. Each method has a slightly different sweet spot, so it’s best to check the manufacturer’s recommendations first.

For a Chemex, there’s a 1:16 ratio of water to coffee. If you’re using 18-25g of coffee for 300-400mls water in a 3-cup Chemex, this would give you 55 brews (with multiple servings in each).

French Press

The recommended ratio for French press brewing (a mainstay in many a home kitchen for its no-fuss, space-saving design) is 1:13 coffee to water. You can play with the ratio if you want to strengthen or dilute the brew to your taste. Once you figure out your optimal ratio, you can extend that to calculate the approximate serves per bag of coffee beans.

For a 350ml vessel, you would use around 25g of coffee at the standard coffee to water ratio. This would give you around 40 brews per kilo bag.

Stovetop / Moka

Another favourite in family kitchens, and for travellers or those with less space in the kitchen. A Moka pot takes 18g (around 3 tablespoons) to make delicious, rich, steam-brewed coffee. You will get approximately 55 coffees out of 1kg of beans with this dose - just remember if you have not used this method before, there can be a little trial and error involved before you get to that beautifully aromatic end result.

Other factors that affect bean usage

The rate at which you go through coffee beans depends on how much coffee you're using per cup, yes, but it also depends on the beans themselves and how you store or handle them.

1. The freshness of the beans

When working out how long the beans will last, remember that it’s not just a measurement of how many cups - you also need to consider the freshness, and how long you should keep beans open for before ordering a fresh batch.

If stored coffee beans are properly (ideally an airtight vessel in a dry, cool place, out of the light) they will be at their best for two weeks after opening the package. After that, they start to lose flavour and become ‘stale’.

2. Personal taste preference

There’s the recommended way, and then there is the way you like brewing your own coffee. If your personal preference is to make your cup of coffee stronger, or if you prefer it more diluted, this will change how the cups of coffee you get out of one bag.

3. Wastage when grinding coffee

Grinding your own beans at home will give you the freshest cup of coffee. However, it will usually mean you have a little bit of wastage each time you grind a fresh dose. Some spillage and residue in the grinder is unavoidable.

You can mitigate this a little with practice and steady hands... but ultimately it’s worth sacrificing a few beans to the grinder for that fresh, full flavour in each cup.

4. How many cups consumed per day

Make sure to include this in your calculations! If you are drinking several cups a day, or pulling a double shot each time instead of standard single shot coffee, you will go through your beans faster. Same applies for office or shared space consumption vs at home brewing for one.

Getting the most out of every bag

Whether you get 40 or 70 cups from your 1kg bag of coffee comes down to how you brew, how strong you like it, and how much you drink per day. By sorting out your preferred method and keeping things consistent, you can make the most of every bean.

To make 1kg of coffee beans go further (and taste better), try:

Make sure you are buying fresh whole beans, rather than pre-ground coffee. While you can certainly keep using ground coffee if that is your preference, you have more control over grind size and will notice a brighter taste if you do it yourself.
Always using a scale for consistent, accurate measurement. Getting that perfect amount of coffee helps you stay consistent with both bean usage and flavour.
Storing the beans properly to keep them fresh - otherwise you may need to replace them before you actually run out.
Cleaning your equipment so the machine is extracting correctly.
Experimenting with your brewing ratios to find your preferred strength and method.

Sourcing roasted coffee beans for the perfect cup

Making good coffee is a science, and it can come down to combining the right variables. One of these is the beans you use.

Try ordering whole beans over ground beans to make sure you have the fullest sensory experience.

You can also explore our coffee bean subscriptions. Vittoria Coffee is loved by baristas and home brewers across the globe - why not buy your coffee beans online, where you can enjoy fast delivery right across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US.