Do You Need a Scale to Make Coffee?

For a consistently better cup of coffee, the answer is yes

We use scales in our cafes when making pour over because it helps us brew consistently delicious cups of coffee. For the best pour over coffee at home, we think a scale is essential. 

Scales are already indispensable to scientists, chefs, and Blue Bottle baristas alike, so it’s strange that one of the coffee world’s most stubborn myths is that these tools are excessive for the home coffee brewer.

“There are so many reasons why using a scale makes it easier to make good coffee, not harder,” says Kelly Sanchez, Blue Bottle’s Roastery Operations Manager. “The idea that adding new tools to your routine will complicate it is simply not true.”

While we work hard to make sure our cafes are welcoming to our guests, we’re always thinking about how to make it easier for you to brew our delicious single origin, blend, and espresso coffees at home. In Kelly’s expert opinion, a good working scale is essential to bringing out the best in your coffee when brewing pour over, or really, any other method.

Scales Bring Consistency to Your Pour Over Technique

Even professionals brew pour over coffee using a scale. 

“People come to our cafes not only because the coffee is good, but because it’s dependably so,” says Kelly. “Being able to consistently provide the best, perfectly roasted and brewed coffee every time is important to us and we need scales to do that.”

Brewing pour over consists of pouring a certain amount of water over coffee at four different intervals. In addition to using a scale to measure the amount of coffee for our brew, we weigh the amount of water we’re pouring throughout the brewing process. 

To get consistently delicious coffee, you need to start with the right coffee-to-water ratio. Though it might be tempting to guess the amount of coffee and water you need, eyeballing is, at best, a recipe for inconsistent flavor. 

For one thing, a scoop of coffee can vary in density depending on many factors, including the variety, size, and roast of your beans. Also, it’s nearly impossible to guess how much water you’re pouring each time. Measuring by weight, rather than by volume, will normalize your brew regardless of these factors. 

“Using a scale helps you find out where you're making mistakes. It really eliminates the mystery of weight and ratio, so you can focus more on pertinent variables, like grind size and coffee origin,” says Kelly.

A digital scale helps you to achieve this certainty—not just once, but every time you brew. You can learn more about attaining the right coffee-to-water ratio (which varies depending on the kind of coffee you’re making) with this post from our Director of Training, Michael Phillips.

Using a Scale Improves the Flavor of Your Coffee

Using a scale can also help refine your coffee experience, allowing you to learn more about what you like and what you don't. When you’re able to better evaluate your taste, you can tweak your pour over technique, coffee-to-water ratio, brewing time, and even brewing method, in pursuit of it. 

“If you’re making coffee every day with a scale, you can be positive that you’re getting what you want every time,” says Kelly. “You’re getting better coffee, consistently. Wouldn’t it be awesome to taste wonderful coffee with the assurance of future deliciousness potential?”

Our Favorite Scales for Pour Over Coffee

In our cafes, Blue Bottle baristas use the Acaia Pearl Scale behind the bar when making pour over. Though its ultramodern design is definitely eye-catching, Kelly admires the Pearl for its timer, ability to charge, and water resistance. It also features Bluetooth connectivity, with which “real coffee nerds,” as he says, can use with the Brewmaster app to monitor their average pour rate—crucial information for perfecting your pour over technique.

As accurate gram scales have become more affordable, the options for good ones have proliferated. The Hario Scale, for example, is a less expensive alternative to the Pearl that’s durable, travel-friendly, and with its wide platform, admirably spill-resistant. Kelly points out that it also doesn’t turn off automatically, which makes it easier to use when he’s making multiple cups of coffee. 

Regardless of the kind of scale you prefer, using one empowers you to make coffee with more precision and knowledge than ever before. With this advantage, home pour over coffee brewers have the privilege of continuing to deepen their control over flavor and consistency. 

As Kelly says, “In a way, you become your own quality-control specialist.”