Updated Tea & Coffee Brew Tool

Tea & Coffee Strength Calculator

Measure and tune your brew strength using grams, spoons, cups, TDS and extraction yield. Switch between simple home mode, tea vs coffee mode, brew ratio mode and expert barista mode to get flavor notes and practical adjustments.

Brew Ratio TDS & Extraction Yield Tea & Coffee Modes Flavor Suggestions

Calculate Tea & Coffee Strength for Any Brewing Style

This Tea & Coffee Strength Calculator combines four practical modes in a single tool. Use professional brew ratio and TDS inputs, or keep it simple with spoons and cups. You can switch between coffee and tea, and there is also a barista mode with extraction yield for dialing in espresso or filter coffee.

Typical coffee brew ratios are around 1:15–1:17 (1 g of coffee per 15–17 g of water). Tea is often brewed milder, but steep time matters more. Professional coffee strength is commonly measured with TDS (total dissolved solids) in the range of 1.15–1.45% for many filter brews.

Brew ratio is computed as water divided by dose (for example 270 g water and 18 g coffee gives a ratio of 1:15). Extraction yield is approximated from the simpleation EY% ≈ TDS% × (beverage mass / dose). Here we use your entered water amount as a proxy for beverage mass, which works well for quick tuning.

This mode is designed for quick home use. It assumes 2 grams of tea or coffee per teaspoon. It converts spoons and cups into an approximate brew ratio and then classifies your drink as weak, balanced, or strong, with easy suggestions on how to adjust next time.

This mode compares your current dose, water volume and steep time with typical ranges for coffee and different types of tea. It returns a simple verdict (too weak, balanced, or very strong) and explains whether you should mainly adjust time, amount, or water next time.

This mode is aimed at baristas and advanced home brewers. It uses your dose, beverage yield and TDS to compute brew ratio and extraction yield. It then compares the numbers with the classic “brew control chart” style ranges (about 18–22% extraction yield and 1.15–1.45% TDS for many filter coffees).

Tea & Coffee Strength Calculator – From Spoons & Cups to TDS & Extraction Yield

The Tea & Coffee Strength Calculator on MyTimeCalculator helps you go from “this tastes weak” to “this is exactly how I like it” using simple inputs or professional-style measurements. Whether you brew in a home kitchen or behind an espresso bar, you can evaluate your brew ratio, strength and extraction, then make targeted changes instead of guessing.

At the heart of the tool are two ideas: the brew ratio (how much water is used per gram of tea or coffee) and, for coffee, TDS and extraction yield. The brew ratio largely controls how strong the drink feels, while TDS and extraction govern how much of the flavors in the grounds make it into the cup and whether they lean sour, balanced or bitter.

1. Understanding Brew Ratio for Tea and Coffee

Brew ratio is a simple but powerful concept. It is defined as total water mass (or volume in ml, treated as grams) divided by the mass of tea or coffee used. For example, 18 g of coffee brewed with 270 g of water has a ratio of 270 ÷ 18 = 15, often written as 1:15.

  • Lower ratios (1:10–1:14) — very strong, concentrated drinks.
  • Typical coffee ratios (1:15–1:17) — balanced filter brews for many beans.
  • Higher ratios (1:18+) — milder, lighter cups or large mugs of tea.

Tea strength depends not only on ratio but also steep time and leaf style. A delicate green tea may taste harsh if brewed like a bold black tea. That is why the Tea vs Coffee tab factors in both ratio and time when it labels a brew as weak, balanced or very strong.

2. TDS and Extraction Yield for Coffee

For coffee, professional tools like refractometers measure total dissolved solids (TDS), the percentage of dissolved coffee in the beverage. Many filter coffees taste best around 1.15–1.45% TDS, while espresso is much stronger, often over 8–10%.

Using TDS and your beverage yield, the calculator estimates extraction yield, a percentage describing how much of the coffee grounds actually dissolved into the drink. A common “sweet spot” for many coffees is roughly 18–22% extraction:

  • Under-extracted (< 18%) — often sour, sharp or thin.
  • Balanced (18–22%) — more sweetness, clarity and complexity.
  • Over-extracted (> 22%) — can become dry, bitter or harsh.

The Brew Strength and Barista Pro tabs in the calculator compute brew ratio, TDS and extraction yield together, then tell you whether you are likely under-extracted, over-extracted or near the classic “brew box”.

3. How to Use Each Mode in the Calculator

  1. Brew Strength (TDS & Ratio): Enter coffee dose, water and TDS. This mode is ideal if you own a refractometer or receive TDS readings in a lab. The calculator shows your brew ratio, estimated extraction yield and simple flavor notes with targeted tips.
  2. Simple Home Strength: Choose tea or coffee, then enter spoons and cups. It converts these into an approximate ratio and returns a strength score, which is perfect for everyday home brewing without a scale.
  3. Tea vs Coffee Mode: Select your drink type (coffee, black tea, green tea or herbal) and provide amount, water and steep time. The tool compares your inputs to typical ranges and tells you whether your current brew is weaker or stronger than your chosen flavor preference.
  4. Barista Pro Mode: Enter dose, beverage yield and TDS. This is designed for espresso and advanced filter coffee dialing in. It checks your numbers against standard extraction and TDS ranges and suggests whether to adjust grind, dose, yield or brew time.

4. Practical Tips for Adjusting Strength

When your drink feels too weak or too strong, it helps to change one variable at a time:

  • To make coffee stronger: use more coffee for the same water, or keep dose constant and reduce water slightly. For immersion methods you can also extend brew time.
  • To make coffee milder: use slightly less coffee or more water, but avoid stretching the brew so long that it over-extracts and becomes bitter.
  • For tea: shorter steeps at the same ratio yield softer cups; longer steeps increase bitterness and astringency. Adjust leaf amount and time together rather than only time.
  • For espresso: small changes in dose, grind and beverage yield can dramatically change taste, so make measured adjustments and use the calculator to keep track of your numbers.

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Tea & Coffee Strength Calculator FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to common questions brew ratio, TDS, extraction yield and how to use this Tea & Coffee Strength Calculator for both home brewing and barista-level dialing in.

No. The calculator supports both simple and advanced workflows. The Simple Home Strength and Tea vs Coffee modes work with spoons, cups and estimated amounts, which is enough to classify strength and suggest adjustments. The Brew Strength and Barista Pro modes are designed for users who weigh dose and yield and optionally measure TDS with a refractometer.

Many filter coffees taste balanced around 1:15–1:17 (water:dose). Espresso uses much lower ratios, often between 1:1.5 and 1:2.5. The calculator takes your dose and water or beverage yield, computes the ratio, and compares it with typical ranges for your chosen method. It then labels your brew as weak, balanced, or strong and suggests whether to adjust dose, water or yield next time.

If you enter a measured TDS from a refractometer and provide realistic dose and beverage yield, the extraction yield calculation follows the standard approximation used in specialty coffee. For quick filter brews where water is used as a proxy for beverage mass, the results are still very useful as aative guide. Real-world factors like absorption and brew method may create small deviations, but the trends and flavor guidance remain valid for dialing in recipes.

Yes. The Tea vs Coffee mode is designed specifically for both coffee and several tea types, including black, green and herbal teas. It accounts for typical steep-time ranges and stronger or milder target profiles, then labels your brew as weaker, balanced or stronger than the usual range. The Simple Home Strength mode also works very well for casual tea brewing with spoons and cups.

Ratio is only one part of strength. Grind size, water temperature, brew time and bean or tea quality also matter. A brew with a good ratio can still taste bitter if it is over-extracted (too fine grind or very long time) or if the water temperature is excessively high. The Barista Pro and Tea vs Coffee modes help you interpret whether your strength problem likely comes from ratio or extraction, and suggest which variable to adjust first.

Absolutely. Once you find a tea or coffee recipe you love, record the dose, water, time and—if available— TDS and extraction yield alongside the results from this calculator. You can then repeat or lightly adjust those numbers whenever you brew again, which is far moreiable thanying on memory or rough descriptions like “a bit more coffee and a longer steep”.

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