# How big is a cup?



## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

The size of a coffee brewer is frequently stated in terms of the number of cups it produces. Following a number of discussions lately, it has become increasingly clear to me that I still do not really know how big a "cup" is.

A cook's "cup" is a unit of measure used in various countries around the world but means different things depending upon the country and the context. For example, in Commonwealth countries 1 Metric Cup is defined as being equal to 250ml. However, in the US there are 2 different cup measures: the Customary Cup and the "Legal" Cup which equate to 237ml and 240ml respectively. There are further cup measures called the Imperial Cup, measuring 284ml, and the smaller Japanese Cup at 200ml. Just to add to the confusion, in many countries the cup is simply an approximate measure of the volume of liquid held by a typical household tea cup.

In most cases, providing it is used to measure relatively and all measurements are in "cups", recipes will end up with the correct proportions of ingredients. However, problems arise when cups are used to measure absolutely, for example when coffee brewer capacity is stated in cups or units are mixed e.g. "1 cup of coffee requires 1tbsp of ground coffee" which will result in a different concentration of coffee depending upon the size of cup.

This causes a lot of confusion and makes it very difficult to select the right sized brewer. I am going to write down my thoughts on sizes for some popular brewers and would welcome people to chip in with their thoughts and opinions. All the volumes stated are of the resulting brew and not the water used to brew (which will be higher).

Chemex 1-3 cup = 150 - 450ml (the Chemex website says their "cup" equates to 150ml)

Chemex 3-6 cup = 450 - 900ml

Hario V60-01 (1 - 2 cups) = 200 - 500ml

Hario V60-02 (2 - 4 cups) = 500 - 1000ml

Kalita Wave 155 = HasBean recommend 300 -500ml but I have found lower volumes work better depending upon technique. For my technique, 200 - 400ml is about right.

Kalita Wave 185 = HasBean recommend 500 -750ml

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Hario TCA5 cup syphon maxes about 600ml fof me... Hence 120ml cup.

Chemex 4-6 cup maxes about 720ml for me, again 120ml per cup.


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

The thing I don't get is how manufacturers come up with a capacity for cones like the Hario. There's no limit to how much water you add only how fast you add it. Really the only limiting factor is how big your receptacle is underneath. Or am I being too pedantic - ha ha?


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## RolandG (Jul 25, 2010)

I'm with Mike - despite given values, I usually find 1 cup works out about 120ml. My 1-3 cup chemex brews up to 400ml added (so 370ish out) comfortably. My V60-02, I usually brew 200 - 400ml (i.e. 2 cups is a minimum rather than max here).TCA5 holds about 600ml max.

James - As to the pour over cones, manufacturers can assume a standard brew ratio (60g/l) and then look at how much coffee can fit in the cone, whilst still allowing for expansion of grinds and enough room to add your water.


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

I reckon you could make a litre of coffee (using the standard brew ratio) with a 2 cup cone though. It wouldn't taste particularly good and it would take a while but it would be possible.

Anyway, joking aside, traditionally most coffee makers were measured by demitasse cups which were 4fl oz. This is still the case today, but there is a great deal of variance between manufacturer's as some rounding goes on when they convert from fl oz to ml. There's also the problem of US fl oz being smaller than UK fl oz. There are exceptions, such as stove-top espresso makers, were 1 cup is approximately 45ml or 1.5fl oz.


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