Monthly planner: one person drinking two 12 oz mugs a day at 1:16 uses about 22 g per cup, 44 g a day and about 1,349 g a month. That is roughly 3 lb, so four 1 lb bags cover the month with a little to spare.
How the math works
Every estimate on this page starts from three numbers, and you can swap in your own if your habits are different.
- The ratio. We use 1:16, meaning 1 gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water. It is a common middle ground for drip machines and pour over, and most people land somewhere between 1:15 and 1:17.
- The mug. A 12 oz mug holds about 355 g of water. Divide by 16 and you get about 22 g of coffee per cup.
- The month. An average month is 30.4 days (365 divided by 12), and 1 lb is 453.6 g.
Put together: 22 g per cup, times 30.4 days, is about 674 g a month for one cup a day. Divide by 453.6 and you get 1.49 lb. Everything else in the chart below is that number multiplied by how many cups you drink.
Cups per day to pounds per month
These figures assume a 12 oz mug at 1:16, about 22 g of coffee per cup, every day of the month.
| Cups per day | Coffee per month | Pounds per month | 1 lb bags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 674 g | 1.5 lb | 2 bags covers it |
| 1.5 | 1,011 g | 2.2 lb | 2 bags, with a few days short |
| 2 | 1,349 g | 3.0 lb | 3 to 4 bags |
| 3 | 2,023 g | 4.5 lb | 4 to 5 bags |
| 4 | 2,697 g | 5.9 lb | 6 bags |
| 6 | 4,046 g | 8.9 lb | 9 bags |
For a household, add up everyone's cups. Two people who each drink two mugs a day are drinking four cups a day between them, so they need about 5.9 lb a month.
If your mug is smaller or bigger
Mug size changes the answer more than most people expect. At the same 1:16 ratio:
- 8 oz cup: about 15 g of coffee per cup, so one cup a day is about 1 lb a month.
- 12 oz mug: about 22 g per cup, so one a day is about 1.5 lb a month.
- 16 oz travel mug: about 30 g per cup, so one a day is about 2 lb a month.
If you brew a full 12 cup drip carafe every morning, note that coffee makers count a "cup" as only 5 or 6 oz. A full pot is roughly 60 oz of water, which at 1:16 is about 110 g of coffee. Brew that every day and you are using a little over 7 lb a month, whether or not every cup gets finished.
Things that push the number up or down
The chart is a starting point. Real kitchens wander from it in a few predictable ways.
- Stronger ratios. French press at 1:15 or a strong drip at 1:14 uses 7 to 14 percent more coffee than 1:16.
- Espresso. A double shot uses 18 g or so, which is less than a 12 oz drip mug. A daily latte drinker on doubles uses about 1.2 lb a month.
- Weekends and guests. If Saturday means a second pot, or the family visits for the holidays, plan for it. A New Jersey Thanksgiving can use a week's worth of coffee in an afternoon.
- Cold brew season. Cold brew concentrate is usually made around 1:8, which uses a lot of coffee per batch. If you switch to cold brew from June through August, your summer months will run heavier.
- Waste. Pots poured down the sink count. If you regularly toss the last third of the carafe, brew less rather than buying more.
Measure once, then stop measuring. Weigh the coffee you actually use for a normal morning, multiply by 30, and you will know your monthly number within a few ounces. After that, a scoop that matches your weight is all you need.
A worked example
Say two adults share a kitchen in Red Bank. One drinks two 12 oz mugs every weekday morning and one on weekends. The other has a single 16 oz travel mug on workdays only. Here is how to add that up.
- First person: two mugs on about 22 weekdays and one mug on about 8 weekend days is 52 mugs a month. At 22 g each, that is about 1,144 g.
- Second person: one 16 oz mug on about 22 workdays, at about 30 g each, is about 660 g.
- Together: about 1,804 g a month, or just under 4 lb.
That household would be well served by four 1 lb bags a month. Without doing the math, most people would have guessed two or three, and run out in the third week.
Buying the right amount
Buying in one big bag looks cheaper, but coffee does not keep forever. Roasted coffee is at its best within a few weeks of its roast date, and ground coffee fades faster than whole bean. That makes it worth matching how much you buy to how fast you drink it.
- Buy about a month at a time, or less. If you go through 3 lb a month, a monthly delivery of that size is usually better than a single 5 lb bag that sits around for seven weeks.
- Split big purchases. If you do buy more than a month's worth, keep one bag open and freeze the rest in sealed portions. Our guide to storing coffee beans walks through it.
- Round up, not down. Running out at 6 a.m. is worse than finishing the month with a few spare ounces.
A subscription is the low effort version of all this. Once you know your number, a monthly delivery means you never have to think about it again, which is the whole idea behind the two plans below.