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How do I scale a recipe up for two?

Keep the ratio, expect the time to lengthen, and grind slightly coarser. Doubling is not linear.

Doubling the dose and water does not double the brew — bed depth changes the physics.

What stays the same

The ratio. 1:16 is 1:16 whether it is 15 g or 30 g.

Temperature.

What changes

Time gets longer, disproportionately. A deeper bed means more resistance, so the water passes more slowly. A 30 g V60 can take 4 minutes where a 15 g takes 2:45.

Extraction rises for the same reason — longer contact.

The adjustment

Grind one or two steps coarser when you double, to bring the time back down.

Otherwise the larger brew will be over-extracted relative to the small one, at the same setting.

Use the right size brewer

A V60-01 cannot take 30 g. A V60-02 handles 15 to 30 g comfortably. A Chemex 6-cup wants 30 to 45 g.

Too much coffee in a small cone overflows and channels. Too little in a big one gives a shallow bed that channels the other way.

Pouring larger brews

More pours, not one bigger one. Four pours of 100 g rather than two of 200 g keeps the bed from flooding and the level manageable.

Above about 40 g

Switch method. A Chemex, a batch brewer or a large French press is designed for volume, and a V60 is not.

The easy option

For two or more, a full-immersion brewer or a filter machine is more consistent than scaling a pour-over. Bed depth stops being your problem.

Last reviewed 8 August 2026