How Many Coffee Beans Are in 15g or 20g? How to Count Coffee Beans Without a Scale

When brewing pour-over coffee, how can you roughly determine how much 15g of coffee beans is without a scale? Today, FrontStreet Coffee will share a rather unconventional method of counting coffee beans with everyone.

Have you ever been curious about how many individual coffee beans make up the 15 grams you typically use for brewing? Different growing regions produce coffee beans of different sizes. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will count out how many coffee beans are in 15 grams across several common varieties we regularly encounter.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Daily Bean - Washed Process - Heirloom Varieties

As the "homeland" of coffee beans, Ethiopia typically describes its coffee varieties as "local heirloom." Local coffee grading doesn't distinguish by size but only eliminates defects, so the beans are not uniform in size. Among three different samples from the same growing region, the approximate bean counts are as follows:

Sample A: 112 beans
Sample B: 108 beans
Sample C: 110 beans

Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 - Washed Process - Typica Variety

Speaking of Blue Mountain coffee, everyone is likely familiar with this "king" of the last century. It grows one of the world's recognized finest specialty coffee bean varieties: Typica, and only uses the washed processing method for raw beans. Only raw beans grown in specific regions designated by CIB, sized at 17-18 mesh, and with a defect rate below 3% can be called "Blue Mountain No. 1." Sample A and Sample C differed by just one bean.

Sample A: 97 beans
Sample B: 93 beans
Sample C: 96 beans

Brazil Queen Farm - Natural Process - Yellow Bourbon Variety

After discussing the representative of Typica, we must mention the other half of the specialty coffee varieties: the Bourbon family. For this counting experiment, FrontStreet Coffee selected Yellow Bourbon from Brazil's Queen Farm. Brazil's green coffee standards are based on defect count, bean size, and flavor evaluation, so these beans are relatively uniform in size.

Sample A: 114 beans
Sample B: 115 beans
Sample C: 117 beans

Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label - Washed Process - Gesha Variety

After discussing the "king" of the last century, we must mention today's "pinnacle" of coffee varieties—Gesha. This variety was first discovered and popularized by Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, sparking a worldwide rush to plant it. For this reason, FrontStreet Coffee chose Panama La Esmeralda Green Label for weighing and counting. Compared to most daily coffee beans, Panama Gesha has a distinctive long and narrow appearance, making it easy to distinguish from other varieties—no need to worry about other beans being passed off as Panama Gesha.

Sample A: 84 beans
Sample B: 85 beans
Sample C: 86 beans

Panama's daily coffee bean grading is based on green bean hardness, with the highest grade being SHB (Strictly Hard Bean), meaning altitude ≥1400m. According to Hacienda La Esmeralda's own grading system, the Green Label grows at altitudes between 1600-1800 meters, far exceeding Panama's official highest grading standard, making the beans exceptionally full and plump.

Indonesia Golden Mandheling - Wet-Hulled Process - Ateng Variety

After counting authentic Arabica coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee wanted to see how many beans are in 15 grams of Indonesian coffee beans, which contain some Robusta genes. We selected PWN Golden Mandheling for counting. It uses the Ateng variety, and after strict selection, the Golden Mandheling specification is 18 mesh or larger, with fewer than 3 defective beans (per 300g green bean sample), belonging to the highest G1 grade. The beans are dark green in color and have a uniform flat shape.

Sample 1: 72 beans
Sample 2: 75 beans
Sample 3: 77 beans

Finally, a little behind-the-scenes note: writing each article exhausts one of our baristas.

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FrontStreet Coffee
No. 10, Bao'an Qian Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

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