Clever Dripper ratio: how much coffee to use?

For a Clever Dripper, use about 22 g of coffee, which is 4.5 level tablespoons or 2 scoops, for 12 oz (355 g) of water. That is a 1:16 ratio. Steep it for four minutes, then set the dripper on your mug to drain. If you like a stronger cup, 24 g for the same water gives 1:15. The rest of this page gives the table for other sizes and the steps. For the logic behind the numbers, our pillar page how much coffee per cup explains grams, level tablespoons (5 g each) and scoops (2 tablespoons).

Why does the Clever use a different ratio?

It does not use a very different ratio, but it is a different kind of brew. The Clever is an immersion brewer with a paper filter. The coffee steeps in the water like a French press, then the bottom valve opens and it drains through a filter like a pour-over. You get the body of immersion and the clean cup of paper. Because all the water touches all the coffee for the whole four minutes, the result is forgiving, and the 1:15 to 1:16 range works well.

How much coffee for each size?

Clever Drippers are commonly sold in a small size and a large size, with a capacity of roughly 10 oz and 18 oz, though sizes vary by maker, so check yours. Use the water you actually plan to pour and not the capacity on the box. Level tablespoons are about 5 g, scoops are 2 tablespoons (10 g).

Tablespoon and scoop counts are rounded to the nearest half. A scale is better, since a level tablespoon of ground coffee varies, which is why we wrote how many grams of coffee in a tablespoon. A 12 oz bag is about 340 g, so at 22 g per 12 oz mug it makes about 15 mugs.

What are the steps?

1. Place a paper filter in the Clever and rinse it with hot water. Pour the rinse water out through the valve by setting the dripper on a mug, then discard it.
2. With the dripper on a scale (not on the mug), add 22 g of medium-coarse ground coffee.
3. Pour 355 g of water just off the boil over the grounds. Wet them all, and give one stir.
4. Put the lid on and start a timer. Steep for four minutes.
5. Set the Clever on your mug. The valve opens and it drains in about a minute.
6. Remove the dripper and drink.

Keep the dripper off the mug while it steeps, because the valve opens as soon as it sits on a mug. If you set up a few extra things first, the order matters more than the exact temperature.

How do you adjust it?

• Sour or thin: grind finer, or steep a little longer. Check that you used 22 g and not 18 g. Our pour-over coffee too weak post has the order to try.
• Bitter or heavy: grind coarser, or cut the steep to three and a half minutes.
• Too strong for you: go to 1:17 in the table, or top the cup with a splash of hot water.

How does it compare with other methods?

It is close to a French press in ratio and close to a pour-over in clarity. For other brewers, see coffee ratio by brewing method: one chart and AeroPress ratio. The siphon is another immersion brewer, and its ratio is similar, but we do not have tested numbers for one, so we have not written them here.

Which coffee works well in a Clever?

Immersion is gentle and sweet, so a clean, sweet coffee suits it. Our label describes No. 8 Consent as clean and sweet, with nothing in it to push back against, brewed as drip or pour-over at 60 g per litre. That is close to 1:16.7, so it sits between the 1:16 and 1:17 columns above. Our No. 8 Consent brewing guide has the other ways we make it.

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Weigh 22 g, pour 355 g, set a four minute timer, and drain.