Coffee Scales

A precision scale is one of the essential tools for extracting your coffee, whether espresso or mild. It is the accessory that will allow you to progress in your coffee preparation and tasting.

An accurate scale gives you control and repeatability. It will allow you to reproduce a delicious coffee and remedy a bad one.

Why buy a coffe scale?

With a precision coffee scale , you can experiment with coffee/water ratios to find the perfect recipe for your palate. And just as importantly, a reliable digital scale gives you total control over the different parameters and allows you to reproduce the coffee you like, day after day.

To get a good espresso or mild coffee (Chemex, V60, etc), the ratio of coffee to water has a direct impact on the extraction time and the result in the cup. To brew coffee, an accurate scale is an absolute necessity.

What type of coffee scale?

The most crucial factor to look for in a coffee scale is accuracy.

The level of accuracy can differ considerably between different brands, but a good coffee scale should be accurate to within 0.1 grams .

The second important factor to consider is functionality. Because you will depend on your scale every time you make coffee , it should meet your specific needs. For example, the buttons should be easy to operate.

Also, the responsiveness of the coffee scale is important. A time lag can considerably hamper the usefulness of a scale and disturb the time and weight settings.

An essential function is the automatic tare . This will allow you to put your filter holder or carafe on the scale, then "tare" the weight to zero so that you can then weigh your ground coffee.

Most coffee scales are equipped with a timer , which is essential for timing the extraction time , but also for knowing when to pour hot water over the coffee grounds in the pour-over method.

The automatic shut-off function is also important. Most digital scales that are not specifically designed for coffee will have an auto shut-off function that goes off after one or two minutes. This can be incredibly frustrating for manual extractions, such as coffee in pour-over methods , with water poured in several stages , with longer extraction times. So consider finding a precision scale without an automatic shut-off function.

The size of the scale that will suit you best will depend mainly on your extraction method.

If the aim is to use the scale with a manual espresso machine , it is essential to have one small enough to fit into the spouts of the filter holder. Similarly, if your preferred method is Chemex , you will need a scale that is sturdy enough and large enough to hold the carafe and still see the display.

Another thing to consider is where you will be making your coffee. If it's your morning coffee at home, size is probably not an issue. But if it's business trips, holidays, or hikes, you'll want a durable, compact, precision scale that can easily fit in your bag.

For a durable scale, also consider water resistance.

Finally, some coffee scales are Bluetooth enabled . They connect to your smartphone, with a dedicated app that allows you to save your recipes or follow tutorials for your extraction method.

At MaxiCoffee , you will find precision scales with renowned brands such as Hario , Brewista , Felicita , Timemore etc.