You have coffee drinkers, and you have coffee lovers. The way to tell the difference is the precision and care they employ when brewing every cup of coffee. For getting the perfect cup of coffee, you need to get yourself a coffee scale.
We’ve got your back: here are our picks for the best coffee scale that will help you progress from drinking a brown liquid to drinking real coffee.
Why you want a coffee scale
It’s possible to just use a scoop, of course, but unfortunately, scoops are wildly inconsistent. If you measured out coffee beans with a one tablespoon scoop, then measured out coarse coffee grounds with the same scoop, and finally fine coffee grounds with the same scoop, you’d notice something very surprising.
All three measurements would weigh different! The fine grounds would weigh the most, followed by the coarse grounds, followed by the beans.
The beans are the biggest and most irregular, so there’s a lot more air in between each bean, occupying volume but not mass. The same logic applies to the coarse and fine grounds.
Not to mention that some beans would be poking above the scoop, and some grounds may not come all the way to the lip of the scoop. There’s just too many possibilities for inaccuracy.
As you can see, you’d end up making wildly (well, maybe not wildly, but at least subtly) different beverages if you just used volume to measure instead of weight.
When you measure with weight, you know that you’re using exactly 15 grams of coffee per serving, whether that may be beans, coarse grounds, or fine grounds. This will add precision and consistency to your coffee brewing process.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about…
Best Coffee Scale: Top picks
1. HuiSmart Digital Coffee Scale
One of the reasons the HuiSmart Digital Coffee Scale is a contender for the best coffee scale is that it has a timer and a weight function. So you can weigh the coffee out, and set a timer as you are brewing coffee using your favorite brewing method.
Weight and time combined allow for greater control of your coffee brewing and make for great coffee. The HuiSmart scale gives you both.
This is also a very accurate scale as it can measure to within 1/10 of a gram, and you can also switch units between grams and ounces if you choose.
You can also place containers on the scale and fill the container with whatever you want to measure using the tare function. There’s also a neat little hanger attachment you can use for easy storage.
2. Hario V60 Drip Scale (best coffee scale for pour over)
The Hario V60 drip scale is easily one of the best, if not the best coffee scale around. You have probably heard of the Hario brand from some of the other awesome coffee gear they make.
This scale is small and portable, so you can easily take it along with you if you are traveling. It measures to an accuracy of 0.1 grams, perfect for getting the ideal cup of coffee, and there is also a timer you can use to brew with exactness.
Additionally, there is an auto-off function that helps preserve battery life, especially if you tend to forget to turn things off manually! When the timer is on, the auto-off function is disabled.
However, auto-off can also be a bit of a hassle when you’re doing a few things in the kitchen and moving from place to place – by the time you get back to the scale, it may have turned off and you’ve lost your measurements.
I really like this scale for pour over coffee. You can place the cup and dripper on the scale itself, and measure the mass of the water you pour out to make sure you’re pouring the correct amount.
3. Brewista Smart Scale II
The Smart Scale II by Brewista is another scale specifically designed for coffee brewing. Though you could use it for measuring really anything, it’s best designed for coffee.
Unlike the other coffee scales listed here which run on batteries, the Brewista Smart Scale II uses a rechargeable battery you can charge with USB.
There are 6 modes in the scale which you can use to brew a variety of coffees, though I feel you’ll end up using manual mode most of the time.
The remaining 5 modes are all for espresso, and vary between when the scale will begin to tare and when the timer kicks in. The modes would be useful if you’re pulling a shot using a manual espresso machine.
Most of us don’t pull shots manually, and for that reason these modes feel more like a novelty rather than something super useful. After all, it’s a scale 🙂
4. Ozeri Touch Digital Kitchen Scale
If you’re looking for something more multi-purpose, the Ozeri Touch Kitchen Scale is a good option. Sporting tempered glass for more weight capacity and an ability to read up to 5 kg, you can use this scale for measuring out baking ingredients or cooking ingredients, too.
In fact, the capacity is enough that you could tare a mixing bowl on the scale and still have enough weight to spare to measure out more ingredients.
Of course, you can also use it for measuring coffee, though the one drawback is that it is only accurate up to 1 gram. This is in contrast with the best coffee scales we’ve reviewed here that can measure to within one tenth of a gram.
If you’re looking specifically for coffee scales, I’ll advise you to skip this one. But if you want something multipurpose and don’t mind the loss in accuracy, then go for it.
5. Coastline Digital Pro Pocket Scale
The Coastline Digital Pro Pocket Scale is another dual purpose kitchen/coffee scale which is great for taking small measurements. Because this is quite small – it is a pocket scale after all – you won’t be able to tare large mixing bowls or anything on it. But because of its size you can measure to 1/10th of a gram.
It does come with a handy plastic tray that fits on top of the weighing area where you can pour in liquids or beans for exact measurement of loose and slippery things!
The overall construction quality seems quite sturdy but the buttons feel a little cheap to the touch.
As far as coffee scales go, this one is only good for measuring out beans. I prefer to brew coffee on the scale too, in which case, this one won’t make the cut. But if size is the important factor for you, then it’s worth considering.