What Does 1kg of Coffee Beans Actually Get You?

You’ve just ordered a bag of specialty coffee and it arrives: 1 kilogram of freshly roasted beans. A kilogram feels substantial — but how long will it actually last? The answer depends on how you brew, how strong you like your coffee, and whether you’re the only one drinking it. Here’s a practical breakdown.

The Maths Behind a Kilogram

One kilogram of coffee beans is 1,000 grams. That’s the starting point. From there, it all comes down to your dose — the amount of coffee you use per cup or per brew.

Espresso

A standard espresso uses 18–20 grams of ground coffee per double shot. At 18g per shot, 1kg of beans gives you approximately 55 double shots. If you pull two doubles a day (a common habit for home baristas), a kilogram will last around four weeks.

For a milk-based drink like a flat white or latte, you’re usually working with one double shot — so 1kg covers about 55 drinks. Cappuccinos and cortados follow the same logic.

Filter Coffee (Pour Over, Batch Brew, Plunger)

Filter brewing typically uses a ratio of around 60–65 grams per litre of water — or roughly 15g per 250ml cup. At that rate, 1kg makes approximately 66 cups. Plunger coffee often uses slightly more, so you might land closer to 50 cups if you’re generous with your dose.

Cold Brew

Cold brew is where you use the most coffee per serve. A standard cold brew concentrate uses a 1:4 or 1:5 ratio — roughly 200g of coffee per litre of water. Diluted to a drinking strength, 1kg of beans can produce around 25–30 serves of concentrate, yielding 50–60 cups once diluted.

What Affects How Far Your Bag Goes?

• Grind coarseness: Coarser grinds (plunger, cold brew) often require more coffee to extract the same flavour.
• Your dose: Specialty coffee drinkers tend to dose more carefully — 18–20g for espresso is common. Robusta-based commercial blends often use 7g per cup.
• How many people are drinking: A household of two coffee drinkers will go through a kilogram roughly twice as fast as a single drinker.
• Wastage: Dialling in a new bag, especially with single origin coffees, involves some trial and error. Factor in a handful of shots for this.

Quick Reference: Cups Per Kilogram

Brew Method	Dose per Cup	Cups from 1kg
Espresso (double shot)	18–20g	50–55 cups
Filter / Pour Over	15g	~66 cups
Plunger / French Press	20g	~50 cups
Cold Brew (diluted)	~16g per serve	~60 cups

How to Buy the Right Amount

For a solo espresso drinker having one or two coffees a day, 1kg will last three to four weeks. For a household of two with mixed brewing styles, plan to restock monthly. If you’re buying for a small office or shared kitchen, you’ll likely go through a kilogram in a week or two.

One practical tip: specialty coffee is at its best within four to six weeks of the roast date. Buying in 500g increments instead of 1kg at a time can mean you’re always drinking fresher coffee, even if the per-gram cost is slightly higher. For most households, the flavour difference is worth it.

Freshness Matters More Than Quantity

The number of cups you get from a bag is one thing — but the quality of those cups matters too. Coffee that’s been sitting in a warehouse for months before it reaches you will taste flat no matter how carefully you brew it. Buying from a roaster who ships shortly after roasting makes a real difference to what ends up in your cup.

Neli Coffee roasts to order and ships directly, so the beans you receive are typically within a few days to two weeks of their roast date. That means every cup in your kilogram tastes the way the roaster intended.