Learn more about the Ratio Scale: the scale that does (almost) everything but pour the water for you.
BY JOSH TAVES
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos by Josh Taves
When I first started trying to understand pourover coffee many years ago, I’ll admit it turned out to be a more daunting task than I expected. The information available is endless—from ratios and grind settings to pouring techniques and kettle styles. What I’ve come to learn is that while all of these things have a place in the brewer’s toolkit, it can be a lot to swallow for a beginner, and in the end, much of it can be unnecessary in common brewing situations (although you wouldn’t know it from the dogmatic way people talk).
I recently encountered another scale from Brewista (click here to read about their Smart Scale II) that proved to be a great source for the distillation of the complexity of pourovers, rendering them much more accessible to newbies. It’s called the Ratio Scale, and it comes with some pretty unique features that helped to earn it the first-place trophy in the Best New Product competition at Coffee Fest Baltimore last year.
First of all (as the name suggests) it helps you dial in your ratio of coffee to water. Simply place your brewer on the scale and add the coffee. Then the Ratio Scale takes over and tells you exactly how much water you need for that amount of coffee based on your preset ratio (options range from 1:14-1:20). Start pouring your water and the scale kicks in again with a feature that tells you how fast you are pouring versus how fast you should be pouring to achieve a 2:30 brew time with the prescribed amount of water. Just make sure that the “pouring” bar grows at the same rate as the “pacing” bar, and you are good to go!
The cool thing about this scale is that it allows you to go through this whole process in the auto setting, which only requires you to follow the on-screen prompts for successful brewing. Want more control? Switch the Ratio into manual mode and it will allow you to advance between stages with the press of a button.
Still not impressed? (Tough crowd.) The screen on the Ratio is backlit in orange light. When you get within 60g of your prescribed water amount, the Ratio screen starts to flash and change color between orange and white, and when you reach the proper amount of water, the screen turns to a solid white, letting you know that you’re all done. So cool!
To top it all off, this scale is water-resistant (just like the Smart Scale II), with a large weighing platform that easily fits any size Chemex or pourover carafe. It includes a neoprene cover to protect and improve accuracy of the scale, and Brewista will even engrave the top of the scale with your custom logo or message for a few dollars more!
So if you’re looking for a great way to ease into the pourover game or simply want an easy way to improve your bar efficiency, check out the Ratio Scale from Brewista. For those of us looking to simplify our pourover rituals, it is a game changer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Josh Taves has been working in the coffee industry since 2006 and has worked as a barista, trainer, quality control director, profile roaster, and green buyer. He lives in Colorado and enjoys taking advantage of all the great adventures the Rocky Mountains have to offer. He is also the inventor of the Rattleware Cupping Brewer and a 2017 U.S. Barista Championship finalist, so he knows his way around lots of different coffee gadgets.
