Coffee dosing cups: This is how you use them

A coffee dosing cup is the perfect tool for weighing your ground coffee and transferring it to your portafilter without making a mess. Especially for home baristas who use single dosing, a dosing cup is an essential accessory.

In this blog, we'll tell you everything you need to know about using a dosing cup, plus tips on how to use it for single dosing.

What is a coffee dosing cup?

A dosing cup is a tool that helps you transfer your ground beans into your portafilter without wasting any coffee.

You place it under your grinder while grinding, then set it on top of your portafilter. Flip it over, give it a gentle tap, and all your grounds should land neatly in the portafilter.

Dosing cups are especially useful for home baristas who use the single dosing method: a technique where you only put the exact amount of whole beans into the hopper that you want to use right then and there.

Instead of weighing the grounds, you weigh the whole beans before grinding. This helps keep your beans fresher for longer, especially when stored in a vacuum container.

Single dosing is particularly popular among specialty coffee lovers, as it helps extract the full range of flavors from your precious fresh beans.

Our 3 types of dosing cups

When choosing a dosing cup, it's especially important to get the right size and type for your espresso machine. We offer three options:

Dosing cup for Sage, Solis and Breville (54mm)
Specially designed for machines with a built-in grinder, like the Sage Barista Express. Features the same wings as a Sage portafilter and an activation tab to start the grinder with ease.

Dosing cup for Sage Impress (54mm)
Made specifically for the Sage Barista Impress, Barista Touch Impress and Barista Express Impress. Take back control of your puck prep while still using your Impress machine's grinder.

Dosing cup for separate grinders (51mm and 58mm)
Got a standalone grinder? Then one of our separate dosing cups is what you need. The 58mm we custom-made at 58.5mm for the best possible fit and it works on E61 machines and other espresso machines with a 58mm portafilter. The 51mm is made for DeLonghi machines like the DeLonghi Dedica and other machines with a 51mm portafilter. Not sure which size fits your machine? Check our size chart and it will tell you exactly what you need.

Browse all dosing cups

How to use a coffee dosing cup

Using a dosing cup is not difficult. Here is a quick step-by-step to guide you through it:

Sage dosing cup (built-in grinder)

1. Place the dosing cup on your scale and press the tare button.
2. Check if there are enough beans in your hopper.
3. Attach the dosing cup under your grinder and start grinding.
4. Weigh the dosing cup again after grinding.
5. Add or remove grounds until you have the right dose for your basket. Check our espresso recipe if you are not sure how much that is.
6. Place the dosing cup on your portafilter and flip it over.
7. Tap the sides of the dosing cup a few times, then lift it off.
8. Your coffee is now ready to be distributed and tamped.

Dosing cup 51/58mm (separate grinder)

1. Place the dosing cup on your scale and press the tare button.
2. Check if there are enough beans in your grinder.
3. Place the dosing cup under your grinder (some grinders have a holder it fits into).
4. Grind as you normally would.
5. Weigh the dosing cup with the grounds. Add or remove coffee until you have the right dose for your basket. Check our espresso recipe if you are not sure how much that is.
6. Set the dosing cup on your portafilter and flip it over.
7. Tap the dosing cup a few times before lifting it off.
8. Your coffee is now ready to distribute and tamp!

Single dosing: How-to

A dosing cup is a great tool for when you want to start experimenting with single dosing.

Here is how to use a dosing cup for single dosing:

1. Place the dosing cup on your scale and press the tare button.
2. Weigh out the right amount of whole beans directly into the dosing cup. Check our espresso recipe for how much that is.
3. Pour the weighed beans into your grinder.
4. Tare the now-empty dosing cup again.
5. Place the dosing cup under your grinder and grind the beans.
6. Check the final weight because sometimes a few beans stay behind in the grinder.
7. Place the dosing cup on your portafilter and flip it over.
8. Done! You are now ready to start your puck prep.