The best coffee for a drip coffee maker is a fresh medium or medium-dark roast, ground medium to medium-fine, used at about two tablespoons per six ounces of water. Freshness and the right dose matter more than the name on the bag.

Drip is still the most common way Americans brew: 38% of past-day coffee drinkers had coffee prepared with a drip brewer, according to the National Coffee Association's Fall 2025 report. We roast one coffee in cast iron on our family farm in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and a standard drip machine is how most of our customers brew it.

What a drip machine needs from your coffee

Roast. Medium to medium-dark is the easy middle for drip. Light roasts taste brighter and more tart, and very dark roasts lean smoky and heavy. Ours is medium-dark in the German Norwegian style: one roast that releases beans at different points, so each batch holds a spread of roast levels.

Grind. Drip wants a medium to medium-fine grind, about the texture of sand. Grind size controls how fast the water pulls flavor from the coffee: too fine and it turns bitter, too coarse and it turns weak. Our ground coffee is one medium-fine grind that works for every brew method, drip included. If you grind at home, order whole bean and grind right before you brew. More in whole bean vs. ground coffee.

Freshness. Coffee does not spoil, but it fades. Ground coffee is best within a few weeks of opening. Look for a roast date, buy what you will finish in a few weeks, and keep it sealed in an airtight container like a Mason jar in a cool, dark cupboard. We advise against the freezer: it brings in moisture, and moisture ruins coffee.

Dose. Most weak coffee is under-dosed, not under-brewed. Start with two tablespoons of ground coffee per six ounces of water, our standard advice, and adjust from there.

Dave R, who writes that he likes light roasts, bought our beans at the barn:

“Ground some at home and ran it through my Coulee coffee maker. I prefer my coffee tasting bold, and this followed very well in my wheel house. It is not bitter.”
Dave R, Google, February 2026

How much coffee per pot

First, check what your machine calls a cup. The marks on a drip carafe are usually 5 or 6 ounces each, not the 8 ounces in a measuring cup. Many makers, Mr. Coffee among them, count a cup as 5 ounces, so a full 12-cup pot holds about 60 ounces (Clearly Coffee), about five 12-ounce mugs. To learn what yours uses, fill the carafe with water to the 4-cup mark and pour it into a measuring cup: 20 ounces means 5-ounce cups, 24 means 6.

At our starting strength of two level tablespoons per six ounces of water, a full 12-cup pot takes about 20 tablespoons (1 1/4 cups) if your carafe counts 5-ounce cups, or 24 tablespoons (1 1/2 cups) if it counts 6-ounce cups (estimates), which makes a full-bodied pot. Our guide to how much coffee for 12 cups has the chart for 4 to 12 cups. Mr. Coffee's own chart is milder, 11 tablespoons for 12 cups. Too strong? Take away a tablespoon or two next time. Weak? Add coffee before you change anything else.

At standard strength a pound makes about 35 eight-ounce cups (an estimate based on the SCA golden cup ratio), or four to five full 60-ounce pots. The full chart is in how many cups of coffee in a pound.

Brew a better pot

• Use good water. Coffee is mostly water. Filtered water makes a noticeable difference if your tap water is heavily chlorinated or very hard.
• Mind the heat. Coffee brews best with water just off boiling, around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. A drip machine heats the water for you.
• Get it off the hot plate. Coffee left on a hot plate keeps cooking, and the flavor drops off noticeably after about thirty minutes. Brew what you will drink soon, or pour the pot into a thermal carafe.
• Keep the machine clean. Rinse the basket and carafe daily and descale every month or two, the way your manual describes. Old coffee oils go rancid and make good coffee taste bad. If your coffee suddenly tastes off, check the machine before you blame the coffee.

Own a Moccamaster? Our Moccamaster guide goes further.

New coffee maker? Your first pot

1. Read the manual. Most ask you to wash the carafe and basket and run one or more cycles of plain water before the first pot. Do what yours says.
2. Measure what a cup means on your machine with the 4-cup test above.
3. Brew a full pot at two tablespoons per six ounces, taste it, and change one thing at a time, starting with the amount of coffee.

If that first pot tastes bitter or burnt, the usual causes are a long stay on the hot plate, a dirty machine or the wrong dose. Our guide to why coffee tastes bitter walks through each one.

Which of our coffee to buy for a drip machine

Plenty of coffee makes a good drip pot. A fresh medium roast from the grocery store, with a recent roast date, will serve you well, and it costs less: the average price of ground coffee was $9.33 a pound in September 2026 (BLS), about 27 cents an 8-ounce cup, against about 49 cents for our 2 lb bag (estimates at 35 cups a pound). If you want decaf, flavored coffee, a light roast or pods, we are not the right roaster.

What we make is 100% Colombian Supremo Arabica (Supremo is Colombia's grade for the largest beans by screen size), roasted medium-dark in a cast iron drum roaster on our farm. We roast in small batches on a regular schedule, and it ships within days of roasting in nearly all cases. Customers describe it as smooth, bold and low in acid, and good black. More in coffee you can drink black.

For a drip machine, choose ground:

• Big Hoff Bag, ground, 2 lb, $34: about nine full 60-ounce pots (estimate), the size for a pot every morning.
• The Hoff, ground, 1 lb, $25: a pound to try it.
• Queen Hoff, ground, 3.5 lb, $60: for a bigger household, and it ships free.
• Big Hoff jar, ground, 30.2 oz in a half-gallon glass Mason jar, $42: the jar doubles as your storage container.

If you grind your own, choose whole bean, like the Big Hoff Bag whole bean or The Hoff whole bean. The same ground coffee works in a percolator too: see the best coffee for a percolator.

Shipping is free on orders of $50 or more, by USPS to US addresses. Two ground Big Hoff Bags in one order come to $64, since the second bag is $4 off, and ship free. If you brew every day, the Big Hoff Bag also comes as a monthly subscription at $30 a delivery plus shipping, or weekly or every 2 weeks. Subscriptions have a two-delivery minimum, and you manage deliveries online through a secure emailed link.

Karyn H ordered a couple of two pound bags. After the first pot, she wrote:

“We brewed our first pot and are completely over the moon.”
Karyn H, X, September 2026

Richard C sent the photo at the top of this page:

“Great coffee! Really smooth, yet flavorful.”
Richard C, verified buyer, July 2026

Drip coffee maker questions

Is medium or dark roast better for a drip coffee maker?

Both work; it comes down to taste. Medium roasts are a little brighter, and very dark roasts can taste smoky. Medium-dark sits between the two, which is why it works in a drip machine without tasting thin or scorched. That is the one roast we make.

Paper or metal filter?

Paper makes a cleaner cup because it holds back the coffee oils. A metal filter lets the oils through for a heavier body. Both work with our coffee.

How fine should coffee be ground for a drip machine?

Medium to medium-fine, about the texture of sand. Too fine can taste bitter or overflow the basket, and too coarse tastes weak. Our ground coffee is one medium-fine grind, so use it as it comes.

Does your coffee work in a Mr. Coffee?

Yes. A standard drip coffee maker is how most of our customers brew it. A Mr. Coffee 12-cup pot holds about 60 ounces, so start with about 20 tablespoons of our ground coffee (estimate).

Why does my drip coffee taste burnt?

Most often it has sat on the hot plate, which keeps cooking the coffee. Brew a smaller pot or move it to a thermal carafe, and keep the machine clean. More fixes are in why is my coffee bitter.

Do you sell decaf, flavored coffee or pods?

No. We make one medium-dark coffee with nothing added. If you use a reusable pod, our ground coffee works in it.

A better pot tomorrow morning

Fresh coffee, the right grind, two tablespoons per six ounces, a clean machine and little time on the hot plate: that is most of it. Questions about your machine are welcome on our contact page, and there are more coffee guides for every other way to brew.