What do the numbers mean on a Mr. Coffee maker?

by
Mr. Coffee Maker with numbers on the carafe.
Mr. Coffee has numbers on the coffee pot. What do they mean?

QUESTION: What do the numbers mean on a Mr. Coffee maker? I’m visiting my inlaws and they have a different machine than I am used to and I want to make coffee with their coffee pot. What are those Mr. Coffee measurements for on the pot? — Erika F

ANSWER: The Mr Coffee machine is an automatic drip coffee maker, this particular model number has a 12 cup coffee pot. You see in the photo above that there are number marks on the glass coffee pot, and also number marks on the Mr. Coffee machine itself where you add water (the water reservoir).

Those numbers represent the “number of cups.” While most bags of coffee describe a cup size as 6 ounces, the Mr. Coffee coffee maker calls a coffee cup just 5 ounces. So you’ll need slightly less ground coffee beans in the machine than they sometimes describe on the back of a bag of coffee. That being said, it really depends on whether you like strong coffee or mild coffee.

Want to just make a full pot of fresh coffee with a 12 cup Mr. Coffee maker? Then simply fill up the clean glass carafe to the mark that says 12 cups of water with clean, cold tap water and pour it into the machine. When you do that, you’ll see that it hits the same mark 12 on the coffee machine.

Then you simply add 11 tablespoons of coffee grounds of your favorite type of coffee into a coffee filter or brew basket and you’ll be able to make a full pot of great tasting coffee. If you’re using the Mr. Coffee scoop that comes with the coffee maker, use 5 1/2 scoops from the Mr. Coffee scoop. A standard coffee scoop is 2 tablespoons of ground coffee beans. So 5 1/2 scoops is the same as 11 tablespoons.

Want to learn about how much water and coffee you need for different amounts to make the perfect cup of coffee? Here’s what Mr. Coffee says about it in their instructions for one of their 12 cup coffee makers.

Mostly full pot of Mr. Coffee on the machine, with 10 cups out of a potential 12 in a full pot.

When is a Cup not a Cup?

A cup of liquid is 8 ounces of liquid. But when you are talking about coffee cups, it’s a different amount! Many coffee makers like OXO and Mr Coffee describe a standard cup measurement as 5 ounces.

And of course if you have a giant mug or a big insulated steel cup that you take with you, those will often hold 14 to 24 ounces.

How much coffee is that? To put it in perspective a different way, a tall coffee at Starbucks is 12 ounces, a grande is 16 ounces and a venti is 20 ounces.

That’s why you’ve probably noticed that when you make a full pot of coffee that says “12 cups” you often run out pretty quickly after you have only filled up a few mugs. A full 12 cup pot of Mr. Coffee only holds 60 ounces. So you could potentially fill up just two big stainless steel mugs and use almost the entire pot!

If you’re brewing coffee for a group of people, it’s a good idea to make a full coffee pot in case you are pouring into large mugs. Then you’ll have enough great-tasting coffee for several cups of coffee, even if the cups are large.

Mr Coffee measurement chart / table
Here’s the Mr Coffee measurement chart / table that shows the official recommendations for Mr Coffee measurements for the various number of cups you might want to brew.

Just want to know how much coffee to put in?

How much coffee for 4 cups mr coffee? 5 tablespoons or 2 1/2 scoops

How much coffee for 8 cups mr coffee? 7 tablespoons or 3 1/2 scoops

How much coffee for 10 cups mr coffee? 9 tablespoons or 4 1/2 scoops

How much coffee for 12 cups mr coffee? 11 tablespoons or 5 1/2 scoops

mr coffee machine with numbers on the pot
Mr. Coffee maker with numbers on the side of the carafe. 4 6 8 10 12
Mr. Coffee maker with numbers on the side of the carafe.
Mr. Coffee Maker where you can see the numbers on the pot
The number marks on the Mr. Coffee Maker tell you basically how many 5 ounce cups of coffee are in the pot. So if you put in enough water to make it go to the 10 mark, you’d have 50 ounces of coffee. If you filled it all the way to the 12, you’d have 60 ounces of coffee!
Mr. Coffee Maker with a pot that shows the numbers
Here’s another view of a Mr. Coffee Maker that’s a programmable model that also has the marks on the side of the pot. A “cup” of coffee according to Mr. Coffee is just 5 ounces, so if you only put in enough water to fill the carafe to the 4 mark, you’d be drinking 20 ounces of coffee. That’s the same size as a Venti cup of hot coffee at Starbucks, which is just a single cup of coffee! So if you’re filling up a big mug, you’ll need to account for this and make yourself enough coffee.

Leave a Comment