Arabic Coffee Calculator: How Much Coffee for Your Guests?
How much Arabic coffee do you need for guests? Use about 30 g of ground Arabic coffee for every 500 ml of water; that makes 5 to 6 small cups. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of ground cardamom per 500 ml. For 20 guests drinking 3 cups each, plan 60 cups: 12 batches, 6 litres of water and 360 g of coffee. Enter your own numbers below for a majlis, Ramadan iftar, Eid visit or wedding.
What coffee will you use?
How the Arabic coffee calculator works
- Cups: guests × small cups per guest, plus 20% if you tick the extra option, because more people often arrive at a majlis than expected.
- Batches: each batch is 500 ml of water and 30 g of coffee, the ratio in our guide to Arabic coffee. It makes 5 to 6 small cups; the calculator counts 5 so you do not run short.
- Cardamom: 1 to 2 teaspoons per batch, to taste. Lucarise Arabic Ground Coffee already has cardamom blended in, and Lucarise Arabic Coffee with Saffron comes with a 1 g saffron topping in every sachet.
- Thermoses: the total water divided by your thermos size, so you know how many to fill.
Arabic coffee quantity chart for guests
| Guests | Cups (3 each) | Water (litres) | Coffee (g) | Cardamom (tsp) | Lucarise sachets (boxes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 30 | 3 | 180 | 6–12 | 6 (2) |
| 20 | 60 | 6 | 360 | 12–24 | 12 (3) |
| 30 | 90 | 9 | 540 | 18–36 | 18 (4) |
| 50 | 150 | 15 | 900 | 30–60 | 30 (6) |
| 100 | 300 | 30 | 1,800 | 60–120 | 60 (12) |
Brewing Arabic coffee for a crowd
- Brew in batches of 500 ml or 1 litre rather than one very large pot, following the steps in our Arabic coffee guide, so every batch tastes the same.
- With Lucarise Arabic Coffee with Saffron, use one 30 g sachet for 500 ml of water and add the saffron topping that comes with it.
- Keep it hot in thermoses and pour into the dallah when serving.
- Prepare dates or sweets to serve alongside, as many hosts do.
Serving etiquette
Arabic coffee is listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with Jordan joining in 2024. UNESCO describes how older people and guests are served first, the coffee is poured with the right hand, and guests shake the cup to signal that they are done1. Small amounts are poured each time, which is why a few small cups per guest go a long way.
Planning for Ramadan and Eid
During Ramadan, coffee is served at iftar and through the evening, and during Eid many families receive visitors for several days. Work out one day with the calculator, then multiply by the number of days. For other drinks for the season, see our Ramadan drinks guide, and for caffeine timing after iftar read caffeine in Ramadan.
More about Arabic coffee: Arabic coffee benefits, Saudi coffee and our caffeine calculator.
More free tools: see all our drink calculators in one place.
Arabic coffee for guests: frequently asked questions
How much Arabic coffee do I need for 10 guests?
For 10 guests drinking 3 small cups each, plan 30 cups. At 30 g of coffee per 500 ml of water and 5 cups per batch, that is 6 batches: 3 litres of water, 180 g of coffee and about 6 to 12 teaspoons of cardamom, or 6 sachets of Lucarise Arabic Coffee with Saffron.
How many cups does 500 ml of Arabic coffee make?
About 5 to 6 small finjan cups. The calculator counts 5 per 500 ml so that you have a little extra.
How much coffee do I need for 1 litre of Arabic coffee?
About 60 g of ground Arabic coffee for 1 litre of water, which makes 10 to 12 small cups, with cardamom to taste (about 2 to 3 teaspoons).
How many cups of Arabic coffee per guest?
There is no fixed number. By custom the host keeps refilling until the guest shakes the cup to show they are done, so the calculator starts at 3 small cups each. Change it to suit your gathering.
How many cups does one Lucarise Arabic coffee sachet make?
One 30 g sachet of Lucarise Arabic Coffee with Saffron Topping is made with 500 ml of water and gives about 5 to 6 small cups. Each box has 5 sachets.
Hosting in Ramadan? Read our guide to Arabic coffee etiquette in Ramadan: who to serve first, how much to pour and what shaking the cup means.
Sources
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Arabic coffee, a symbol of generosity. ich.unesco.org
- What we will read in this article
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