How Many 250g Bags of Coffee Should You Buy for a Two-Person Household in NZ?
Two people drinking one cup each a day get through roughly 30g of beans daily, so a 250g bag lasts about a week. That is 3 to 4 bags a month. At two cups each a day it is closer to 7 or 8 bags, and a 1kg order starts to make sense. The rule we use at Naki Roast is simple: order what you will actually finish within about three weeks of the roast date, and not a gram more.
Work in grams, not bags
Bags are how coffee is sold. Grams are how it is drunk. Once you know your household's daily gram count, the bag maths does itself.
Here is what a single cup costs you in beans:
| How you brew | Coffee per cup |
|---|---|
| Double shot espresso, flat white, latte | about 18g |
| Plunger (French press) | about 15g to 17g per 250ml cup, at a 1:10 to 1:16 ratio [1] |
| Pour-over or drip filter | about 15g per 250ml cup, near the standard "golden ratio" [2] |
Call it 15g to 18g a cup. Round to 16g and you will be close enough for ordering purposes.
Two people, one cup each: roughly 32g a day.
Two people, two cups each: roughly 64g a day.
One cup each a day: about a bag a week
At 32g a day, a 250g bag runs out on day eight. Over a month that is 3 to 4 bags.
This is the sweet spot for a 250g order. The bag opens fresh, and it is empty again before the beans have any real chance to go flat. You are drinking the whole bag inside the window where it still tastes like something.
If you want fewer courier tickets, order two bags at a time and open the second one when the first is done. Sealed beans keep far better than opened ones. The clock only really starts once air gets in [3].
Two cups each a day: a bag lasts four days
At 64g a day, a 250g bag is gone by Thursday. You would need 7 or 8 bags a month, which means either a standing order of two bags a week, or a bigger single order.
This is where 1kg earns its place. A kilo at 64g a day is about a fortnight of coffee. Two weeks is comfortably inside the freshness window, so nothing goes stale sitting in the cupboard.
| Household | Beans per day | A 250g bag lasts | What to order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two people, one cup each | about 32g | 8 days | one 250g bag a week, or two bags a fortnight |
| Two people, two cups each | about 64g | 4 days | two 250g bags a week, or 1kg a fortnight |
| Two people, plus a weekend plunger for guests | about 40g | 6 days | two 250g bags a fortnight |
When 1kg actually makes sense (and when it does not)
Here is the test. Take the pack size, divide by your daily grams, and see how many days it covers.
Beans hit their peak somewhere between 5 and 14 days off roast, and hold well for roughly a month [4]. So a pack that takes you 40 days to drink is a pack you are finishing on stale beans.
- 1kg at 32g a day is 31 days. The last few brews are past their best. Stick with 250g bags.
- 1kg at 64g a day is 16 days. Fine. Order the kilo.
At Naki Roast, our single bags are 250g and sit at $22 to $23, depending on the roast: Baghonça, The Mule and OG Roast are all in that band [5]. The 1kg option is the Lab Rat, at $76, where you build your own blend from Brazil Cerrado, India Soft Touch, Mexico Altura and Colombia Medellín Excelso, and pick your roast level [6].
One honest note on that kilo. The weight is taken before roasting. Green beans lose moisture in the roaster, so 1kg of green lands as somewhat less than 1kg of roasted coffee, and the darker you take it the lighter it gets [6]. If you are doing price-per-gram sums to decide between sizes, run them on the roasted weight, not the green weight. The gap between a kilo and four 250g bags is smaller than it first looks.
What actually ruins the bag
It is almost never the size. It is air.
Coffee goes flat because oxygen gets at it. Keep the beans in an airtight, opaque container, somewhere cool and out of the light, and they will hold their flavour far longer than beans left in a half-open bag on the bench [3].
Two things follow from that:
- Buy whole bean if you can. Ground coffee has vastly more surface area exposed to air, so it fades fast. Grind what you need, when you need it.
- If you buy pre-ground, buy smaller. A 250g bag of ground coffee is a better bet than a kilo you will still be working through in a month.
A reorder rule that works
Do not wait until the bag is empty. Roasting and courier take a few days, and there is nothing worse than a Tuesday morning with no beans in the house.
When you are down to about a third of the bag, put the next order in. For a two-person, one-cup-each household, that lands on roughly a weekly rhythm. For heavier drinkers, twice a week, or a kilo a fortnight.
Two real patterns we see:
The Taranaki flat white house. Two people, home machine, one flat white each before work, plus a second on Saturday. Call it 250g every seven or eight days. One bag a week, ordered on a Sunday night.
The plunger household. One big plunger shared in the morning, roughly 30g in the pot. Same bag, same week. Add a weekend visitor or two and it tightens to about six days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cups of coffee do you get from a 250g bag?
Around 14 to 16 cups. A double shot espresso uses about 18g, and a plunger or filter cup about 15g to 17g [1] [2]. For two people having one each per day, that is a week of coffee from a single bag.
How long does a 250g bag last for two people?
About eight days at one cup each per day, or four days at two cups each. That works out to 3 or 4 bags a month for lighter drinkers and 7 or 8 for heavier ones.
Should I buy 250g bags or 1kg in New Zealand?
Divide the pack size by your daily grams. If the answer is more than about three weeks, go smaller. Two people at one cup each would take a month to finish a kilo, which is too long. Two people at two cups each will clear it in a fortnight, which is fine.
Does a 1kg bag work out cheaper per gram?
Sometimes, but check what you are comparing. Naki Roast's 1kg Lab Rat is weighed as green beans before roasting, and beans lose weight in the roaster [6]. Do the sums on the roasted weight and the saving over four 250g bags is thinner than the sticker price suggests.
How do I stop an opened bag going stale?
Keep it airtight, opaque and cool, away from heat and light [3]. Grind whole beans as you brew rather than in advance. And order to your actual consumption, so the bag is empty while the coffee is still good rather than sitting half-full into week five.
Sources
- aboutcoffee.org: French press brewing ratio of 1 gram of coffee to 10 to 16 grams of water.
- aboutcoffee.org: Drip coffee "golden ratio" of 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 ounces of water.
- aboutcoffee.org: Coffee storage and shelf life, including airtight, opaque, cool storage and the effect of oxygen on freshness.
- nakiroast.co.nz: Roast date, the 5 to 14 day peak window, and how fresh coffee works in New Zealand.
- nakiroast.co.nz: Naki Roast lineup and pack sizes, including 250g bags of Baghonça, The Mule and OG Roast.
- nakiroast.co.nz: Lab Rat, the 1kg build-your-own blend, and the note that weight is taken before roasting.