Apple juice
One US cup of apple juice weighs 248 grams (8.7 ounces). Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.40 cups.
Also called 100% apple juice, unsweetened apple juice, bottled apple juice, apple cider, sweet apple cider.
Most sites print a number for a cup of apple juice and do not say where it came from. This page publishes 248 g (8.7 oz), names USDA SR Legacy "Apple juice, canned or bottled, unsweetened, without added ascorbic acid" (FDC 173933), Ismailov et al. 2025, Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Food Sciences and FAO/INFOODS Density Database, Version 2.0 (2012), and records the source that was checked against an independent standard and rejected.
| Volume | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 248 g | 8.7 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 186 g | 6.6 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 165.3 g | 5.8 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 124 g | 4.4 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 82.7 g | 2.9 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 62 g | 2.2 oz |
| 1 tablespoon | 15.5 g | 0.55 oz |
| 1 teaspoon | 5.2 g | 0.18 oz |
Apple juice ounces to grams and cups
| Weight | Grams | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 0.11 |
| 4 oz | 113.4 g | 0.46 |
| 8 oz | 226.8 g | 0.91 |
| 16 oz (1 lb) | 453.6 g | 1.83 |
Compared side by side
Fruit juices compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.
Where this number comes from
A cup of apple juice weighs 248 g (8.7 oz), a density of 1.05 g/mL, about 5% heavier than the same cup of water. USDA weighs a cup at 248 g, and measured densities of pressed apple juice put it at 246 to 248 g. Health Canada's 126 g per 125 mL would make apple juice almost as light as water and is rejected.
Apple juice is pressed apple juice, filtered and pasteurized, sold as 100% juice or made back up from concentrate. In the US, unfiltered, cloudy apple juice is sold as apple cider; it is the same juice with more of the fruit's fine solids left in, and USDA has no separate cup weight for it. Hard cider, the fermented drink, is lighter, because fermentation turns the sugar into alcohol.
USDA's Standard Reference record for bottled unsweetened apple juice (FDC 173933) gives 1 cup as 248 g, 1 fl oz as 31 g and an 8.45 fl oz drink box as 262 g, all the same density, 1.048 g/mL. A 2025 study of the physical properties of fruit juices measured pressed apple juice at 12% dissolved solids and 20 °C at 1.042 to 1.046 g/cm³, 246 to 248 g per cup, depending on the apple. The two agree within 1%, and USDA's own specific gravity list, published in the FAO/INFOODS density database, gives 1.04 g/mL.
Health Canada's Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods weighs 125 mL of ready-to-drink apple juice at 126 g, 1.008 g/mL, or 238 g per cup. The same table agrees with USDA for grape, pineapple and prune juice, but for apple juice it is too light, and the physics shows it.
The physical check: a juice weighs what its dissolved sugar makes it weigh. The FDA sets the minimum strength of 100% apple juice at 11.5 °Brix, 11.5% dissolved solids, and a sugar solution of that strength weighs 1.043 g/mL by the USDA sucrose table, 247 g per cup. USDA's 9.6% sugars plus the juice's acids and minerals land in the same place. A juice at 1.008 g/mL would carry under 2% sugar, which is not apple juice.
Juice density changes with temperature: the same study found apple juice about 3% lighter at 90 °C than at 20 °C, which matters only when measuring hot cider. Juice from concentrate is reconstituted to the same strength and weighs the same.
Practical guidance: use 248 g per cup, 124 g per half cup, 62 g per quarter cup and 15.5 g per tablespoon. A 64 fl oz bottle holds 8 cups, about 1.98 kg. For recipes that use apple cider by the cup, use the same figures. Measured by volume, juice needs no scale: a liquid measuring cup filled to the line is accurate to within a few grams.
Sources
Standard, 100% juice at room temperature
- USDA SR Legacy "Apple juice, canned or bottled, unsweetened, without added ascorbic acid" (FDC 173933)248 g per cup8.7 ozUSDA Standard Release (NDB 09016) publishes 1 cup = 248 g (density 1.048 g/mL), 1 fl oz = 31 g and an 8.45 fl oz drink box = 262 g, all the same density. Water 88.2 g, sugars 9.62 g per 100 g.
- Ismailov et al. 2025, Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Food Sciences247.5 g per cup8.7 oz"Nomograms for determining the thermo-physical properties of fruit juices", 15(3), e12745. Measured densities of pressed apple juice at 12% dissolved solids and 20 °C: Golden Rangers 1.046 g/cm³ (247.5 g per cup), Simirenko 1.042 g/cm³ (246.5 g per cup); density falls to about 1.015 g/cm³ at 90 °C.
- FAO/INFOODS Density Database, Version 2.0 (2012)246.1 g per cup8.7 ozTable 2: "Apple juice, canned or bottled, unsweetened, without added ascorbic acid" density 1.04 g/mL, specific gravity 1.05, from USDA ARS, Specific Gravity of Selected Beverages (2011). 246 g per US cup; temperature not stated.
- Health Canada, Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods (2008), Table 5238.5 g per cup8.4 oz"Apple juice, ready-to-drink, vitamin C added" 125 mL = 126 g (59 kcal), 238 g per US cup (density 1.008 g/mL).Rejected. Apple juice sold as 100% juice in the US must measure at least 11.5 °Brix (21 CFR 101.30), and a sugar solution that strong weighs 1.043 g/mL; 126 g in 125 mL is 1.008 g/mL, barely heavier than water. Whole-gram rounding allows 1.004 to 1.012 g/mL, still 3% short. USDA weighs a cup at 248 g (1.048 g/mL) and juice measured at 12% solids weighs 1.042 to 1.046 g/mL. The same Health Canada table agrees with USDA for grape, pineapple and prune juice, so the error is particular to this row.
Corrections on this ingredient
The following published figures for apple juice are rejected here, with the physics or standards reasoning behind each rejection on its own page:
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