Must have accessories for the home espresso machine

Accessories for the home barista

You’ve just bought your first home espresso machine. Now you are wondering what accessories you will need to become a home barista and work with your espresso machine. Congratulations! It’s really exciting to have a shiny new espresso machine. Here is a list of must have accessories for the home espresso machine.

Some of these accessories may or may not come bundled with your espresso machine. But this is a full list of things you’ll need every time you use the coffee machine as well as the periodic accessories you’ll need.

1. Tamper – If you don’t have a tamper included with your machine, then that’s one of those things you’ll be looking at buying quickly. Tampers come in different sizes, so get one to match your portafilter basket. At the end of this article, you’ll find some that we’ve shortlisted for you.

2. Knock box – We didn’t start with a knock box but it’s something we quickly bought because you need the soft knock box edge to tap your portafilter without damaging it. If you put your knock box against a wall, then you may want to put something behind it to protect the wall since small splashes will stain the back of the knock box quickly.

3. Mat to tamp on – What you need to tamp on needs to be flat and even. A rubber or silicone mat with an even surface that can be cleaned easily is perfect for this task.

4. Milk jug – One of the accessories for the home espresso machine is the milk pitcher. To be able to pour the steamed and frothed milk perfectly for latte art, the steaming milk jug plays a crucial role. You need a handle to deal with the hot milk as well as a tapering narrow spout. There are some slightly different designs but a large round spout won’t help with the control over the pouring that you’ll need.

5. Water filter jug – In a place like London, where the water is especially hard, we’ve found it useful to have a water filter jug.

6. The perfect serving cups – We have a separate article you should read, but if you are like us, you’ll find that the coffee experience changes based on the type of cups or glasses you use to serve the drink.

7. Descaling & cleaning products – The next set of things you’ll need is a set of cleaning products. There is the periodic cleaning that you’ll need products for. Then there is the less frequent descaling of equipment to carry out.

And of course you’ll need cleaning material & products for regular wipe downs. Here is the list to have in your kitchen.

a. Cleaning liquids/tablets for the espresso machine

b. Milk wand cleaning liquid

c. Descaling liquid/tablets

d. Grinder cleaner

e. Towel to wipe milk wand

A couple of other nice to have equipment include

1. Electronic weighing scale – if you’d like to precisely weigh out your coffee grind

2. Thermometer – if you want to measure the temperature of your milk.

3. Electric Kettle – useful to heat cups. Take a look at this cool smart kettle.