If you want to embrace your inner barista and make great at espresso at home, you'll need more than a quality espresso brewer and fantastic coffee beans. You will need the right espresso accessories on hand, designed to help you brew the perfect espresso shot. If you're ready to take your coffee game to the next level, here are the best accessories for coffee and espresso machines to help you achieve that.
The Best Espresso Machines that You Can Buy Online.
Extensively Reviewed by a Coffee-Enthusiastic.
Essential Espresso Accessory
Once you add some or all of these espresso-making tools to your collection, you can replicate your favorite drinks from your local coffee shop with ease
Tamper
Before pulling one espresso shot or two, you need to ensure the sand-like powdery coffee grounds are compact to allow water filter through them. Proper filtration is essential when making the drink as it extracts the natural oils and flavors in the grounds. The best item for this job is a tamper, a simple tool that lets you press the grounds tightly and evenly.
Below are the best tampers that enable you to compact fine coffee grounds, producing delicious quality espressos.
- LuxHaus 58mm Calibrated Pressure Tamper for Coffee and Espresso - Pressure sensitive tamper, allowing you to achieve the perfect tamp take every time.
- 53mm Calibrated Espresso Tamper, MATOW Calibrated Coffee Tamper with Spring Loaded Wooden Handle - Tamper with a unique mechanism that automatically stops when your grounds become perfectly compacted for delicious espressos.
- De'Longhi DLSC058 Coffee Tamper - It's a versatile tamper that works with all espresso machines.
Tamping Mat
When you tamp grounds, you'll be placing a considerable amount of force that can be difficult to do since tamper can't stay put on standard glossy surfaces. That's why you'll need to have a sturdy and soft surface to make the process smoother and more manageable, eliminating the need to clean up after messy grounds. A tamper mat is an excellent solution to this, since quality mats like the Espresso Parts 5X12 Inch Tamping Mat by Barista Basics I Food Safe NBR Rubber Coffee Tamper Pad are made of rubber, preventing sliding or slipping while tamping.
Frothing Pitcher
Frothing pitchers like standard pitchers, but better. These are essential items to have in your brewing arsenal as frothing pitchers allow you to see how much milk is inside of it accurately, which is vital when brewing espressos. It also features a unique pouring spout designed to pour milk into your cup without affecting the milk foam produced by frothing.
The following are the most efficient and affordable milk-frothing pitchers that allow you to achieve creamy brews every time.
- Espresso Coffee Milk Frothing Pitcher, WeHome Stainless Steel Creamer - It's a versatile barista-grade pitcher that lets you froth or steam milk, or heat water, batter mixes, hold smoothies.
- bonVIVO Muvo Stainless Steel Milk Jug With Copper Finish, Milk Frother Pitcher 12 Fl-Oz - It boasts a unique, trendy copper stainless steel exterior, making it a real eye-catcher, allowing you to froth milk with style.
- De'Longhi DLSC060 Milk Frothing Jug, 12 oz, Stainless Steel - It's a quality pitcher made of 100% stainless steel with a pour spout for creating the fluffiest milk foam for cappuccinos, lattes, or macchiatos.
Espresso Glasses and Mugs
When extracting or pulling espresso shots, standard coffee cups won't do. You'll need to have the right sized cups to hold the brew with ease, giving you an authentic coffeehouse experience at home. People also call these cups 'demitasses,' which means 'half-cup' in French. It's a small cup used to serve traditional espressos or Turkish brews and can hold between 60 to 90 milliliters (2 to 3 fluid ounces) of a shot.
Here are the best glasses, mugs, and cups you can enjoy your favorite espressos with, allowing you to feel the authentic 'coffeehouse' vibes at home.
- Stoiva Double Wall Insulated Espresso Glass Cups – 5 oz. (150 ml) Set of 4 - Its double-wall insulation feature provides you with longer-lasting hot cups of your favorite drinks.
- Eparé Espresso Glasses - 2oz Set of 4 Single Shot - Double Walled Demitasse Cups - These are top-quality glasses made from quality borosilicate glass designed for daily use. It boasts a thinner and more elegant design while still strong enough to hold scorching brews.
- DeeCoo Double Wall Cappuccino Glass Mugs 10oz - These quality double-wall cappuccino mugs are scratch-resistant and 100% lead-free, ensuring durability and health and top of the line cups to enjoy at home.
Knock Box
After pulling your shots, you'll be facing leftover and unusable coffee grounds inside the machine's portafilter that you need to clean up for the next brewing cycle. One item that you need for this job is the knock box, and these serve as trash bins for old grounds. These products have a sturdy bar in the middle of their body, allowing you to 'knock' the leftover grounds out from the portafilter.
Here are the best knock boxes on the market if you're looking for the most affordable, effective, and stylish ones.
- Motta stainless steel Knock Box - 11 cm diameter - This product was made and developed by the Italian barista association, featuring an ergonomic design for easy knocking.
- Breville BES001XL Knock Box, Mini, Stainless Steel - It's a durable stainless steel canister that features a knock-bar for easy knocking and cleaning—one unique feature about this product that it has an anti-slip rubber grip on its base.
- De'Longhi DLSC059 Knock Box - It helps you knock out tightly packed pucks for an easy and mess-free cleanup process.
Cleaning Brush
Even if you have the most expensive espresso maker on the market, it won't go far if you don't maintain them properly. One essential tool that every home barista should have is a cleaning brush, as it lets you clean your brewer, making it ready for your next set of beans.
Here are the top quality cleaning brushes that let you clean every part of your brewer with ease:
- Contigo Cleaning Brushes, Set of 3 - All brushes are dishwasher safe and boast ergonomically-designed handles for easy usage.
- Coffee Machine Cleaning Brush - This product features unique dual-use bristles for cleaning grinders and the other for a counter brush.
- BagTu Coffee Machine Cleaning Brush with Spoon Tool Set for Espresso Machine Group Head, Pack of 3 - All brushes included in the set can clean group heads, burr blades, and milk frothers.
When buying accessories for espresso machine, ensure that you have all the mentioned equipment to let you create brews at home that even professional baristas would love.
The Best Espresso Machines that You Can Buy Online.
Extensively Reviewed by a Coffee-Enthusiastic.
Other Espresso Accessories
After grabbing a great deal for the best automatic espresso machine at home, and learning how to use an espresso machine, it's time for you to secure the tools you need for a better brewing experience. Whether you're looking to improve your brewing skills, pulling technique, or want to make excellent espressos, here are additional espresso tools that you should add to your brewing arsenal for the best results.
Frother
If your brewer doesn't have a steam wand, it's best to invest in a handheld or automatic frother to achieve creamier drinks. This product allows you stirk milk rapidly, creating a creamy microfoam that you can top off cappuccinos, lattes, or macchiatos with. It doesn't matter if you choose handheld or battery-powered ones. As long as you don't have a steam wand, a frother is a must-have.
These frothers also allow you to create a perfect base for latte art, making it an ideal coffee accessory for cappuccino, latte, macchiato, and other trendy coffee drinks.
Digital Scale
Although you can use traditional scales to weigh your grounds, using digital scales is better as it provides more accurate results. Most versions have built-in timers that ensure your drink will be perfect every time while some come with weights, allowing you to calibrate the measurements for your specific tastes.
Grinder
If your espresso maker doesn't have a built-in grinder, it's a good idea to invest in quality burr grinders to ensure you only get the freshest caffeinated drinks. When choosing a grinder, ensure it's capable of grinding a uniform puck for better quality shots.
Espresso Machines Accessories
Besides having the best Italian commercial espresso machine for your shop, or having your baristas learn about the amount of caffeine in espresso or coffees to adjust drinks for customers, no espresso is complete without accessories. These products are what make the drink, classy, creamy, fun, and 100% delicious. They complete this excellent little beverage's brewing process; that's the epitome of what coffee has to offer.
Espresso Tools
Many elements go into brewing espressos, from choosing between coffee capsules or grounds, learning how to make espresso with a coffee maker the right away, choosing a suitable brewer for the best brews at home, etc. However, one aspect that often gets neglected is the importance of espresso tools. These pieces of equipment ensure your drink is top-notch, from frothers helping you make the best microfoam for homemade latte art to knock boxes, providing a mess-free brewing process. The next time you decide to shop for your coffee needs, add espresso tools on your list for better quality drinks at home.
The Best Espresso Machines that You Can Buy Online.
Extensively Reviewed by a Coffee-Enthusiastic.
Conclusion
If you want to make cafe-quality espressos at home, you'll need more than a quality brewer and fresh beans for the job. Consider buying the quality espresso accessories to take your espresso-making skills to the next level, allowing you to create delicious brews that can even be on par with your local cafes' best baristas.
