Pulling the perfect shot of espresso is equal parts art and science. It’s expressive, yet exacting. There’s an endless list of variables you must manage and account for as you grind your beans, tamp your puck, and force hot water through your portafilter, so it’s no surprise that a vast and overwhelming cottage industry has sprung up to help aspiring baristas make the process more calculated and efficient.
Technique and know-how are still number one when it comes to dialing in a machine and brewing rich, nuanced shots. After nearly two decades of on-and-off work as a barista in both crusty second-wave cafes and trendy third-wave coffee bars, I’m still seeking knowledge, refining my technique, and going to great lengths to coax delicious shots out of more approachable (and affordable) machines like the Casabrews 5700PRO or the Gevi Espresso Machine.
That said, a well-curated toolkit of accessories can do wonders in bridging the gap between newbies and haggard lifers such as myself. Here’s a list of my favorite tools I use daily when I pull shots at my home espresso station.
Check out our other espresso-related guides, including the Best Espresso Machines, Best Latte and Automatic Espresso Machines, Best Coffee Grinders, and Best Coffee Subscriptions.
Tiny scales with a USB-C rechargeable battery and a built-in timer are pretty much the norm these days, and for good reason: Closely tracking both the speed and final volume of your shot is essential when you’re dialing in a fresh bag of beans. The Laybird MagAttach Coffee Scale does exactly that, with an auto-tare option and one-minute digital readout retention so you can take notes on your final shot specs while you make adjustments.
It also includes a trio of handy add-ons that attach to the scale via magnets, providing an all-in-one option that covers most scenarios, including pour-over brewing. A flat piece of metal widens the platform for the scale, which seems mundane but is actually clutch when you’re using a pour-over carafe or dosing grounds directly into a portafilter and need a wider surface to hold either. The sturdy metal cup is great for scooping beans out of a bag for weighing. Our favorite attachment in this kit is the catch cup that fits directly onto almost any size portafilter for easy, mess-free dosing.
Most coffee grinders use a plastic hopper to hold beans before they’re ground, and my beloved Baratza Encore ESP is no exception here. It’s easy to clean when oil and little bits of coffee grounds accumulate over time, but the problem with a freshly cleaned plastic hopper or catch cup is that it’s prone to static cling. This causes grounds to stick to the sides of the chamber rather than ending up in your dose, which can screw with the weight and ultimately accelerate the buildup of gunk. A quick spritz of water in your whole beans ensures maximum retention and minimal static, and the Normcore RTD accomplishes this feat handily while being durable and stylish. It’s made from a nice, hefty enamel that can survive drops and other accidents, and it keeps your grounds static-free and precise.
I recently moved my coffee station from a sturdy stainless steel countertop kitchen to a corner in my office with windows on both sides. I’ll admit I did this for aesthetics and vibes rather than function, but the transition worked out quite well, minus one key issue: The surface of my new workstation is a painted wooden windowsill. This gray silicone mat does wonders in preventing wear and tear to the wood and offering a sturdy, no-slip work surface while I’m dosing, tamping, and pulling shots.
It’s flexible enough to scoot around the surface if needed, but the weight of my espresso machine and grinder—both of which fit perfectly on the mat's 24-by-16-inch footprint—is adequate in pinning everything down to keep things stationary and sturdy. The textured 7.5-by-16-inch piece is great for drying your tools, and it’s independent of the larger mat, so you can fit it snugly inside the mat's footprint or on its own outside the curved edges, which are great for keeping spills contained within the mat.
Only plebs and psychopaths tamp their portafilter against a flat, unprotected surface. The Iaosen Silicone Gel Coffee Tamper Mat is made from thick, rigid silicone that stands up to the excessive beatings I give it daily when I smack my portafilter and other tools against it like a maniac who was trained on expensive commercial-grade equipment rather than prosumer tools that break after two weeks.
It fits snugly against the corner of the wooden workspace I recently switched to, which has not endured a single scratch with this tamper mat—and the silicone coffee mat above—protecting it. The divot near the left corner acts as a handy guide and stabilizer for your portafilter as you tamp, and the circular 58 mm tamper holder has tiny little bumps to keep my Normcore V4.1 tamper from sticking to its silicone surface while it’s not in use.
Another amateur practice that’s easy to graduate from is knocking out your spent puck directly into the trash can. If you enjoy fishing through your garbage can for the basket when it gets discharged from the portafilter along with the puck, then by all means keep doing this, but you owe it to yourself to get a proper knock box that sits snugly alongside your espresso station.
Knock boxes take an absolute beating, and I’m excited to report this stately and sophisticated model from Breville, which includes a firm rubber bar across the middle and a powerful anti-slip rubber bottom, still works as well as it did when I first bought it three years ago. If you’re into composting or using spent coffee grounds in your garden, this is a great pick, but either way, a knock box is an essential piece of kit no barista should live without.
Many consumer-grade espresso machines have a built-in grinder, and those that do often have this obnoxious on/off switch that’s built into the arms that hold the portafilter in place under the grinder. It’s a cute idea—slide the portafilter in until it clicks on the grinder, enjoy watching your basket fill up without any other buttons or dials needed—but it’s pretty annoying in practice.
Take the Casabrews 5700Pro, which is a rather affordable machine I use often and am shocked by how well it performs for the price. The process of grinding coffee into the portafilter is annoying because of the aforementioned workflow, with grounds constantly spilling over the sides or heaping up and hitting the ceiling of the machine before the dose is finished. This aluminum funnel saves a lot of that hassle, and it does so very cheaply and efficiently. It clicks onto the top of the portafilter with a magnet, and it prevents grounds from spilling over the sides while the grinder does its thing. A couple taps of the portafilter against the counter help settle the grounds, then the funnel comes off and you’re ready to tamp.
Beginners in the espresso scape are regularly appalled at the amount of hot takes and proverbial snake oil one will find when they start poking around to see which tamper is the best and why. The fact that this argument is impossible to settle means brands like Normcore can make big bucks supplying stubborn geeks with “the last tamper they will ever need” until a new Reddit post proves they actually need a different tamper altogether. The point of most contention is the amount of weight one should apply to their tamp, with many luminaries in the scene saying 15 lbs is the correct number. Others allege this is all relative, and that perfectly leveling the tamp is actually the secret sauce.
Lucky for you, the Normcore V4.1 claims to do both of those things with scientific precision. Its exterior baffle fits snugly against the top of your portafilter, and its spring-loaded base presses your puck with 15 pounds of force to create a perfectly flat surface. A “click” lets you know you can stop pushing, then the interior tamping piston follows the handle back away from the puck. It looks and sounds cool in the process, and it serves as the perfect set of training wheels for a newbie if nothing else.
Seattle Coffee Gear
Cheaper grinders with smaller burrs can deposit small clumps in your dose as they grind coffee beans. In 2004, a fellow named John Weiss created a tool that looks a bit like a tiny wire scalp massager, which you swirl around your portafilter before tamping to break up clumps. This can reduce “channeling,” meaning, the unwanted process of uneven extraction due to an inconsistent puck. Thus was born the “Weiss Distribution Technique, aka “WDT.” It’s surprising how much more consistent your shots will be after you give them a quick brushing with this sturdy little tool, especially if you use a funnel to keep your grounds safely fenced in before tamping.
Typically, the phrase “buy nice or buy twice” is muttered before a fancy item with a shock price tag is suggested, but this is not the case with this prograde espresso pitcher that’s been perfected by the great folks at Olympia’s Espresso Parts. Their triple spout shot glass is all over coffee shops in the PNW, and for good reason: It’s incredibly durable and stupidly easy to use. The measurement lines are easy to read at most angles, and the tempered glass on this thing is damn near impossible to break unless you overtly throw it against a wall or concrete floor. Skip the flimsy junk and use what the pros use for a price that’s less than most fast-food orders these days.
If you prefer a cappuccino, a flat white, or some other milky drink that baristas from Australia are merrily trolling Americans with at this moment in time, you will need a milk frother and a pitcher to finesse the milk before you pour it on top of your espresso. At first glance, the humble frothing pitcher seems like a fairly interchangeable piece of kit—just buy a cheap one and get on with your life—but that’s more to this utilitarian metal cup than meets the eye. The most obvious variable is the size, which is dictated by the volume of milk you’re typically adding to your espresso. I’m of the less-is-more camp when it comes to milk, so a pitcher that can easily steam between 5 and 12 ounces of liquid is fine for any drink I’ll ever make myself.
The Brewista Milk Frothing pitcher advertises a maximum capacity of 24 ounces, but its 3.3-inch chamber is great for smaller drinks that require more aeration and less steam-wand submergence. The spout is great for latte art, and the durable exterior can take a beating when you’re smacking it against the counter to even out bubbles in the milk after steaming. The exterior temperature gauge is a cute gimmick that’s OK as a rough visual guide if your ears and fingers aren’t used to knowing when milk is steamed to the correct temp, but it’s no substitute for a proper thermometer if precision is key.
Decent Espresso
Decent Espresso
Speaking of proper thermometers, the milk thermometer from Decent Espresso is a refreshing feat of no-nonsense engineering in a world where bells, whistles, and bullshit abound. At checkout, you select Celsius or Fahrenheit, and in a few days, the simplest and most accurate thermometer you’ll ever use magically arrives at your doorstep. The interface is simple: hold the on/off button to turn on, use the plus and minus buttons to adjust the temperature at which the thermometer beeps at you, then hold the on/off button again to turn it off. The silicone sleeve is durable and quite good at keeping milk out of its electrical innards, and it’s easy enough to peel away when it’s time to change the battery. I’ve used this thermometer almost daily for over a year and that time has yet to come, but when it does, a pair of LR44 batteries is easy enough to find on Amazon or at your nearest Target.
Searching for a small rechargeable hand vac is an onerous task now that every corner of the internet is inundated with weird drop-shipped junk. Given the name of this item, I’m not convinced it’s exempt from this categorization, but it’s held up quite well against six months of daily use that includes rigorous grinder vacuuming and general tidying up of the surfaces in my workspace. The transparent filter attachment keeps grounds, whole beans, and other pieces of particulate matter out of the motor, and the USB-C charging is fast and efficient. The rear end of the vacuum blows compressed air and can be used to inflate rafts and air mattresses, as a nice added bonus.
Prior to going all in on a dedicated espresso station, my Casabrews 5700PRO was crammed into a corner of my kitchen just barely big enough to fit it, a knock box, and a couple of other small tools that often got lost behind the machine. To save on space, I installed this handy little set of silicone-coated arms that stick to the side of your machine with either a magnet or a stick-on magnetic base if your machine is made of plastic. It stores my portafilter upright at an angle, which helps it dry after I finish using it. I like it so much that it survived the move to the larger workspace, which stays tidy and aesthetically pleasing thanks to nifty little tools like this one.
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Source: Wired
