I warned you, making a good espresso at home is a passion that can quickly get expensive.
Just have found My (next) Espresso Machine, this is the first step. Then you will need a very good quality grinder, whether manual or electric.
Unfortunately, it’s not over. You will also need to equip yourself with a good tamper. The one you will have with your machine will surely be plastic and useless. A scale is also very important for measuring your dose of coffee.
A jug for milk is essential. A knock box will quickly prove to be very practical too.
In short, you will have understood it, without these few accessories the realization of your espresso may not be very pleasant.
A mill
the mill is even more important than your machine.
I couldn’t go into the details here, the article would be way too long.
So you have 2 options. First the manual grinder. The big advantage is the price. You can find a good grinder that can make you an espresso grind for around 180 Euros.
The electric mill, often recommended, is on the other hand more expensive. Count at least 350-400 Euros for a mill capable of producing a correct grind.
A tamper
Essential element to properly prepare your cake in the port filter. Be careful to choose the one that corresponds to the size of the port filter.
A precision scale
If you do not weigh your coffee you will not be able to reproduce the same espresso the following days.
You can find specialty coffee scales like the Time more, with a built-in stopwatch. Otherwise, a low-cost model will do the trick.
A jug for milk
If you like milk drinks then a small pitcher will be mandatory. No need to buy a professional pitcher. Be sure to take it out of stainless steel and rinse it well. It will also be essential for you to get started in latte art .
A knock box
I hesitated to put this one in the essentials. A good knock box will allow you to remove the coffee cake from your port filter much more easily. I assure you, it will make your life easier!
The other (almost) essential accessories
Here are to finish (we promise) 5 accessories that are not necessarily mandatory from the start, but which will make your life much easier later on.
A carpet
You will quickly realize that preparing an espresso is quite a messy process. A mat also allows you to place the port filter correctly and not damage your kitchen.
coffee dispenser
it allows you to properly level your coffee before using your tamper. Not essential but very practical.
WDT
It stands for Weiss Distribution Technique and allows you to break the small lumps of coffee in your port filter and thus avoid “channelling”. You can make one yourself for 3 Euros with a cork stopper and acupuncture needles.
I explain here how to make it in a few minutes .
A thermometer
If you are serious about preparing lattes and cappuccinos and want to get into latte art, a thermometer will be very useful, especially at the beginning to know the different stages of emulsion of your milk.
Bottomless Port filter
It is also called bottomless or naked. It will allow you to see very precisely the extraction of your coffee and to be able to identify the places where there is “channelling” (or the water passes too quickly without extracting the coffee correctly) It is not essential in as such but remains very useful for “understanding” your espresso.
