Coffee can get pricey, quick. Whether you’ve got one of the best espresso machines or best coffee makers, there’s no point spending big bucks on coffee accessories when you can get them for less. There are certain things you can’t skimp on, like an espresso machine capable of reaching the ideal 9-bar pressure for optimal espresso extraction. However, with such a wide range of accessories out there, you’ll be able to level up your home café for very little.
While some coffee aficionados will claim you need things like a portafilter puck screen and a needle distribution tool, this is not necessarily true for beginners. Sure, they’re nice to have, and they’ll improve the flavor of your coffee, however incrementally. But if you don’t have integral accessories like a scale, the more specialized tools aren’t going to be at the top of your list.
To help you out, I’ve compiled a list of the five coffee accessories I can’t live without. Everything on this list is just $113 (combined!) and many are often on sale — who said coffee has to be an expensive hobby?
1. The mighty coffee scale
A coffee scale is the definitive answer to the age-old question, “How do I make my coffee taste like a café's?” It’s extraction time and volume. Café espresso machines have either built in weighing and flow rate timing or very well-practised baristas with coffee scales who know exactly what they’re doing.
Most at-home espresso machines don’t have integrated dosing and timing systems, so we need to do it ourselves. If you’re just starting out with coffee making, you don’t need an über fancy $150 Acaia Pearl or $110 Felicita Arc scale — you’ll be fine with my favorite budget coffee scale, the KitchenTour coffee scale. Coffee scales ensure that your espresso brews at the correct flow rate and that you’re getting the right coffee:water ratio. You should be aiming for a 1:2 for a standard shot and a 1:3 for a lungo. So for 18g of coffee in your portafilter basket, you’ll want around 32g of espresso. Which, with a coffee scale, you can monitor to the 0.1g.
2. Vacuum seal for freshness
Coffee beans are only at their prime for around seven days after roasting. If you want to lengthen their freshness, you’ll want to get a decent vacuum seal canister. These canisters work by literally creating a vacuum in the canister, which prevents the beans from oxidizing and growing bacteria. If stored correctly, there’s no reason why your roasted beans shouldn’t stay tasting delicious for up to a month.
3. Time to tamp
Tamping your espresso is integral to a nuanced and complex shot. For those who don’t know what tamping is, it’s when you press down on the ground coffee in your portafilter basket to compact it. If you don’t tamp your espresso, the water will run through the grinds too fast and result in a weak, watery shot with no crema. Then again, if you tamp your espresso too hard, you’ll get the opposite problem — a slow-pulling shot with burnt and overextracted flavors. Ideally, you want to be tamping your coffee with 30 pounds of pressure.
There are two main types of tampers (although there are loads more once you dive a little deeper). You’ve got the standard flat tamper, which is what I’ll recommend here as it’s easier for beginners. You’ve also got a calibrated tamper, which will exert the ideal 30 pounds of pressure without relying on the user.
One thing you need to be aware of is the diameter of your portafilter basket. Most at-home espresso machines use 51mm-58mm baskets. So if your machine has a 51mm portafilter, you obviously won’t be able to use a 58mm tamper.
4. Knock it off
Forget running to the trash after every espresso shot. With a knock box, you can literally knock your espresso puck (the coffee left in the portafilter after extraction) in one go. You can just wipe the portafilter after use and get straight back onto the next drink. When you’re finished, you can easily compost or trash the spent coffee.
5. Coffee for lazy days
Can’t be bothered to make an espresso but still want a great coffee? The V60 dripper is a fantastic little gadget that looks inconspicuous but is actually delicious. In my 4 star review of the V60, I praised its ease of use and easy maintenance. What’s even better is that the Hario-brand filters are fully compostable, meaning you can simply pluck the filter and spent grounds from the conical dripper and put it straight in your compost — no messy cleanup required.
To use this dripper, you simply put it on top of your desired mug, put the filter inside, and put 18g of coffee in. Then you pour in just-under-boiling water in gradual increments, and a couple of minutes later you’ve got a delicious coffee.
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