Home coffee machines are stunning standalone pieces for your kitchen, and they add a ton of value to your morning routine. There’s really nothing better than a fresh shot of espresso to get your day started.
That said, slowly building out your collection of espresso machine accessories is a great way to scale up the quality and complexity of the drinks you can make at home. The more you can do on your kitchen countertop, the less you have to crave that one impossibly delicious coffee order from the café on the corner.
But it’s overwhelming, isn’t it? There are a million coffee accessories on offer, and they’re all marketed as equally important. As someone new to owning an espresso machine, you might be understandably put off by the whole idea.
Worry not; we’re here to clarify a few things. Let’s narrow the focus to just three of the best accessories for your espresso machine.
1. An Integrated Tamp & Distributor
Barista-level consistency starts and ends with how you tamp your coffee puck. You want that puck to be level, consistently tamped, and unlikely to channel when your home espresso machine forces hot water at high pressure through the grounds.
Most of the time, that leaves home baristas needing two espresso machine accessories: a high-quality tamper and a distributor to level the coffee grounds. But we think an integrated model is even better.
You can use an all-in-one tamp-and-distributor tool to eliminate human error. It features a dual-sided design: one side boasts a series of precisely angled stainless steel slopes that glide over the loose coffee grounds, flattening and spreading them uniformly across the basket. Flip the tool over, and you reveal a flat, weighted tamper base that compresses the evenly levelled bed into a perfectly straight, compact puck.
Trust us, this is well worth a look.
2. A Digital Smart Scale
When you start to improve your espresso technique beyond the standard tamp-and-pull, you’re going to want some data. A great espresso shot is actually an exercise in ratios: how much liquid you can extract in the right amount of time when compared to the amount of espresso you put into your portafilter.
There are a variety of ratios used to create different types of shots, such as ristretto. But for the most part, the golden ratio is a 1:2, double the water to espresso. For example, if you tamp 18g of finely-ground espresso into your portafilter, around 36g of espresso should come out of your home espresso machine in under 30 seconds. That’s one of the data points you need to be sure you’ve pulled a barista-level shot.
A scale is the best way to know if you’ve pulled that amount of espresso, which makes it one of the best coffee accessories you can buy. It’s also an excellent tool for measuring your grind dose! A precision scale allows you to accurately measure your input (dry dose) and your output (liquid yield) in real time.
If you have a La Marzocco home espresso machine, you can get a connected smart scale that records data from your machine and stops the extraction the second you reach your target yield.
3. A Stainless Steel Milk Jug
If you or anyone else in your home can’t abide drinking black coffee every day, then a stainless steel milk pitcher is an absolutely indispensable addition to your espresso machine accessories. While the jug itself will, of course, hold the milk as you steam it, it’s the stainless steel material that makes a real difference here.
A purpose-built stainless steel pitcher lets you test the milk’s temperature without burning yourself or buying a milk thermometer. As you hold the pitcher and steam your milk, your hands register the heat bleeding through the steel. Over time, you’ll be able to get better and better at judging when the milk has achieved the ideal temperature for microfoam by simply feeling it. That’s the mark of a true barista.
When you’re buying a stainless steel jug, here’s what we recommend looking for:
· Food-grade 304 stainless steel, which bleeds heat but is easy to care for.
· An engineered pouring spout, which makes it easy for you to pour milk into espresso cups of any size or even create latte art.
· An ergonomic handle, which you should be able to grip easily or slide your hand through. Without this, you can’t get the right angle to steam your milk properly.
If you put aside the many, many coffee accessories on the market right now, these three will help you upskill as a home barista while keeping your ecosystem tight, functional, and easy to maintain.
A tamp and distributor help you to nail your grind dose, a scale helps you to nail the extraction, and a jug helps you improve your milk texturing. With that bump to every stage of a top-notch cup of coffee, you’ll be outcompeting the café on the corner in no time.
Find the industry’s best espresso machine accessories at La Marzocco.
Over almost 100 years of crafting home espresso machines, coffee accessories, and more, La Marzocco is proud to know our craft like no one else. Tap into decades of Italian espresso mastery, engineered for at-home accessibility.
Browse our range of espresso machine accessories today.
