Have you recently given in to your long standing desire to have your very own espresso machine at home? Congratulations! If you set yourself up with a few key accessories you should enjoy brewing your own delights for many years.
Let’s start with the espresso grinder and the espresso tamper. The most important accessory to your espresso machine is your coffee grinder. A poor grinder can actually burn your coffee prior to brewing so a good grinder can actually improve the taste of your coffee. The better quality grinders are burr grinders. Don’t skimp on your grinder.
An espresso tamper is a necessity and you probably got one with your espresso machine. A new tamper can be a nice upgrade if yours is a poorly made model (most that come with espresso machine are poor quality). Make sure the new tamper you are getting fits the opening well and beyond that get one that feels good to you.
The next tool type accessories are the frothing and steaming pitchers. Many espresso drinks call for frothed and/or steamed milk. As an example a latte is made with steamed milk. There are many sizes for frothing pitchers but a small one should suite you fine at home.
Espresso Cups and Espresso Cup Sets – This is one of the best places to insert some personality into your espresso bar. There are many types of espresso cups that range from simple porcelain cups to ones with name brand designer patterns. Espresso cups also come in glass and stainless steel. Once you find an espresso cup set that you enjoy for a while, you may just find yourself looking for another set because collecting them is a ton of fun. Your first set of espresso cups don’t have to be expensive and you will enjoy using them. If you enjoy larger drinks like lattes and cappuccinos then you will also want to get a set of cappuccinos cups for those drinks.
You will also want to get sets of espresso spoon and latte spoons to go along with your cups. Espresso cups and spoons are geared toward drinks that are 1 to 2 ounces, while latte and cappuccino cups are usually 6 to 12 ounces in size.
An espresso recipe book will keep you brewing for a long time. Some of the more popular recipe books have over 200 coffee recipes! Here are a couple of recipes to get you started. A latte is espresso with steamed milk. A mocha is a latte with chocolate syrup and a cappuccino is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 frothed milk.
Flavors come next and there are LOTs to choose from. Although there are flavored powders (ex: chocolate, mocha, etc) most flavors are added as syrup. There are dozens of flavors of syrup and they range from the perennial favorite of chocolate to seasonal flavors such as pumpkin.
There are many more options for decking out your new home espresso bar but there is one more I should mention. Although not as exciting as the other accessories, you will need cleaning brushes and cleaning powder to keep your espresso machine in top condition. Follow this list and add the options that make sense to you and you will have a great deal of fun starting down the wonderful path of becoming a home brew barista.
Stock your new home espresso bar it with quality espresso cups and espresso shot glasses.