Espresso Accessories

ACCESSORIES · THE SMALL STUFF THAT FIXES BIG PROBLEMS

Accessories are where espresso budgets go to die. Here are the five that earn their counter space, and none of the ones that just look good on Instagram.

Size matters here, literally. The Breville Bambino Plus and Barista Express use 54mm portafilters. The Gaggia Classic Pro (E24) uses 58mm. Buy to your machine. Everything below is based on specs, manuals, and price, not a drawer full of gadgets we bought and abused. The buttons open Amazon search results, so check the listing names your exact machine and check current price.

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At a glance

	What it fixes	Breville (54mm)	Gaggia Classic Pro (58mm)
WDT tool	Clumps and channeling	Any	Any
Scale (0.1 g)	Guessing your dose and yield	Any	Any
Tamper	Uneven, wobbly tamps	Bambino Plus ships with a 54mm tamper; Barista Express has one built in	58mm; the included one is plastic
Bottomless portafilter	Not seeing what the shot is doing	54mm, made for Breville	58mm, made for the Classic
Milk pitcher	Messy steaming and latte art	Barista Express; Bambino Plus auto mode wants its own jug	Any steel pitcher

1. WDT tool

A handful of very thin needles you stir through the grounds before tamping. It breaks up clumps so water does not find one easy path through the puck. Cheap, low-tech, and the most useful thing on this page for entry grinders.

2. A scale that reads 0.1 g

Espresso recipes are weights: grams in, grams out. A scale that reads to 0.1 g and fits under your portafilter or cup on the drip tray turns “tastes weird today” into a number you can change. If you only buy one accessory, buy this.

If you are not weighing, you are guessing with extra steps.

3. A tamper that fits

Bambino Plus owners already get a 54mm tamper in the box, and the Barista Express has one built in. Gaggia Classic Pro owners get a plastic one, which is the first thing most people replace. Get one sized to your basket so it seals edge to edge.

4. Bottomless portafilter

A portafilter with the bottom cut away, so you can watch the shot come out of the basket. Sprays and side jets show you channeling instantly. It is a diagnostic tool, and yes, it is also fun. Breville portafilters are 54mm and Gaggia’s are 58mm, but the lugs differ by brand, so buy one listed for your exact machine.

5. Milk pitcher

A stainless pitcher with a pointed spout makes manual steaming and latte art easier. One catch: Breville’s Bambino Plus manual says to use only the supplied stainless jug for auto frothing. So this one is mainly for Barista Express and Gaggia owners, or Bambino Plus owners steaming manually.

What we left off on purpose

• Anything that promises to fix a bad grinder. Nothing does. See Grinder First.
• Decorative knock boxes that cost more than the tamper.
• Gadgets whose main feature is a photo shoot.

Sources

• Breville: Bambino Plus (BES500) product page
• Breville: Bambino Plus instruction book (PDF)
• Breville: Barista Express (BES870) product page
• Gaggia North America: Classic Pro E24 product page