GEAR · BUY / SKIP
Espresso accessories come in two kinds: tools, and things that photograph well next to tools. We’ll sort them so you don’t have to.
Five things we’d actually buy, and three we’d leave in the cart. The skip list is opinion, with reasons. Plenty of smart people own all three and love them. That’s fine. Our point is narrower: for a beginner, they’re not where the money should go.
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Five worth buying
1. A 0.1 g scale
The single most useful accessory, and usually one of the cheapest. Espresso recipes are written in grams. Breville sizes the Bambino Plus double basket for 16 to 19 g. CoffeeGeek’s Natia Simmons wrote that before she used a 0.1 g scale, her doses were off by as much as 1 to 1.5 grams, and that a cheap scale improved her espresso more than almost anything besides a good grinder. Band: roughly $15–50. Check current price.
2. A WDT tool
A handful of very thin needles in a handle. You stir the grounds in the basket before tamping to break up clumps and even out the bed. It’s cheap, it’s simple, and it fixes a real problem: clumpy grounds make uneven pucks. Our opinion, based on how it works and price: high value per dollar.
3. A real tamper, if yours is plastic
Check your box first. The Bambino Plus includes a 54mm tamper. The Barista Express has one built in. The Gaggia Classic Pro (E24) lists a plastic tamper in its accessories, and it uses a 58mm portafilter. If you own that one, a solid 58mm tamper is a fair upgrade. Match the size to your basket. Not the size you wish you had.
4. A milk pitcher, if your machine didn’t include one
Breville includes a 16 fl oz (480 ml) jug with the Bambino Plus, so skip this if that’s you. Gaggia’s accessory list for the Classic Pro (E24) doesn’t include one, and Gaggia’s manual recommends a stainless steel, rounded jug, narrower at the top, with a spout. That’s a plain description of a standard frothing pitcher. Buy that.
5. A knock box
A sturdy bin with a bar across the top. You knock the spent puck out, it falls in, you empty it later. Not glamorous. Our opinion: it saves your trash can, your sink, and your patience, every single day. Here’s an Amazon search for knock boxes.
Honorable mention: a bottomless portafilter. It shows you exactly how your shot is flowing, which makes it a great diagnostic tool. It’s a month-three purchase, not a day-one purchase. More on our accessories hub.
If it fixes a real problem every morning, it’s a tool. If it mostly fixes your feed, it’s jewelry.
Three that are desk jewelry (for beginners)
1. The palm distributor, if you already WDT and tamp level
A puck-shaped tool with angled fins that you set to a depth and spin on top of the grounds. Owners debate them constantly. Our take: if you’re already stirring with a WDT tool and tamping level, it mostly repeats work you’ve done, and it adds one more setting to get wrong. Some experienced owners swear by them. We’d wait until you can name the problem it would solve.
2. The puck screen
A thin metal mesh disc that sits on top of the puck. Fans like a cleaner group head. Our take for beginners: it’s another variable while you’re still learning grind and dose, and another thing to rinse. It isn’t bad. It’s early. Learn the basics on a plain basket, then experiment.
3. Shot glasses with volume lines
They’re cute. They measure the wrong thing. The lines show volume, and a fresh shot’s volume includes foamy crema that changes from coffee to coffee. Recipes and baskets are written in grams, which is why the scale is item one up there. Our opinion: put the shot glass on the scale and ignore the lines.
Basis: manufacturer specs and manuals, the references linked below, and price. We have not run this gear through our own testing, and we won’t pretend otherwise.
Sources