Recommended Accessories

The following is a list of things that are either required or good to have as you plan for your first espresso machine purchase.

Cleaning:

WDT Tool
- Used for stirring the groups in the PF to distribute well
- Can be made from a cork and some 3d printer needles
Dosing Funnel:
- Helps keep the grounds contained while doing WDT
- Get one that rests on the rim/outside of the basket/filter to avoid disturbing the grinds
Scale that fits on the machine
- Weigh your beans before brew
- Weight your output as you are pouring
- One with a timer is useful if the machine does not have one.
  - Note: time of shot is good for ballpark information but should be dialed in based on taste not time.
Tamping Mat
- Protect your counter tops

Protect your investment with good water. There are a few options that can be done here
- Filtration (do not use Brita/Pur as they do not soften the water):
  - Peak water filters
  - ZeroWater Filters
- Bottled:
  - RO
  - Distilled
You will need to add some buffer minerals back into the above waters
Homebrew mineral mix * Third wave water * There are some bottled water that can be used without needing to add buffer minerals back in: https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/water-for-home-espresso/

Molykote 111
- Used to lubricate the camshaft after a cafiza backflush
Big adjustable wrenches
- Group head maintenance
- Consider rubber coated wrenches to avoid scratching things
Group Head thermometer
- Reads the temperature of the water about 1.25” above the puck.
- Very useful with a Heat Exchanger style machine unless the machine has a PID that is reading the group head temp instead of the boiler temp with its PID.
- This is a mutually exclusive upgrade with the Flow Control Device
Smart Plug/Timer
- E61 machines can be safely put on a smartplug/timer since they have an auto fill sensor for the boiler.
- Make sure you buy one that is rated for 15A.
- Please do research about your machine and safety of doing this. The machine needs to have an auto fill circuit for the boiler.
Flow Control Device:
- Gain better control over your shots with flow profiling.
- This is a mutually exclusive upgrade that competes with the Group Head thermometer.

Thermometer with clip to attach to pitcher
- Measure milk temp as steaming
Steaming Pitcher
- Pitcher will hold about half the milk as the volume of the pitcher to account for space for vortex + expansion
- Multiple sizes can be useful if you do various sizes of drinks. While you can steam smaller quantities of milk in a larger pitcher, it is often more dificult to do so.
- Sizes start at 150ml (great for cortado/flat white) and get larger from there.
  - Some machines may have a hard time with larger quantites of milk.
Steam Wand Tips
- Some steam wands will have replaceable tips to adjust flow rates of steam.

Knockbox
- Easy place for grounds disposal if you are not near a trash can.
- Don’t run coffee grounds down your sink/garbage disposal
Self leveling precision tamper
- Ensures a good consistent & level tamp
- Brands:
  - Normcore
    - Least Expensive
    - Most options on sizes
  - Decent
  - Kafatek LevTamp
    - Not often in stock. Will sell out within a few minutes of going on sale
Brix Refractometer
- For Science!
- 20% brix refractometer is good for calculating your extraction yield if you really want to fall down the rabbit hole.
Bottomless portafilter
- Helps diagnose problems with puck prep
Shot mirror
- Paired with the bottomless portafilter so you don’t have to contort your body to look at things
- Search for magnetic inspection mirror
Cups
- Various sizes of cups are nice to have
  - Cortado
  - Demitasse
  - Cappuccino
  - Latte
- Brands:
  - Higher End (Average price $15/cup)
    - notNeutral
    - Loveramics
    - Fellow
    - Nuova point
    - Duralex
  - MidRange
    - Bodum
    - Ikea
    - World Market
Demitasse Spoons
- Tiny spoons for tiny cups