Barista accessories

Measure the inner diameter of your basket first, because everything else depends on it. The usual size is 58 mm and that is what the tampers in wood and stainless steel are made for; there are also 57 mm versions for slightly smaller baskets. A millimetre of play is already noticeable, because the water then runs along the edge of the puck instead of through it.

The size of your milk jug follows from what you pour. For a cappuccino 35 or 50 cl works, for two cups at once take 75 cl, and 100 cl is meant for a row of orders back to back. Steam in too large a jug and the spout will not fill enough for latte art. The milk jugs come with clips to keep whole, semi-skimmed, lactose-free, soy, oat and almond milk apart.

Dose by weight and not by eye. Weigh the coffee in, start the timer when you start the shot and weigh what ends up in the cup; only then can you make a good shot a second time. Break up clumps in the coffee bed with the WDT tool before you tamp, level the coffee with the leveling tool and then press straight down. Tamping at an angle is the most common cause of a shot that runs faster on one side.

Steam milk with the wand just under the surface until you hear a soft hissing sound, then deeper to make the milk spin. Tap the jug once on the counter to knock out the large bubbles. Knock the puck out into a knock box and not into the bin, because wet grounds in a bag leak.

Coffee fat is the quiet cause of bitter shots. It settles in the group, in the baskets and on the steam wand and does not rinse away by itself. So run a backflush daily with the 58 mm blind filter and brush the group out. Wipe the steam wand straight after every jug, before the milk dries on.

Rather than scrubbing portafilters and baskets, soak them in hot water with cleaning agent. Rinse milk jugs cold first and only then wash them warm, because warm water actually sets milk protein onto the steel.

If you are after the serveware rather than the tools, the latte macchiato glasses are ready in the matching sizes. For portafilters, baskets and separate machine parts look at the barista tools. And if you want to serve coffee in a glass with alcohol, the ratios are on the espresso martini and the Irish coffee pages. If you are just starting out, four things get you a long way: a tamper in the right size, a scale with timer, a milk jug of 35 or 50 cl and a knock box. You add the rest as soon as you notice what you are missing.