Shop this guide

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

A home espresso setup starts with a machine and a grinder that can grind fine enough for espresso. The coffee setup kit builder covers that pair, plus a scale, beans and a care item. This page covers the smaller tools around the machine: what each one does, what to check before you buy it, and which ones can wait.

Start by checking what came in the box. Breville lists a 54 mm tamper and a stainless steel milk jug among the Bambino’s accessories, and the Barista Express adds a cleaning disc, cleaning tablets and a dose trimming tool. Gaggia’s Classic Pro page lists a plastic tamper and a coffee scoop, and no milk jug. Anything already in the box comes off your list.

Nobody here has used these tools. Every spec below comes from the maker’s manual or product page, listed under Sources.

What to buy first, and what can wait

Priority Accessory Buy it when
Day one Espresso scale Always: doses and yields are measured in grams
Day one Tamper The machine has none, or you want one with a better fit or a force gauge
Day one Milk pitcher The machine has a steam wand, no jug came with it, and you make milk drinks
First weeks Knock box You want a place to drop spent pucks next to the machine
First weeks Cleaning supplies Your manual names a cleaning tablet, detergent or brush
Optional WDT tool You want to break up clumps in the grounds before tamping

1. An espresso scale

Breville’s dialing-in guide says you need a scale to weigh both the input, the dry grounds, and the output, the brewed espresso. It suggests 18 to 22 g of coffee as a safe starting dose, expresses the result as a ratio such as 1:2, and puts a typical extraction at 25 to 30 seconds. Weighing both numbers lets you repeat a good shot, or change one thing at a time when a shot is off. The espresso shot ratio calculator turns the two weights into a ratio and keeps a log of your shots.

What to check:

  • 0.1 g readings. Timemore lists readings from 0.1 g up to 2 kg for its Basic 2.0, with a 0.5 g minimum detection weight. Acaia lists 0.1 g readability for its Lunar.
  • A timer on the same screen. The Timemore Basic 2.0 has an automatic timer, and Acaia says the Lunar’s espresso modes start and stop a timer on their own.
  • Room under the portafilter. The scale sits on the drip tray with the cup on top of it. Acaia designs the Lunar for espresso machines and lists it at 105 x 105 x 15 mm. Timemore doesn’t list dimensions on its product page, so measure your drip tray before you order.

Our coffee scale picks compare five scales on capacity, precision and timer features.

2. A tamper that matches your basket

The tamper presses the ground coffee into a flat, even bed. Breville’s dialing-in guide calls an even tamp critical, and its Bambino manual says the same pressure every time matters more than the amount of pressure. A tamper only works if its base matches the basket’s diameter, so find that number before you shop:

  • Check the manual or product page. Breville prints “54mm” next to the portafilter in the Bambino and Barista Express manuals, and Gaggia lists a 58 mm portafilter for the Classic Pro. Breville’s 58 mm accessories list the Dual Boiler, Oracle Jet, Oracle Dual Boiler and Dynamic Duo. De’Longhi’s support page sizes its own tamper at 51 mm, calibrated to fit De’Longhi filters.
  • Use the lookup. Our portafilter and basket lookup lists the portafilter sizes Breville and Gaggia publish for their machines, linked to the manual or page behind each value.
  • Treat “58 mm” as a size class. Flair says its standard 58 mm basket measures 58.7 mm at the top and tapers to 58.5 mm. It recommends a 58.4 mm tamper and says 58.5 mm is the largest to consider. If you switch to an aftermarket basket, check what that basket’s maker recommends.

Many machines ship with a tamper, so a separate one is an upgrade, not a must. One upgrade is a spring-loaded tamper. Breville’s Force Gauge Tamper fits 54 mm Breville portafilters and lists the Bambino and Barista Express among the machines it works with. Its spring delivers between 15.4 and 22 lb of pressure, and markings let you pick a tamp force.

3. A milk pitcher, if the machine has a steam wand

You only need a pitcher if your machine has a steam wand. For a machine without one, a separate frother does the job; see our milk frother picks .

What to check:

  • Whether the machine needs its own jug. Breville’s Bambino Plus manual says to use only the supplied stainless steel jug with that machine, which rests on a milk temperature sensor on the drip tray, and warns that other containers may lead to dangerous conditions.
  • Shape. Gaggia’s Classic Pro manual recommends a round stainless steel jug that is narrower at the top, with a spout.
  • Size for the milk you steam at once. A pitcher is never filled to the top, because texturing adds volume. Breville says to fill the jug just below the “V” at the bottom of the spout, and Gaggia says to fill it halfway. Fellow sells its Eddy pitcher in 12 oz and 18 oz sizes, with inside markings up to 10 oz and 12 oz, for drinks from cortado to latte size. Gaggia also says to froth only the milk you need, so pick a size whose fill level covers one or two of your usual drinks.

4. A knock box

After the shot, the spent coffee puck has to come out of the basket. A knock box is a bin with a bar across the top: Breville describes striking the portafilter against the knock bar to drop the puck. Breville’s manuals also have you hold the portafilter over a knock box while trimming the dose with its Razor tool.

What to check: a sturdy bar that comes out for cleaning, a non-slip base and a footprint that fits next to the machine. Breville’s Knock Box 10 holds up to 10 pucks, has a removable knock bar and an anti-slip rubber base, and measures 4.4 x 4.8 x 4.8 inches.

5. A WDT tool

WDT stands for Weiss Distribution Technique: stirring the ground coffee in the basket with thin needles before you tamp. Coffee equipment maker Gevi says the stirring breaks up clumps and spreads the grounds evenly, which helps prevent channeling and uneven extraction. You still tap and tamp afterward.

What to check:

  • Needle thickness. Gevi calls 0.3 mm needles ideal for fine espresso grounds, and 0.4 mm needles sturdier but less precise.
  • Size, for combination tools. A tool with a built-in leveler has to match your basket like a tamper. Breville’s Distribution Duo has 8 removable pins that Breville says help break up clumps, and a three-blade leveler on the other end. It comes in a 54 mm version and a 58 mm version, each for Breville portafilters of that size.

Treat WDT as optional at first. Breville’s Bambino manual has you tap the portafilter to settle and distribute the grounds before tamping, with no extra tool.

6. Cleaning supplies your manual names

Buy cleaning products by the manual. Breville’s Barista Express and Bambino Plus come with a cleaning disc and cleaning tablets. The Barista Express manual describes its cleaning cycle as a back-flushing cycle, separate from descaling, run with one tablet on the disc, and the Bambino Plus calls for a cleaning cycle after 200 extractions. The basic Bambino instead runs a combined clean and descale cycle with descaling agent. Gaggia’s Classic Pro manual says to brush leftover grounds off the shower screen regularly, and recommends Gaggia cleaning tablets for a deeper clean of the filters.

So the cleaning list is short: a group-head brush if your manual calls for brushing the screen, and refills of the tablet or cleaner your maker names once the box supply runs out. Our backflushing vs descaling guide explains the difference between the two jobs, and the descaling table by model shows when each maker says to descale and which descaler it names.

If you are still choosing the machine itself, start with the espresso machine buying guide for beginners and the grinders for espresso .

Sources