These barista accessories can be a lot of things, but there are a few basics such as milk pitcher, tamper, Brooks cleaning cloths and a knock box. If you have those 4 components you can properly work as a barista. But if you want that your espresso machine has more consistency you can think of a coffee scale to measure the amount of grams coming out of the coffee grinder.
With barista accessories you also need to think of cleaning detergents, for your countertop, grinder(s), brewing group and just your entire machine. Seen if you don’t have a proper cleaned espresso machine, grinder and work environment you can’t make good espresso and cappuccino as a barista.
What kind of coffee machine/barista accessories for home and commercial use are there around? Well we have 3 categories: accessories, knock boxes and cleaning detergents
The accessories section is probably the broadest section of all barista accessories. This can range from tampers, cleaning brushes, coffee distribution tools, WDT, milk pitches, coffee scales, spoons, tamping mats and Brooks barista cloths.
The tamper is maybe the most important barista accessory, without this tool you can’t make a cup of espresso. These coffee tampers can be found in various types, depending on the handle and the diameter of the tamping part. The handles can be made from various types of wood, plastic or metal. The bottom part is always made from food graded stainless. The most common size is 58mm, but they can go down to 43mm. Brands which make tampers are Brooks, Motta, Cafelat and joe frexx.
This is quite a recent tool, the Coffee distribution tool. This looks like a hocky puck in a sort of a way. You place this on top of the filter basket and rotate it, the shape of the bottom of the distribution tool will distribute the ground coffee in the filter basket. This tool is made by brands such as Rocket espresso and Motta.
The Weiss Distribution Technique (WDT) is used to distribute the ground coffee. This is done with a small tool with a couple of needles. Moving this tool in the filter basket the coffee will distribute and will break up any clumps.
This is also a vital instrument in making a good espresso, seen you do require some sort of a container to hold the milk in for frothing up the milk. These Milk pitchers are made from stainless steel, in some cases they are coated or coloured. These milk pitchers are made by brands such as Motta Metalurgica.
How to get easily rid of your coffee puck in your portafilter? Take a knock box, with this you can hit your portafilter to a round bar and your coffee puck will fall out of the filterbasket.
These knock boxes come in various sizes and shapes. The main thing you see is the difference between commercial and domestic knock boxes. Seen the commercial models are used a lot more then domestic ones they have on average a better build quality.
There are 3 types of knock box: the countertop drawer, build in knock box and the countertop box.
The countertop drawers are basically a box with a slide out drawer. In this drawer you have a metal/wooden bar which has been covered with rubber. Against this rubber you can beat your portafilter. These boxes are made by companies such as Ronda, Joe Frex, Baristapro, Eureka and Spokj-Trukj. The ideal thing with these drawers is that you can, in a lot of cases, place a coffee grinder on top of it. Which saves room on your work top.
The build in knockbox can mainly be found in bars, hotels and restaurants. You won’t find them that often in domestic settings. Which makes sense seen they can hold a large amount of coffee. These knock boxes are made by, mainly Italian brands, such as Priolinox and Ronda.
These countertop knock boxes are mainly found in domestic settings. These knockboxes have a limited capacity and are made in most cases of plastic or pressed stainless. Brands which make these countertop knockboxes are Motta, Cafelat, Joe Frexx and Ribelle.
For espresso machines you do have quite a wide selection of cleaning detergents. These can be grinder crystals, brewing group back flush powder(or liquid), surface cleaning and steam tube cleaning solution.
The grinder crystals are made by the Italian brand Puly Caff, you grind this powder true the coffee grinder to get rid of the old coffee residues in the grinding burrs. It is also advices to manually clean the burrs once in a while. This product is called Puly grind cleaning crystals
This is maybe one of the most important cleaning actions and need to be done at the end of every day. This is done to clean the brewing group and brewing group solenoid valve. This type of cleaning detergent can be made by various companies such as Puly Caff, Lujo and Cafetto Evo. This detergent can be found in a liquid, tablet and a powder form. Mainly with the powder form is that if you overdose the blind filter with powder it can clog the solenoid valve.
If you want to remove coffee stains from your espresso machine, coffee grinder or work top you need some sort of a surface cleaning solution. Having a clean machine doesn’t only look good to your customers, but it is also hygienic. For that reason Puly Bar made their Igienic and Puly Grind hopper cleaner.
This is maybe one of the most vital cleaning solutions. This is used to clean off old milk and milk residue, you do need to do this on a daily basis. You can just soak your steam tube in it, if you don’t do this your steam tips can get clogged up and won’t work anymore. Puly Caff has made various solutions for this problem such as Puly Milk and Puly Milk green.