So, you read the headlines about becoming your own barista and clicked “buy now” on a new espresso machine. Congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of better coffee. [Editor’s note: That this coffee is “better” is Noah’s opinion.]
I get why it took you this long to make the leap. The way espresso is often written about, it seems like you might need a double major in engineering and chemistry to pull a shot. But if you’ve been scared off by blogs discussing micron adjustments to stepless grinders and extraction measured on refractometers, try, for now, to forget you ever read them.
Making good espresso will take a little practice, but you don’t need to lurk in 37-comments-deep threads in r/espresso to do it. To distill the process to its basic elements: You (your machine, really) pushes water through ground coffee, and that water pulls flavors from the beans as it goes. To get started, you just need to make sure you’re doing a few things to get your coffee ready for that process, like grinding, distributing, and tamping.
Your espresso starter kit
✓ An espresso machine (yes, I know this seems obvious)
✓ Good coffee beans
✓ An espresso-capable grinder
✓ An accurate coffee scale
✓ A better tamper than whatever your machine came with
✓ A distribution tool
✓ A silicone mat (for cleanliness!)
✓ A knockbox
While it’s possible to produce a cappuccino without everything on this list, what I can tell you, as someone who has gradually acquired all the items here, is they all contribute to making the process easier, cleaner, and more consistent.
An espresso machine
Duh.
If you haven’t chosen your espresso machine yet, there can be a lot to consider—how much you’re willing to spend, how manual (or not) you want the process to be, how much space you have to store it. You can read about all of that in our in-depth espresso machine review.
But if you just want to be told “get this one,” I have an answer. Breville’s Bambino Plus has been the entry-level, my-first-espresso-maker option I’ve recommended for years. It’s simple to use, fits comfortably in any kitchen, comes with a relatively low price tag (there are espresso machines that cost as much as a used car!), and importantly, can brew good coffee.
Good, fresh coffee beans
Trade Coffee Subscription
The single most important ingredient in any coffee drink is the coffee itself. You don’t need special espresso beans (there’s really no such thing; “espresso roast” is really just a darker roast, and plenty of people, myself included, like lighter roasts that work just as well with other brewing types), but you do need fresh coffee. Without it, espresso shots will always taste subpar.
A coffee subscription like this one from Trade will help you figure out what kind of coffee you like—what kind of roast, what country of origin—and keep a steady supply appearing at your doorstep.
If you want to explore the wide world of coffee subscriptions more thoroughly we’ve tried most of them and you can read our takes here.
A good, espresso-compatible coffee grinder
Fellow Opus Conical Burr Grinder
If you’ve been using pre-ground coffee or brewing exclusively drip with an inexpensive machine, it’s quite possible you don’t have a coffee grinder capable of grinding finely or precisely enough for espresso.
If those of you brand new to espresso, I’ll explain: A very fine grind is what gives espresso its concentrated flavor and aroma. When there are more, tinier grounds of coffee in the brew basket, there’s more coffee surface area for the water to hit—and extract flavor compounds from—as it runs through. With a coarser grind, the water flows more quickly and won’t pull as much flavor out from the beans.
