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
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
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.
Small adjustments can also make significant differences in how water flows through the coffee, so you need a grinder that not only has a fine setting, but many of them. Not because you’ll necessarily need to use them all, but because you won’t know which ones will work best for whatever coffee you choose. Fellow’s Opus grinder is at the low end of the price range for an espresso grinder, but it still lets you make micro adjustments; it was a great entry point in my own espresso-making journey.
If you’re more of an analog person or don’t mind a bit of a workout before your morning coffee, a 1Zpresso manual espresso grinder costs about the same as an Opus and can dial in just as well, if not better.
A coffee scale
Generally, a double shot of espresso (2 oz.) needs 18 grams of ground coffee. You may find you want a little more, which will make stronger coffee, but 18 is a good baseline.
Depending which grinder you choose—if you choose one with a built-in timer, say—you might be able to trial-and-error your way to the correct amount of coffee for a shot. But the fastest, easiest way to make sure your grounds are measured correctly is to use a scale. This is because the amount of coffee that can fit in a volumetric measuring tool like a tablespoon can vary with different grinds.
There are massively pricey coffee scales, like Acaia’s Lunar, that have a long list of features which, as a beginner you probably won’t use. You just need a scale that can reliably measure to the tenth of a gram like this one from MiiCoffee ($37 at the time of writing). It will give you enough precision that you don’t accidentally end up with an extra couple of grams of coffee, which might slow down the water flow and result in overly bitter coffee.
A good tamper
I’ve tested dozens of espresso makers and almost every single one of them comes with a lousy tamper. Some of them are so flimsy, they feel like they'll break under the weight of a few weeks’ use. A heavier tamper will help you compress the coffee enough to keep water from running through the grounds too quickly and leaving flavor behind in the extraction process.
Spring-loaded tampers like this one from Normcore are dummy-proof; the springs are calibrated to compress at the proper pressure—not too much, not too little. Just make sure you get one that fits your espresso machine. Most beginner machines need a 54mm tamper, while most high-end ones need a 58mm.
A coffee distributor
It looks like a tiny torture device, but actually serves an important role. You may notice that when you dump your coffee into the brew basket, the grounds are a little clumpy and mound up in the middle. That’s a problem because water can’t run through it evenly. Stirring the coffee with this little guy before brewing evens out the texture throughout the basket for a consistent brew.
A tamping mat
Making espresso every morning can be a messy business and a silicone mat is a great landing spot for any ground coffee spillover. You’ll find all sorts of fancy-looking mats with cut outs for keeping different tools. They’re nice, but not necessary. If you’re just dipping your toe into espresso shots for the first time, you’ll do fine with the cheapest mat that will fit your counter.
A knockbox
Sticking with the cleanliness theme—trust me when I say, you do not want to have to dig compressed, wet coffee out of an espresso basket with your fingers. Beating that basket on the bar of a knockbox is not only the most effective method of emptying it out, it can be a nice release on a stressful morning.