Accessories, coffee beans and more

There’s so much coffee gear available to buy that it can be a bit overwhelming, so in this article we’ll show you some of our favourites, as well as providing some general advice. Below are some of the accessories that we find genuinely useful when brewing with the 9Barista. 

Grinders

A good quality grinder is a great place to start and is key to getting the most out of your machine, so much so that it deserves it’s own page entirely.

Milk steamers and frothers

If your drink of choice includes milk, like a flat white or a cappuccino, then a milk frother/steamer is an effective way to get close to the coffee you’ll be served in a good cafe. Most online coffee shops sell these, as do larger stores such as Ikea or Amazon. We’ve listed a few methods we like below;

Best micro-foam: A traditional, standalone milk steamer like this one from Dualit is a fantastic option. The NanoFoamer can also produce pretty good micro-foam.

Most Cost Effective: Use a French press to foam your milk, after heating it in a microwave. This video gives a good demonstration of how to do this.

Coffee

There’s no doubt that freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee provides the best tasting espresso. Wherever possible, we strongly recommend that you grind fresh beans at the time of brewing, using a good quality burr grinder. For best results, the beans should have been roasted within the last two weeks; the roasting date is usually printed on the packaging. All that being said, you can use pre-ground coffee if you prefer.

Scales

A set of scales with with a 0.1g resolution will help you brew good quality shots repeatedly. The ability to make small changes in the dose that you use will really help when it comes to brewing consistently. We love the Timemore Black Mirror Nano, which is available here.

Espresso cups

If you drink your espresso neat, you may wish to try our 9Barista-branded espresso cups. 

53mm dosing funnel

A dosing funnel sits on top of the basket and helps to guide the grounds into place, preventing any grounds going to waste. The 9Barista uses a standard 53mm basket, and we have made on specifically for the 9Barista, which you can find here.

Knockbox

After brewing you’ll need to empty the coffee grounds from the basket. This is much easier with a knock box; simply knock the basket upside down on the bar and the grounds will come out in one single puck. This is easier and more hygienic than knocking on the bin or using a spoon to empty the basket. Alternatively you can also knock the basket on the bottom of a kitchen sink, and then put the puck in the bin.

Carry case

We don’t yet sell a carry case, but we’d certainly like to in the future. For the time, there are two types of case that we’d recommend. The first is a ‘pluck and play’ Peli-style case. This style of case has a hard shell and is very protective but can be a bit bulky. The second option is a soft case, which offers less protection but is a bit lighter and slimmer.