This article is dedicated to all lovers the coffee lovers who want to prepare an espresso in a dedicated and personalized space with all the tools of a real barista.
In this post, we suggest a couple of ideas that will allow you to build a professional barista coffee station in your kitchen to delight your family with expresso and cappuccinos made to perfection.
We have tried to satisfy all tastes: from suggestions for lovers of traditional preparation who appreciate the meticulousness of the grinding and extraction operations to more technological users who want comfort and protection of space without neglecting the quality of the drinks.
COFFEE MACHINES
A professional barista coffee station cannot exist without a top-notch espresso machine. A good espresso machine is the main tool in your home bar. Below we provide several tips for beginners and more experienced users.
GAGGIA CLASSIC PRO
For traditional users who love manual skills, we offer Gaggia Classic Pro, a semi-automatic machine made entirely in Italy equipped with a professional group and filter holder, a new professional steam wand and a new interface with rocker buttons and lights for the activation, dispensing and steam functions. Classic Pro is available in six new colors that adapt perfectly to any placement environment. Gaggia Classic Pro allows you to carry out all the operations that a barista carries out in his bar at home.
GAGGIA CADORNA PRESTIGE
For users who love comfort and want to combine the “bar station” in a single element, we propose the automatic model Gaggia Cadorna Prestige. This model allows you to prepare up to 14 different drinks at the touch of a button. Integrated coffee grinder, integrated and removable milk carafe, beverage customization functionality will allow you to satisfy all the different tastes and needs of larger families.
COFFEE GRINDERS
For lovers of traditional “bar stations” it is necessary to equip yourself with a coffee grinder that will allow you to transform the coffee beans into ground coffee according to various grinding levels: from a finer grain suitable for creamy and dense flavored drinks to more grinds coarse preferred by lovers of American coffee. Here are two proposals for coffee grinders able to satisfy all types of users.
RANCILIO ROCKY SD
Rancilio Rocky is an entry-level grinder that fits well with almost any espresso machine. Made of stainless steel, it has a darker aluminium front panel and a container with a capacity of 300 grams. Rocky has a 166-watt motor that delivers 1350 rpm and can grind one gram per second. The grinders are flat in steel and have a diameter of 50mm. The Rocky grinder presents 55 different grind settings.
CEADO E6X
Ceado E6X is a coffee grinder dedicated to more expert users equipped with 64mm grinders and with a continuous adjustment function that allows you to accurately dispense between 5.5 and 9 grams of espresso whatever the grinding preference. Ceado E6X is equipped with many professional elements (overload switch, “Steady Lock Burr” function which keeps the edges at a predefined distance) and allows infinite grind settings. This coffee grinder is designed for users who grind large volumes of coffee even at home.
ACCESSORIES
A real “bar station” cannot ignore coffee accessories, fundamental elements that complete the needs of a real barista. Let’s start with the most important and probably the most improper because it cannot be considered an accessory to all intents and purposes: the coffee.
ESPRESSO
A bar without the raw material, namely coffee, cannot exist. We at Caffè Italia offer an excellent blend selected with beans from Brazil and India and characterized by a balanced taste with a pleasant aftertaste of chocolate. The coffee is available both in the bean version and in the powder version.
TAMPER
The tamper is an accessory used to press the coffee inside the filter holder in such a way as to leave the surface flat and avoid an uneven extraction. Caffè Italia has various models entirely in steel (eg Tamper Isomac or Elektra) or with wooden handle (eg Tamper Rancilio).
KNOCK BOXES
The coffee knock box is an accessory that is positioned on the counter next to the coffee machine and which is used to collect the coffee grounds. The knock box can be equipped with a base on which to place the machine and coffee grinder (eg. Rancilio Base or Elektra Base) or or with a simple pull-out drawer (eg. Quick Mill knockout drawer or Quick Mill base).
FILTER HOLDER
The filter holder is the accessory that collects the coffee powder before extracting it. The ground coffee is in fact collected inside the filter holder and placed inside the coffee machine. There are different types of filter holders: from pressurized filter holders for less experienced users to bottomless filter holders that require more experience on the part of the barista because any irregularity in the pressing level will be perceptible during the dispensing phase.
MILK KIT ART
Special KITS for Latte Art are available for users who want to try their hand at the art of decorating milk-based beverages,The kits allow the creation of drawings on the surface of the foam. The tools available are the cocoa decorators present in the Caffè Italia Kit Edition 1 or the awl for Latte Art that you can find inside the Caffè Italia Kit Edition 4.
ARE YOU READY TO BUILD YOUR COFFEE STATION WITH CAFFÈ ITALIA?
Have we given you enough ideas for your professional barista station? Visit our store where you can find many items of interest for all tastes and budget needs.