Everything You Need to Create a Home Coffee Bar
How to put together a home coffee bar with coffee brewing equipment and decorative touches
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I have spent more time thinking about coffee than most people, having worked with or for several coffee companies, including Starbucks, Keurig, and Trade, as a marketing exec. Pair that with my husband’s passion, bordering on obsession, with home coffee brewing. I’m here to share everything I know to help anyone create a home coffee bar.
Across these experiences I learned so much about home coffee brewing, especially at Trade where, as the Chief Marketing Officer, I got to interact closely with the country’s top roasters and help educate our customers about getting the most out of their home coffee brewing. I even filmed a commercial for Trade at my home during the peak of the pandemic!
However, my own experience was vastly eclipsed when I met my husband who is a self-professed coffee nerd. I kid you not, he will literally watch coffee videos on YouTube on a regular basis to hone his home coffee brewing skills. The benefit to me is that he handles most of our coffee brewing and makes sure we have all of the proper equipment and endless supplies of coffee. We have pretty much every coffee brewer known to man including an espresso machine (with a separate coffee grinder), a French press, an Aeropress, a pour over, a portable espresso maker and all the various accessories to go with them.
If he brings the science to the dynamic, then I bring the art. He decides what equipment we need, and I make our home coffee bar look good. It’s a happy marriage of form & function. I never want our coffee equipment to take over the space and make it look cold and soulless. Instead, it’s a matter of how I can integrate it into our kitchen and essentially turn the home coffee bar into a vignette that makes me happy every time I walk by. I’ll show you what home accents I built around our new baby (ahem espresso machine).
Recommended Coffee Making Equipment
The centerpiece of a home coffee bar is, of course, the coffee brewer (or brewers), so I’ll start there. I’m sharing what I’ve found to be the best home brewing equipment from my own personal experience, what coffee professionals have told me, and my husband’s obsessive research. How you brew your coffee is very personal to you; factors include level of convenience, taste preferences, style and budget — and may vary depending on the day: how much time you have, who you’re serving or what mood you’re in. So, I’m providing a range of options from automatic coffee and espresso machines to manual devices (and all the accessories and tools to go with them), and I’m even including the best no-equipment options.
Coffee Machines for Good Coffee at the Touch of A Button
The Pro’s Choice
When I worked in coffee, this is the machine all the coffee roasters used at home. It produces a great cup of coffee without the fuss of pour overs.
Bonavita 8 Cup Coffee Maker, One-Touch Pour Over Brewing with Thermal Carafe ($179.99)
The Most Stylish
Move over KitchenAid, the Moccamaster is the most attractive appliance on the countertop. Available in a rainbow of colors, you can match the coffee maker to your decor or just pick the color that makes you happy.
Moccamaster 53925 KBGV Select 10-Cup Coffee Maker ($359.00)
Espresso Machines for the Budding Barista
The Best for Beginners
This is the most common home espresso machine out there (and the one we had for years). It’s popular for a reason. This Breville is a very reliable, easy-to-use espresso machine to pull shots of espresso and make espresso-based drinks, but also allows you the space to tinker if you want.
Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel, BES870XL ($709.00)
The Advanced Choice
My husband upgraded to this machine when he decided he wanted more of a challenge and more control over his espresso making. He had dreamed of it for years and literally looks after it like it’s his baby. Much to my delight, it’s actually quite attractive (though I’ll admit I have yet to learn how to use it).
Lelit Bianca V3 Espresso Machine ($3,399.95)
Tools to Dial In Your Espresso
Note: most of these tools come in various sizes, so make sure you double check the size of your machine before ordering.
Dosing funnel
This tool prevents the grinds from going everywhere when we empty the grinds into the basket. So naturally this is one of my favorite tools.
Hands-Free Dosing Funnel, Amazon ($29.99)
Distribution tool
This tool is used to evenly distribute the grinds before tamping. Doing so helps to achieve a more consistent extraction, resulting in a sweeter, more rounded espresso.
Normcore WDT Distribution Tool V2-9, Amazon ($32.99)
Tamper
Most espresso machines come with a tamper, so I’m recommending this is in case you want to upgrade. Here’s why: with a regular tamper, it’s very easy to tamp on an angle; if that happens the water will not flow evenly, and the coffee will not extract properly. My husband got me this tamper which makes level tamping foolproof.
Normcore Spring-loaded Tamper, Amazon ($43.99)
Puck screen
This metal screen goes on top of the tamped coffee and essentially helps to streamline the process and keep the machine clean. Without it, the coffee is looser and can get all over the place. Not essential, but helpful.
Normcore 2 Packs 58.5mm Puck Screen with Stand, Amazon ($29.99)
No Plug, No Problem - Manual Coffee Makers
The Ultimate Breakfast Table Coffee Maker
With its mobility and dramatic plunge and pour, it’s a great way to serve coffee on a breakfast table. Because there is no paper filter used with a french press, more of the oils inside the coffee bean make it into the brew, resulting in a rich, full-bodied flavor.
French Press Brewer ($48.30)
A Classic with A Clean Taste
Designed in 1941, this manual brewer is such a singular work of design, it is in the MoMA’s permanent collection. For the home brewer, this coffee maker, which utilizes a paper filter, produces a full-flavored, clean-tasting brew.
Chemex Pour-Over Glass Coffeemaker ($48.93)
Good Coffee You Don’t Even Have To Make
Concentrated Coffee Innovation
This innovative product concentrates high quality roaster coffee in a frozen pod. While it needs to remain frozen making it a little less convenient, it is so easy to make and tastes as good as fresh brewed.
Cometeer, 32 Capsules ($69.00)
The Best On-the-Go Coffee
When I was working with Starbucks, I helped launch Starbucks VIA, so I know first-hand everything that went into making this first of its kind coffee. Starbucks spent years developing this micro-ground coffee to produce an instant coffee that actually tastes good, in a form factor that makes it easy to carry and make on-the-go.
Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee ($33.64)
General Coffee Accessories
Grinder
Grind is considered one of the most important factors in brewing good coffee. Grinding your own beans offers more control and freshness. It must be a burr grinder, not a blade. There are fancier grinders out there (see: the Fellow grinder), but this one is a good all-around grinder that is capable of grinding espresso (not all grinders can handle espresso) and reasonably priced.
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder White, Amazon ($149.95)
Digital scale
Making coffee is all about the ratio of coffee to water, and a scale helps to calibrate the amount of coffee used for repeatable results. Like most coffee equipment, there are a wide range of scales, and this one is a solid, well-priced digital scale. It’ll do the trick.
TIMEMORE Coffee Scale, Amazon ($59.00)
Airtight, opaque storage container
To keep your coffee fresh, the storage container should be airtight and opaque, as oxygen and sunlight are the two biggest factors that make coffee go stale. Store the coffee you’re using in this container, and it will stay fresh for longer (if you won’t be using coffee for a little while, put the bag directly in the freezer; take it out and thaw before you use it).
MiiR, Airtight Coffee Canister, Portable Storage for Coffee, Amazon ($30.99)
Gooseneck kettle
When brewing manual pour over coffee (like Chemex or a Kalita Wave dripper), a gooseneck kettle provides more control when wetting the grinds. The version by Fellow is the gold standard in terms of convenience (eclectic) and design (she pretty).
Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Gooseneck Kettle, Amazon ($165.00)
How I Styled My Coffee Nook
The arrival of the Lelit Bianca was the excuse I needed to give our coffee nook a little makeover. In addition to doing justice to the machine’s sexy design, I wanted to make the area more inviting given how much of our routine revolves around making coffee. If I’m being honest, the new espresso machine is my husband’s toy, so making some design updates was the concession he made to me. Everybody wins.
Lucky for me, the Lelit Bianca gives me a lot to work with from a design perspective. I decided to play off the machine’s matte white body and nude wood details with pops of color and earthy elements. I added a shelf to make the tools easily accessible, then I integrated it into the design by painting it in a bold blue hue.
Coffee machine or not – these decorative touches would be ideal for anyone wanting to bring some warmth and coziness to a corner of their kitchen.
Shop the Look
Lelit Bianca V3 Espresso Machine, Clive Coffee ($3,399.95)
Vintage 12 oz Mugs, Set of 4, Crow Canyon Home ($36.00)
Fern 'Sprengeri' 4” Pot, Ethereal Company ($19.99)
Julie Pot Ø21 in Raw Rosa by Bergs Potter, Goodee ($48.00)
Set of 2 Floating Shelves, Rustic Wood, Amazon ($25.99)
Horezu Plate, Cabana ($60.00)
Bekins Reversible Wall Shelves (Set of 2), West Elm ($19.99)
Lulworth Blue Paint, Farrow & Ball ($8.50)
Akeza Plateau, Indego Africa ($65.00)