The complete cafe equipment checklist

When you’re opening a new cafe, there are a million things demanding your attention, from hiring and training staff, coordinating with the builders, negotiating with the bank manager, and much more. With all this going on, it’s easy to forget small things, until you reach opening day and discover that you didn’t get around to buying a tamper.

It might sound silly, but we’ve seen this happen more than once! We don’t judge, but we’re here to help. With this checklist, you can tick off every item down to the smallest screw and be sure that you have everything you need.

---

Major equipment

This is the most important equipment that you should design your bar layout around:

• Espresso machine — hopefully you remembered this one without our help!
• Main espresso grinder
• Secondary espresso grinder(s):
• One for decaf, and one for each additional coffee blend that you want to offer
• Alternatively, one single-dosing grinder
• Hot water boiler
• Filter coffee/bag grinder
• Batch brewer
• Water filter
• Ice machine
• Dishwasher
• Dedicated milk fridge or dispenser
• Anti-fatigue / non-slip mats — for a safer workplace

Espresso essentials

Everything you need to pull a shot:

• Professional tamper — or automatic tamper
• Precision baskets
• Tamping mat
• Knock box
• Barista towels — buy enough sets to have clean towels on the bar every day
• 2-4 small jugs or shot glasses — to keep spare espresso shots
• scale
• One large portafilter scale
• One small drip tray scale

Milk essentials

All the tools required for pouring a cappuccino:

• Milk pitchers
• At a minimum, one small pitcher (300-400ml) and one medium pitcher (500-600ml)
• An extra set of small and medium pitchers for each milk alternative offered, to avoid cross-contamination. Consider using different colors for each type of milk alternative.
• One or more large pitchers (750-1000ml) — for busy cafes or any drinks on the menu bigger than 300ml
• Pitcher rinser
• Thermometer — to use during steaming for trainee baristas, and to check milk temperatures in training and quality control
• Chocolate shaker — putting cocoa on a cappuccino is increasingly rare in specialty coffee, but some customers prefer it
• Latte art pen — if you want your baristas to spend time on more intricate designs

Maintenance and cleaning

A thorough cleaning routine and regular maintenance will make for better coffee, and save money on repairs in the long run:

• Grouphead brush
• Espresso machine cleaner
• Grinder cleaning tablets
• Blind baskets — one should be supplied with the espresso machine; having one per group can make cleaning faster
• Paintbrush — for cleaning grinders and dry coffee spills
• Tall container for soaking portafilters — any tall plastic container will do
• Basic tools. With these tools you can fix many minor issues that arise before the technician arrives:

⚠ Always consult a qualified professional before carrying out any maintenance work.

• Tool to remove shower screens — this depends on the machine but normally a short flat head screwdriver is required
• Crescent wrench/adjustable spanner
• Channel-lock pliers/pipe grip
• Full set of Allen keys
• Basic screwdriver set
• hread seal tape / PTFE tape
• Water TDS meter— use regularly to check the water filter is working correctly
• Spare parts — it’s worth keeping a set of the parts that most commonly need replacing:
• Portafilter springs
• Spare filter baskets
• Group head seals
• Shower screens
• Shower screws

Service

All the essentials for getting coffee into your customers’ hands:

• Cups and saucers or glasses — for each type of drink you want to offer, and plenty of glasses for drinking water
• Teaspoons
• Paper napkins
• Takeaway cups, lids — and insulating sleeves, if using single-walled cups
• Cup carriers
• Stir sticks
• Straws
• Sugar containers
• Small milk jugs
• Condiment storage

Single dosing workflow

If you are using a single dosing grinder, then these accessories can make the workflow much more efficient:

• Dosing ring or funnel — for grinding coffee directly into the portafilter
• Small airtight containers — enough to store pre-weighed doses of coffee beans for the whole day
• Steel cup — the base of a cocktail shaker is ideal
• Additional scale

Filter coffee

If you are offering filter coffee or Arabic coffee, make sure you have everything you need:

• Pouring kettles — for hand-brewed coffee
• Brewers — at least two for every brew you might need to be making at any one time
• Large scale — one for every brew you might need to be making at any one time
• Serving vessels — more than one per brewer, depending on how many filter coffees you expect to serve
• Filter papers
• One or two cupping spoons
• One or two containers for ground coffee — the steel base of a cocktail shaker is ideal
• An additional set of cloths and brush for cleaning

Optional extras

Not every cafe will use these, but these accessories are worth considering:

• Distribution tool — some baristas swear by these specialized tools, although the evidence of their effectiveness is mixed
• Refractometer — a useful tool for quality control, the refractometer allows you to measure extraction, but is expensive and requires specialist knowledge to use
• Cold brewing equipment — if you plan to make your own cold brew
• Nitro dispenser — for a trendy cold brew and nitro tea

Non-coffee drinks

These accessories are optional, depending on what other drinks you offer on the menu apart from coffee:

• Blenders
• Juicers
• Tea brewers
• Mini whisk — for hot chocolate or other drinks
• Cocktail shaker — for mixed drinks
• Squeeze bottles or pump dispensers — for syrups and other ingredients
• Bottle opener — as needed for soft drinks

Depending on what drinks are on your menu, you may not need everything on these lists, or there may be other specialist equipment that you need. However, by checking off this list as you prepare for opening day, you can make sure that everything is in place for a smooth launch.