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Barista Towel
Why all baristas need a towel and tips for keeping the coffee machine clean.
Published December 17, 2021
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Chandra Melo
Coffee experts@The Coffee Lab
A barista towel is an accessory for making espresso that doesn’t cost a lot but can make all the difference when perfecting your coffee. Having a towel, rag, or cloth to hand when preparing your coffee makes it easier to continue cleaning all the elements throughout the process as you go along and make sure that everything is well-maintained. As you might already know if you are somebody who uses an espresso machine on a regular basis, many of the main cleaning actions will need to be carried out as you go, and sometimes waiting until you’ve finished will just make the job harder. Because of this, having a cleaning towel nearby at all times for your barista equipment will make the job easier and ensure that your equipment is kept in top shape. Any user of an espresso machine at home should have a specific cleaning towel or cloth for this purpose.
What is a Microfiber Barista Towel?
A microfiber towel or cloth is the best choice for cleaning up your coffee making process. This cloth is made from a soft material and is specifically designed for cleaning tasks. Microfiber is the best materials to choose for its effectiveness and the fact that it is gentle on coffee machines and will not cause any damage to them. If you don’t want to spend money on a specially designed barista cloth, a normal microfiber cleaning cloth that you might even have in your kitchen already will do. You can usually find them for sale in most stores in packs of several cloths in different colors.
Why Use a Barista Towel or Cloth?
Using a cleaning towel or cloth as a barista serves two purposes. You can use it to make sure that you maintain the essential hygiene and cleanliness throughout the process, along with keeping your coffee machine and any other professional equipment that you use to make coffee clean and well-maintained. Since making coffee involves constantly working with various materials that will leave organic residue like milk and coffee grounds, using a barista towel or cleaning cloth will ensure that you get clean these away as soon as they appear. For example, coffee filters and milk steaming wands need to be cleaned immediately after each use, as otherwise, there will only be residue and debris that builds up and ends up in your next cup of coffee, affecting the taste. If you make coffee regularly or tend to multi-task around your kitchen when making coffee, having a barista towel or cloth hanging somewhere that you can easily grab it will make everything so much easier.
What to Look for in the Ideal Barista Towel
A good barista towel will have a number of different characteristics and features that set it apart from a regular cleaning cloth. They will usually come with a hook that you can use to hang it on your apron or by your coffee machine to make sure that it’s in easy reach at all times. You can use a cloth without a hook, but this will usually be more difficult to carry around and it might get in the way more when working. Ideally, you should choose a cloth or towel with a size of 40x30cms, or if you want a square one, go for 30x30cm. The best material to choose is microfiber, as already mentioned since this will not damage your coffee machine and is also the best material for absorbency and soaking up any liquid when cleaning. When it comes to color, you can choose any that you like, although most professional barista towels and clothes are designed with colors that are associated with coffee such as black, dark brown, or ochre.
Tips for Keeping Your Coffee Machine Clean and Well-Maintained
Along with using a good microfiber barista towel while you are making coffee to clean down the different elements of the machine when you use them and avoid build-up over time, your coffee machine will also require more regular, deeper cleaning from time to time to keep it in good working condition and prevent breakdowns. Depending on how often you clean your coffee maker, it is usually necessary to deep clean it every few months. However, some espresso machines require more regular cleaning to keep all of the parts working together correctly and to avoid compromising the taste of your coffee. Some coffee makers and espresso machines also include a cleaning indicator feature, which will let you know when it is time to clean and descale the machine.
To help you make sure that your coffee machine is always clean and in good condition, you will need to do the following:
Daily Cleaning
Along with using your barista towel to clean as you go, there are some things that you should definitely do each day to keep your coffee machine clean. This is especially important if you use your coffee machine a lot throughout the day or if you have a coffee machine in a café or coffee shop. Daily cleaning tasks should include cleaning the following components of the machine:
- Group Head: Lots of coffee particles and oils will get stuck in the group head as you brew espresso, and there’s nothing that you can do to avoid this. You will need to wash the group head daily to ensure that the build-up doesn’t cause problems. To do this, remove the portafilters from the group heads and use a cleaning brush to brush the group heads and get rid of any coffee particles. Place blind baskets in the portafilter in place of the brewing baskets and add a dose of one teaspoon of espresso machine cleaning powder. Then, insert the portafilter back into the group head and turn on the water supply just like you would when making espresso. Do this in ten-second increments four times, and then remove the portafilters to rinse them. Finally, brush the group heads again and repeat the process to ensure that no particles are left.
- Portafilters: It’s a wise idea to wash your portafilters at the end of the day as if you have used your coffee machine a lot, there will be a lot of coffee oils in them. If you only use your espresso machine once or twice a day, try and wash your portafilters around once per week. To do this, place the portafilters in a sink or metal bowl and let them soak in a mixture of hot water and espresso machine cleaning powder for ten to fifteen minutes. Then, remove them from the water and use hot water and a brush to clean them.
- Steam Wand: One of the main purposes of your barista towel or cloth is to wipe the steam wand down after each use to make sure that the milk isn’t burned to the wand. If you do get burned milk on your wand, don’t panic as one of the easiest ways to fix this problem is to simmer the wand for ten minutes with a very wet cloth, which should loosen the milk and make it easy to wipe off. Avoid using anything made from metal to scrape the burned milk off the wand, since this can damage the coating and make it even easier for milk to burn to it.
- Grinder: Whether you have an espresso machine with a built-in grinder or have a separate grinder that you use to prepare your coffee grounds, it’s important to make sure that this tool is also kept clean on a regular basis. This is because the burrs or blades in your grinder are always in contact with the coffee beans, and residue will be left on them. You will need to rinse your grinder daily, which can be done using grinder burr cleaning beans. Simply insert them into the grinder and grind as normal, and they will remove any coffee oils that have been stuck to the burrs. It will usually take less than a minute and makes sure that your grinder stays in good shape.
- Group Head Shower Screens: The shower screens in the group head have the main role of showering the brewing water evenly to the puck of coffee. Shower screens will get dirty very quickly since they are always in contact with the coffee puck. To clean them, start by unscrewing the screw holding the screen in place. Then you will have three parts – the shower screen, metal plate, and screw. Simmer them in hot water combined with espresso machine cleaning powder or solution for around ten to fifteen minutes, and then brush them clean. When you do this regularly, this part should be quite easy to clean, but due to being in constant contact with the coffee, they get much harder to clean if you leave it longer.
Whether you’re making coffee at home or working in a professional setting, keeping your equipment clean is one of the most important things to do. With the right barista towel, you can clean as you go, making daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning easier.
About the author
Chandra Melo
Marketing as job, barista as passion. An authentic coffee lover, looking for the next fantastic cup of coffee that I will fall in love with. Coffee, for me, is more than a beverage. It's about community and connection - how can all the world consume the same fruit? And differently? How can we have so many different tastes? I also don't know. And because of this, I feel in love each day more for this world. Happy to share and make a change in the coffee community.
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