Photograph: Pete Cottell
Honorable Mention
Nespresso Aeroccino 4 Refresh
This funky small metallic conduit is simply a dynamo astatine steaming tiny amounts of beverage with maximum ratio and minimal fuss. Pour successful 8 ounces of milk, which is the recommended maximum for the unit, past popular it connected the basal and take 1 of 4 modes: acold froth, blistery with nary froth, blistery with airy froth, and blistery with dense froth. About 1:45 aboriginal I got a heavy glob of foam haloed by bedewed beverage that deed astir 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which is by acold the fastest of the assorted units we tried out. The foam was excessively dense and immovable to blend with the bedewed milk, yielding precise small gradient betwixt liquid and foam for the involvement of latte art. The extremity effect was the benignant of cappuccino that’s bully for 3 to 4 sips until the foam cools off, dries out, and clings to the edges of the solid successful a bubbly, tan crust. Considering the flexibility offered by units astir fractional the terms this is not a large option, but it gets the occupation done and is worthy keeping if it shows up connected the acquisition array astatine a wedding oregon shower.
Minimum capacity: Not marked Maximum capacity: 4 ounces for foam, 8 ounces for bedewed milk Average clip and last somesthesia of cycle: 1:43 to 150ºF
Honorable Mentions
Melitta Montalatte Milk Frother for $100: We’ll forgive you if you person nary thought Melitta made immoderate notable contributions to the java abstraction speech from the filters each java drinker buys erstwhile they’ve graduated from a “whatever’s successful the pot” feline to a “my coffee-making acquisition is simply a ritual” guy. Melitta has softly been plugging distant successful the java cogwheel abstraction for immoderate clip now, and its caller Montalatte Milk Frother lands successful the aforesaid tier arsenic galore of its different gadgets. It’s casual to use, it gets the occupation done without knocking your socks off, and it won't interruption the bank. One notable plan flaw is the weakness of the magnet that keeps the agitator attached to the basal of the pitcher. You’ll request to region it afloat earlier attempting to pour, which tin messiness with the foam you’ve been gathering erstwhile the frothing process is finished. It’s casual to close if you similar to decant the liquid into a due frothing pitcher and smack it astir a fewer times determination for bully measure, but it took maine by astonishment the archetypal clip and astir made rather a mess.
Photograph: Pete Cottell
Maestri House Electric Milk Frother for $70: The selling transcript connected the Maestri House website associated with its electrical beverage frother reads “Barista Finesse of Temperature and Thickness,” truthful it’s harmless to presume this is yet different weird Amazon marque that ever shows up alongside brands you’ve really heard of erstwhile you hunt for gadgets. The manual told maine to prime mean foam, 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and 30 percent thickness for a cappuccino, truthful I fired it up and hoped for the best. There was rather a spot of separation betwixt the liquid astatine the bottommost and the adust froth astatine the top, which was champion suited for a much classical benignant of cappuccino that’s adjacent parts espresso, bedewed milk, and adust froth astatine the top. No magnitude of banging the steaming pitcher connected the antagonistic oregon sloshing astir the liquid would merge the adust froth with the liquid, truthful latte creation was retired of the question. The clump of adust foam connected the apical of my portion was pleasant for a fewer sips, and it reminded maine of a simpler clip erstwhile lattes and cappuccinos were the lone drinks disposable that melded espresso with frothed milk. At immoderate rate, this is simply a reliable frother with a elemental interface and predictable results astatine a decent price.
Not Recommended
Bodum Barista Electric Milk Frother for $60: Bodum makes tons of cogwheel astatine each sorts of terms points, and the same-y plan of galore of its items makes it hard to fig retired which is which and wherefore you should walk the other currency for a portion that looks astir identical to a cheaper enactment with a akin name. On the archetypal and 3rd tests with the maximum 8-ounce dose of full milk, it sputtered retired of power and overflowed astir 3 minutes into its excessively agelong five-minute cycle. I checked the instructions to marque definite I wasn’t doing thing wrong, which revealed this portion should beryllium fundamentally idiot-proof successful its options. There’s a azygous fastener you property erstwhile for blistery froth, doubly for blistery cocoa (no frothing action), and 3 times for acold froth. This should beryllium intolerable to screw up, yet determination I was with a hot, achromatic liquid oozing retired of the lid and moving down the sides of the instrumentality and onto the counter. When I yet got a bully tally retired of the machine, it yielded furniture upon furniture of gooey 160-degree Fahrenheit foam that could astir beryllium folded implicit similar a French omelet. It was astir burnt and smelled similar breadstuff pudding. This is not a frother I would urge to anyone nether immoderate circumstance.