Honorable Mentions
Melitta Montalatte Milk Frother for $100: We’ll forgive you if you have no idea Melitta made any notable contributions to the coffee space aside from the filters every coffee drinker buys once they’ve graduated from a “whatever’s in the pot” guy to a “my coffee-making experience is a ritual” guy. Melitta has quietly been plugging away in the coffee gear space for some time now, and its new Montalatte Milk Frother lands in the same tier as many of its other gadgets. It’s easy to use, it gets the job done without knocking your socks off, and it won’t break the bank. One notable design flaw is the weakness of the magnet that keeps the agitator attached to the base of the pitcher. You’ll need to remove it fully before attempting to pour, which can mess with the foam you’ve been building once the frothing process is finished. It’s easy to correct if you prefer to decant the liquid into a proper frothing pitcher and smack it around a few times there for good measure, but it took me by surprise the first time and almost made quite a mess.
Photograph: Pete Cottell
Maestri House Electric Milk Frother for $70: The marketing copy on the Maestri House website associated with its electric milk frother reads “Barista Finesse of Temperature and Thickness,” so it’s safe to assume this is yet another weird Amazon brand that always shows up alongside brands you’ve actually heard of when you search for gadgets. The manual told me to select medium foam, 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and 30 percent thickness for a cappuccino, so I fired it up and hoped for the best. There was quite a bit of separation between the liquid at the bottom and the dry froth at the top, which was best suited for a more classic style of cappuccino that’s equal parts espresso, wet milk, and dry froth at the top. No amount of banging the steaming pitcher on the counter or sloshing around the liquid would merge the dry froth with the liquid, so latte art was out of the question. The clump of dry foam on the top of my drink was pleasant for a few sips, and it reminded me of a simpler time when lattes and cappuccinos were the only drinks available that melded espresso with frothed milk. At any rate, this is a reliable frother with a simple interface and predictable results at a decent price.
Not Recommended
Bodum Barista Electric Milk Frother for $60: Bodum makes lots of gear at all sorts of price points, and the same-y design of many of its items makes it difficult to figure out which is which and why you should spend the extra cash for a unit that looks almost identical to a cheaper option with a similar name. On the first and third tests with the maximum 8-ounce dose of whole milk, it sputtered out of control and overflowed about three minutes into its excessively long five-minute cycle. I checked the instructions to make sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong, which revealed this unit should be essentially idiot-proof in its options. There’s a single button you press once for hot froth, twice for hot chocolate (no frothing action), and three times for cold froth. This should be impossible to screw up, yet there I was with a hot, white liquid oozing out of the lid and running down the sides of the machine and onto the counter. When I finally got a good run out of the machine, it yielded layer upon layer of gooey 160-degree Fahrenheit foam that could almost be folded over like a French omelet. It was nearly burnt and smelled like bread pudding. This is not a frother I would recommend to anyone under any circumstance.
