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Cortado. Caffe Latte. Caccionis. Affogato. Hot Wet. Flat White.
Two of those six drinks are fake, but that shouldn’t stop you from ordering one and expecting the barista to nod politely and whip something on the fly to avoid coming off as behind the times. Cafés in touristy regions of Italy began adding milk to coffee to make it more palatable for normies more than three centuries ago, and simple lattes and cappuccinos have been staples at American coffee shops since the late ’80s. Yet the obsession with tinkering and renaming subtle variations on this winning formula scans as a very third-wave development that feels less like innovation and more like beleaguered “riffing” for riffing’s sake.
The market for electric milk frothers is abuzz. A mechanized pitcher that automatically heats and froths milk is not a new concept, but a recent spate of boutique options that claim they can create the type of microfoam needed to pour latte with little effort is an exciting development. To borrow an aphorism my local barista rattles off daily while pouring flawless rosettas without batting an eye, “Big if true!”
Across the span of a month, I tried out eight milk frothers to see whether any of them could turn a cup of whole milk into that silky smooth microfoam that glistens under the ceiling lights before you knock it on the counter, swish it around, and pour it over a shot of espresso. This turned out to be a near-impossible task, but a few pleasant surprises gave me hope that a milk frother may one day be an indispensable part of my at-home coffee kit. Nouveau riche cortado junkies won’t find much to love in this list, but Gen Xers who pine for the days of cozy second-wave shops that serve foam-heaped cappuccinos in soup bowls while an Ani DiFranco clone sings slam poetry in the corner will be absolutely stoked on almost every item here. Busy moms with a brood of cocoa-slurping kiddos will find a worthy addition to their Christmas list too, which is not nothing!
To further hone your home espresso artistry, check out our guides to the Best Espresso Machines, Best Latte and Cappuccino Machines, Best Coffee Grinders, and Best Nut Milk Makers.
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With each unit I used 8 ounces of organic whole milk that was pulled from the fridge at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. I did not test any nondairy milks because of the wild variance in fat and sugar content, viscosity, and availability of each. Besides, we’ll probably be done with the hip alternative milk of the hour by the time this is published, rendering my extensive testing with fair-trade bird-safe macadamia milk useless.
I followed the instructions or quick-start guides that materialized after shaking out the box, and aimed for “wet froth” or a “flat white” if the instructions explicitly offered a process oriented toward that outcome. I swooshed the milk around in the frothing pitcher to get a better sense of the froth texture, decanted it into a Brewista Precision Frothing pitcher, and attempted to pour an 8-ounce cappuccino with latte art. I did this three times with each frother and made note of the average time of its frothing cycle, the final temperature of the milk, and the consistency and texture of the frothed milk.