A few years ago, I reviewed the Froth au Lait Professional Milk Heater/Frother, and detailed the challenges of finding a decent way to heat your milk if you have a cafe or just love drinking chai and other tea lattes. Without an espresso machine steam wand, it can be quite a challenge to rely on a sub-$1000 gadget to do the job effectively. We didn’t want to purchase an espresso machine for multiple reasons and every other option we tried after the horrible Froth au Lait just didn’t pan out.
A year later, after despairing over whether or not to purchase a really expensive standalone steamer, I found the Breville BMF600XL Milk Cafe Milk Frother on Amazon for $129 (its price has since increased $30). The device uses induction heating and spinning to heat your beverage to create tiny bubbles for creaminess, and it heats up to three cups at a time at your selected temperature (we always select 140o). The machine will heat / froth and turn itself off when it reaches the proper temperature. I’m happy to report that this slick little device has already outlived the Froth au Laits threefold, and it has many improvements over our other milk heaters as well:
- Easy to clean: with no paddles or wands, cleanup is much simpler and more sanitary
- Fewer parts to lose / break
- It’s QUIET (a huge plus)
- Cycle time is shorter, about 3 minutes
- It automatically turns off when your milk or other beverage reaches 140o
- It’s still working after a year and a half!
I realize that adding milk to tea does decrease some of its antioxidant benefits, but for those who love their lattes, I recommend this device.
Now that was a great find. Thanks for sharing. I really think this has brought some coffee lovers over to tea. We’ll take them anyway we can:)
Indeed it was, Michelle! I hope it lasts for a few more years, though (not holding my breath). Still would love to hear from other teashop owners what their solution is, because I’ve yet to meet someone who has found a great solution to this problem!