Review: Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother from Nespresso

Review from Single Serve Coffee.com - Coffee Pod Reviews

We're always on the look out for something to make our single serve coffee experience even better. Last year we ran several articles on products you could get that would bring milk frothing to your single serve coffee and now we're excited to tell you about the new Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother from Nespresso.

The Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother is a new, automatic and simple way of creating light, creamy milk froth. You just pour in some cold or hot, fresh skim milk and press the button. The Aeroccino quietly and quickly produces an milk froth, which you can enjoy in many different coffee recipes including lattes and cappuccinos.

To test the Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother, we used our Nespresso C90 for espresso creation - more in the lungo size. We also tried 1% milk, Skim milk, and 2% milk to see what would happen using the Aeroccino. How did it fair? Does it actually make good frothed milk?

Frothing Milk with the Aeroccino Nespresso Milk Frother

How does it work? The Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother is basically a chrome plated mug with a non-stick coating on the inside. The mug sits on top of base you plug in and the mug inside contains a frother attachment that spins. The bottom of the frother also heats up any milk you put into it and you can start with hot or cold milk.

After you fill the mug to the minimum amount of milk or maximum, you push the button in the front and a minute later, you have some whipped frothed milk.

What we like best of all? No noise. The Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother is practically silent. There is no noise when frothing and if you compare to using even the microwave and a frothing wand - the Aeroccino is completely silent.

How does it Work?

The Aeroccino works as promised provided you use skim milk. Using other types of milk produced not so great results, but then again - skim milk is what's used in most espresso based drinks anyways.

We made a few larger lungo shots of espresso for a more single serve coffee approach, and then poured the frothed milk from the Aeroccino. This is another place where the design of the Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother is excellent. The picture has a little pour lip that allows for exact pouring. We then scooped some foamy milk from the top and spooned it on to the top of our drink.

After we were done making drinks for the staff here at SIngleServeCoffee.com, cleanup was a breeze. The Aeroccino features a non-stick coating inside and with a little hot water - the Aeroccino was super clean.

Conclusion

The Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother is compact and quiet and quickly produces an milk froth, which you can enjoy in many different coffee recipes including lattes and cappuccinos. Milk can be frothed and whipped hot or cold. The Aeroccino retails for $ 79.95 at Nespresso.com and we really think it's the best little frother we've tried.

There's little mess and best of all - QUIET. It's really easy to clean up and we love how the footprint of the device is very small and compact. This is a great little frother, and we are going to give it 4 out of 5 cups. We would have gone higher, but the price is a bit higher than what we would have expected, however the quality and ease of use easily justifies the price.

Aeroccino Review-1

At Nespresso.com and Aeroccino Automatic Milk Frother

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Posted by Jay Brewer at September 5, 2006 8:22 AM

It's interesting that there are two very distinct schools of thought on how milk should be frothed. Personally, I like milk steamed on an espresso machine to create microfoam - almost like a dense emulsion of bubbles too small to be visible to the naked eye. This will separate out into a thick layer on top of the drink and warm milk underneath. The mouthfeel of such milk is quite creamy and unctuous. There's a photo here that is a good example of what I'm talking about: http://abstractgourmet.com/2006/11/hard-copy/ I don't know ... frankly I can't imagine the pushbutton convenience of the nespresso machine being worth it. If you're willing to put in a little bit of practice into using a decent espresso machine, milk steaming just isn't that hard. I guess if you're unwilling to do that, then the above device is probably a good compromise. But even then, you could just warm the milk in the microwave, then froth it to your liking in a french press. This actually produces milk that isn't that far off from microfoamed milk in texture and mouthfeel. Just my $0.02, Luca
Posted by: luca at November 19, 2006 7:33 PM

Well, from the look of the pictures the Aeroccino isn't producing anything like a steamed milk microfoam. Not that I expected it would, since it basically operates on the same principle as a handheld milk frothing wand. Unlike a handheld wand, however, I don't believe the Aeroccino gives you any control on when to stop the whipping action--and from the looks of those stiff, dry-looking heads of foam in the pictures I'd say the Aeroccino way overwhips the milk. Seems like a pretty pricy gadget for what it does, too. A decent handheld frother is about $10. Darryl
Posted by: Darrylr at September 6, 2006 7:55 AM

The foam is a bit stiffer on the top but if you stir it up a bit loosens up quite nicely. Sure - this isn't steamed milk but frothed milk, and we agree the price is a bit high. But for ease of use and predictable results you don't have to stand over to make - it's pretty neat and goes great with your Nespresso.
Posted by: Jay Brewer at September 6, 2006 8:09 AM

I also think it's worth adding that the Aeroccino comes with two attachments; one is used with a small amount of milk for producing a little (very nice, actually) fluff. The other is used with a larger amount of milk to produce mostly warm milk (won't call it steamed, but same idea) with just a little cap of froth. So one can really combine with the different Nespresso coffee sizes and make all manner of strong or light drinks, milky or frothy. The biggest advantage here is the same as the Nespresso itself - one-touch near-perfection with little clean-up. The aeroccino adds a few more options if you don't always drink yours straight, with little additional fuss. I'm a fan.
Posted by: Mike at September 9, 2006 5:58 PM

I do agree the Aeroccino is compact, quiet and quickly produces an milk froth. This may not be up to professional standards, but i got mine free with an offer on the Magimix M100.
Posted by: Simon at October 22, 2006 4:17 PM

I am wondering if the foam/milk is warm enough. My expierince with handheld frother is that the foam cools down quickly, as with steam it stays warm longer. How is this with the aeroccino?
Posted by: Dimitrie at February 8, 2007 8:53 AM

I just purchased this Nespresso Frother from williams sonoma store at the mall. All I can say is this is a fantastic product. I've slowly built up my "home espresso skills" on a budget and am presently making expresso with froth far superior to anything from a commercial coffee shop using a simple cuisinart blade grinder ($20), a krups pump espresso maker ($150) and this frother ($79). The froth it produces is faster to produce, with consistent and reliable results and far more pleasant to the taste buds. It may not give the same results as a steam produced froth, but being a purist is not my emphasis,, making a great tasting beverage is.
Posted by: dallas Ryan at March 18, 2007 11:20 PM

Ive been through two aeroccinos in the space of 2 weeks. They work wonderfully for a little while, then all of a sudden they stop producing froth - they just heat the milk up. Ive read online that many others are having the same problems. I rang Nespresso, and each time they try and fob you off with "what sort of milk are you using", or "its the time of the year when the milk changes". They are rubbish responses - there is an inherent design fault with the machines. Do not buy the aeroccinno. If you love Nespresso like I do, get the full automatic versions that do the milk for you. I eventualy convinced Nespresso to upgrade my machine to the full automatic version, thank goodness.
Posted by: Robert Moore at April 27, 2007 6:44 PM

i am considering buying one of these but due to Robert Morre's comments, i am having second thoughts. I love simply drinking froth with raw sugar and often spend about 5 dollars at starbucks for a venti sized cup of froth which am now thinking is rather unreasonable. However, can anyone else confirm that such isssues have arised with the aeroccinno because before a certain comment, i was whole-heartedly interested in purchasing one of these items! Jonah
Posted by: Jonah at September 8, 2007 2:58 PM

Now you're thinking $5 for a large cup of froth is unreasonable?? ai-yai-yai... Just get the Aeroccino. Even if it claps out on you after 2 weeks (which, frankly I don't believe, unless Monsieur Moore was using it all day long in a business) you'll still be ahead! (That is, if you drink one frothy beverage per day.) Okay, perhaps you'll break even...
Posted by: MaxMillion at September 24, 2007 6:14 PM

I have had it confirmed by Nespresso staff that the Aericinno is being repeatedly returned and that there are inherent design faults. So no - I was not using it 1000 a day : if you dont believe me (and frankly I dont care either way), do a little bit of tapping yourself and google the Aerocinno : you will quickly discover many other similar opinions. Nespresso themselves are in the process of completely redesigning it.
Posted by: Robert Moore at October 9, 2007 7:18 PM

We have this frother in our office. Even after the very first use, we were unhappy with it. Yes, it provides frothy milk or warmed milk quickly and quietly, but ours scolded the milk that it leaves a burnt layer of milk on the bottom. To get it off, you need to scrub it. If you leave it for more than a day, it smells very, very bad (and, being in an office environment, you know not everyone will be responsible enough to clean it after using it). So it's a pain in the neck to have to clean the burnt milk out of it every single time.
Posted by: brad at December 1, 2007 3:32 PM

We have just bought an Aerocinno, and are basically happy with it. But there is 1 problem: we make 2 cups of coffee with froth(1 for me, 1 for my husband). When we make the milk froth, the first cup is usually pretty good, with lots of froth. The 2nd one is more milk then froth - even if we cool the Aerocinno with cold water first. Any helps, ideas?
Posted by: Susie at December 10, 2007 2:13 PM

To support the comments of "Monsieur Moore", my Aerocinno has died after four months. I was hoping that mine was just a lemon but now I don't think so. And the milk does burn on the bottom and eventually leaves a stain that can't be removed. We were using ours to make four cups of coffee through out the day.
Posted by: Leanne at January 8, 2008 12:19 PM

I tried the Aerocinno with skimmed milk but returned it. I thought it produced a weak substitute for, not the equivalent of, steamed milk. It's definitely a neat gadget, but didn't make what I wanted.
Posted by: Lostwald at February 2, 2008 10:47 AM

Wow, I am sorry to hear all the comments about not being satisfied with the Aerocinno. I was considering buying one and now will not. I will wait for the new and improved model.
Posted by: TCDCEC at February 23, 2008 10:49 AM

We were recently given the Aerocinno as a gift and use it approx. 4 - 5 times a day. After 2 months of use it stopped working. While it did work we were very plesed with the results of the froth it produced.
Posted by: Tim in Dallas at February 27, 2008 9:48 AM

We also were recently given the Aerocinno. First try and we've got just milk after 15sec of working. I really wanted to make a good froth. I bought 6 different types and brandds of milk during 2 days, and finally got the good one. Yes, milk is burned at the bottom sometimes. But I can say it is the easiest and the most quiet way to get great froth for our coffe. I hope we will not change our mind after 2 months or so.
Posted by: Kane D at April 23, 2008 5:28 PM