Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother review

The lowdown on the Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother

You don't have to go to a coffee shop for a specialty coffee such as a latte or cappuccino with Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother. Sure, baristas do it better, but a milk frother lets you save money and enjoy your favorite hot drinks from the comfort of your own home.

Breville claims that this milk frother can froth milk for lattes and cappuccinos, as well as making hot chocolate. It also states that it's easy to clean and lets users adjust the temperature of their milk. The BestReviews Testing Lab took the Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother for a spin to test out these claims. 

Testing the Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother

The BestReviews Testing Lab prides itself on finding the information that buyers want to know. It trials products in real-world environments over long periods of time to truly get a feel for them. It also aims to test all manufacturers' claims about its products. 

For this article, the Testing Lab assessed how easy Breville Milk Cafe was to use and clean, as well as how it performed. 

What is the Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother?

The Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother is a small appliance designed to heat and froth milk. Its primary purpose is to prepare milk for use in specialty drinks, such as lattes and cappuccinos. You can also make hot chocolate in it and use it to make baby lattes — warm, foamy milk for kids. 

See how it compares to other products in its space — check out our reviews for the best milk frothers.

Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother price and where to buy

The Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother costs roughly $160 from Amazon. 

How to use Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother

When you receive the milk frother, it comes in three parts. You just need to wash the jug before the first use and fit the three parts together, which is quick and painless. You then choose between two foaming discs — one is for lattes and the other for cappuccinos. 

With this disc fitted in place, fill the jug with your desired quantity of milk (dairy or plant-based), set the dial to your desired milk temperature and press "start." Once the milk has heated and frothed, the machine switches off automatically, although you can stop it manually should you need to. When the milk is frothed, pour it over espresso in appropriate ratios for the specialty drink of your choice. 

Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother benefits

Foams milk for lattes and cappuccinos

While some milk frothers simply foam milk to one consistency, the Breville Milk Cafe has two frothing discs. One produces milk for lattes and the other produces milk for cappuccinos. 

Cappuccinos contain equal parts milk foam and heated/textured milk, so the cappuccino disc produces plenty of foam. Lattes contain mostly heated/textured milk with just a small head of foam, so the latte disc produces less foam. 

You can also use the latte disc to make flat whites. The milk used in a flat white is the same as that used in a latte, but the proportions are different. The exact ratios can vary, but flat whites are smaller with less milk, so they have a stronger coffee flavor. 

Simple to switch between frothing discs

There's a magnet that holds the disc in place in the jug, so it's as easy as pulling one out and placing the other inside. You don't need to unscrew anything or use tools. There's also onboard storage on the base of the appliance for whichever disc isn't in use. This helps keep you from losing track of the other disc. 

Easy to clean

You can remove the jug from the base and put it in the dishwasher, so this milk frother is easy to keep clean. It's also easy to handwash if you prefer to do it this way or if you don't have a dishwasher. While some frothers from competitors have removable and dishwasher-safe jugs, others have the jug built into the base, which makes them annoyingly fiddly to clean. 

Excellent build quality

This milk frother is made from stainless steel and the build quality feels sturdy. It's not the sort of appliance that you can imagine getting worn or broken after a year or two. Although there are other rugged stainless steel frothers available, ones made from plastic are far more common and the build quality of these is significantly inferior. 

Adjustable temperature

You can easily adjust the temperature of your foamed milk from warm to hot. The cooler end of the spectrum is good for kids or anyone who struggles with too-hot drinks. The top end of the spectrum is perfect for anyone who always orders their drinks extra-hot. It also has an unheated cold stir setting for making cold foam for iced drinks. Not all competitors have adjustable temperatures or a cold foam option.

Heats quickly

It depends on the quantity of milk being heated and the desired temperature, but it takes roughly three to six minutes to heat milk from fridge-cold. This felt quick, especially considering that it doesn't need monitoring while it heats. So, you can just switch it on and get on with preparing your mugs or brewing coffee in an espresso machine while it heats. 

Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother drawbacks

Discs must be locked in place

You have to make sure the disc is fully locked in place before you start the machine or it won't work. While it's easy enough to fit the discs, some users find it slightly fiddly or forget to check and wonder why their frother isn't working. Some other frothers don't have interchangeable discs or other foaming apparatus, so this isn't an issue. 

Some reports of the motor burning out over time

There are some reports of the motor of this frother burning out after around a year. This doesn't happen to everyone, but it happens enough that it's a recurring issue. Of course, this could happen with any other milk frother, but this one only offers a one-year warranty while some others have longer warranties. 

Not as sweet as steamed milk

The heating method makes milk from this frother less sweet than steamed milk. This slightly changes the flavor profile of specialty coffees in a way not all users are happy with. If you choose to use a milk frother of this type rather than the steaming arm on an espresso machine, you'll always get these less-sweet results. 

Should you get the Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother?

If you're looking for a high-end milk frother and don't mind spending out on it, the Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother is worth buying. As Breville claims, it has separate discs for lattes and cappuccinos, you can adjust the temperature and it's easy to clean. It's simple to use and produces quality foam. However, it isn't cheap, so people who only want a frother for occasional use might prefer something more affordable.