Frothed milk is one of those little luxuries that can make your day feel special. When a barista hands you a steaming cappuccino or a fragrant London fog, everything gets a little bit brighter.
Good milk frothers bring this indulgence home, giving you a foolproof way to prepare velvety milk foam whenever you want (or need) it. They’re also handy for mixing up a protein shake, a matcha latte, or a rich cup of hot chocolate. After testing 14 milk frothers in a range of styles, we recommend the Instant MagicFroth 9-in-1 and the Golde Superwhisk. They’re simple to use and easy to clean, and they churn out thick, consistent foam.
Our pick
This little machine can heat and froth both dairy and non-dairy milk. It makes dense foam (even with cold milk) and can melt chocolate for hot cocoa, too.
The Instant MagicFroth 9-in-1 is an eminently capable machine, with nine setting combinations of varying temperature and froth level. It heats your milk for you and can make decadent, dense foam, as well as light and airy foam. And if you’re trying to stay cool, it also makes delicious cold foam for a sumptuous iced latte.
The MagicFroth has no trouble frothing nondairy milks and smoothly incorporates powders into milk. When using a heated setting, you can even add shaved chocolate or mini chocolate chips directly to the pitcher to make hot chocolate. And cleanup is easy: The lid, whisk, and removable stainless steel pitcher can be washed in the top rack of the dishwasher.
Our pick
This won’t heat your milk, but it’s the most powerful of the handheld frothers we tested, capable of quickly whipping up a thick foam using both dairy and nondairy milk alike.
The Golde Superwhisk is an exceptionally powerful handheld milk frother that can double the volume of both cold and hot milk within the first 15 seconds of use. It’s compact and rechargeable, comes with a cap for easy transport, and the detachable whisk is dishwasher-safe. The Superwhisk made some of the thickest nondairy milk froth that we tasted, and it can rapidly homogenize powders with liquid. But it doesn’t heat the milk.
Though the Superwhisk is covered by a generous two-year warranty, the company does not accept returns of it. If you’d like the assurance of a return policy, we’d recommend either the MatchaBar Electric Matcha Whisk (which is identical to the Superwhisk but is not covered by a warranty) or our budget pick from Aerolatte.
Budget pick
This handheld frother isn’t as powerful or fast as the Golde Superwhisk, but it’s a solid performer that will get the job done for less. And for the unplugged, it runs on batteries.
The Aerolatte Original Steam Free Milk Frother is a reliable device, frothing milk into a silky, pourable foam. Its motor isn’t as powerful as that of the Superwhisk, so it takes longer to produce the same volume of foam, and the foam is slightly looser. But its construction is sturdy, and we expect it to serve you well for years (it’s covered by a two-year warranty if it doesn’t). It’s also our only battery-powered pick, which makes it a good choice for campers or those who like to remain unplugged.
