Coffee lovers are an insatiable lot who desire to make their coffees taste better, smell better and look better.

Thus, contraptions like French presses and espresso machines are available to make coffee embellishments possible.

One such coffee accessory is the milk frother. What exactly does it do, you who may be new to the exciting world of coffee ask?

Well, it does what it says – it makes your milk, skim milk preferably, frothier so that you can place it atop your coffee and make it look fancier and taste better.

Or at least, to bring out the flavors in coffee that only frothy milk can accomplish!

You will find two basic kinds of the coffee accessory in the market. First, there's the manual kind.

It's self-standing and looks like the French press, with its function being limited to, well, making your milk frothier.

To use the manual frother, you just fill it with the recommended amount of milk in the right temperature – hot for hot coffee and cold for iced coffee.

You then replace the screen and exert pumping motions on the handle for about 15-20 seconds and voila! You have frothy milk!

Second, there's the automatic kind. It's fully automatic either through battery or electric power, with milk placed cold inside the container as it also heats up the liquid while producing creamy milk froth.

Depending on the machine, milk froth can be had in less than a minute without any hand-pumping actions on your part.

Regardless of the type of frother you choose, it's always best to use skimmed milk to produce more froth.

Carefull: With other types of milk like soy milk, you can end up with flat bubbles.

Pros

When it comes to cost, speed, cleanup and portability, both the manual and automatic types are excellent against other similar contraptions like the espresso machine.

You can definitely afford the price starting at just $10, which is still very cheap compared to the cheapest espresso machine at $50 each.

As to speed, you can have your froth in seconds.

Now contrast that with an espresso machine that still needs to be primed before you can get froth out of it.

And because a conventional frother is small, you can easily clean it up after use and place it in the dishwasher(only the non-electric frothers).

And you need not worry about space because its size allows for storage along with all your other kitchen appliances.

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Cons

Well, if you are aiming for better-looking and better-tasting milk froths, an espresso machine is always your best bet.

So, if you have the money to splurge, then an espresso machine should be on top of your list.

And then there is the question of your milk froth either falling flat or overproducing bubbles due to inaccuracy and inconsistency in the milk temperature and the pumping motions.

This does nothing to enhance the flavor of coffee.

Conclusion

Choosing between an espresso machine and a frother will boil down to your needs and preferences when it comes to froth.

If you want excellent froth, then a good quality espresso machine is in your future.

If you want fast froth at a fraction of the cost, then the hand frother is for you.

It's all a matter of taste, so to speak.