Nespresso Aeroccino Plus 3192 US

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I received my Aeroccino Plus on Friday and have been testing it the last couple of days. I'm an experienced barista and take my espresso, latte and cappucino seriously. First, you can't beat a traditional manual espresso maker with a good steam wand. Using the steam wand on my machine, I get good consistent micro foam which brings out the natural sweetness of the milk. The trouble is that it takes a good 2 to 3 minutes each time which adds to prep time in the mornings before work. Also, when you're having a party and everyone wants a cappucino, I spend more time in front of my espresso machine than with guests. I wanted to try the Aeroccino plus as an alternative knowing it couldn't replace the steam wand on my Ms Silvia.

Aeroccino Plus comes with 2 milk "stirrers" spun by a magnet under the bottom of the insert. One stirrer is whisk-like which whips air into the milk for a thick foam used in cappucinos and the other stirrer is just a paddle which incorporates minimal air while the milk is being heated. The big plus is that time is reduced dramatically. In less than one minute, the milk is frothed and heated which cuts down on prep time. The frothing is not bad but as suspected not quite micro bubbles. Using the whisk like stirrer, the milk comes out rather thick...good for cappucinos. The one criticism I have is the capacity of the machine. The holder is marked with 2 levels (one for each stir application). The first time I used it and filled to the lower level and stirred with the whisk stirrer, I found you could not put the lid on because soon after the stirring started, the milk over flowed and spilled out. This means you can add barely enough milk for a single shot. The second time I tried it, I filled it to the higher level marked for the paddle stirrer. The milk heated fast but the micro bubbles didn't quite happen...the milk came out a little thinner than ideal. But overall, for the convenience and speed, I really can't complain. I've resigned to use the convenience and quickness of the Aeroccino plus on week days when I'm rushing for work but sacrifice a little on quality. Then on weekends when time is not as much as an issue, I'll go back to the manual steam wand on Ms Silvia for my perfect latte. I know the Plus has a higher capacity than previous version but I would have liked to have just a little more capacity.