Customer Reviews

BonJour Automatic Primo Latte Frother

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Update: 2010

Still going strong; however, I have some reservations about the stand. After several years of use, I now feel that the stand is too easily tipped over (but only because accidents do happen--if you never brushed against it, the stand wouldn't tip over), and that led to a bent "wand" when the frother hit the floor. I just received the Aerolatte as a gift (available also at Amazon.com) and am very pleased with it. However, I've only had it a few days; the reliable Bonjour frother worked well for over four years, and was slightly bent only because of an accident. Still make a fantastic (and relatively inexpensive) gift for the coffee connoisseur or the casual cocoa fan! Still highly recommendedbut you might want to compare this with the Aerolatte on features and price. Happy drinking!

Update: Feb 20, 2006

I've upgraded this from a 4.5 to a full 5* since purchasing it back in December. Initially, it seemed difficult to insert the batteries, but the Primo Frother is still going strong after almost 2 months of daily use!

I've come to appreciate a few other features, as well:

*I measured 3 ounces of milk, used the frother, and poured the froth back into a measuring cup. The foam measured close to 10 ounces; the Primo more than tripled the volume!
*The rather flimsy looking stand actually works very well, holding the frother in place without tipping over.
*It's extremely easy to clean: Just run it a few seconds under water.
*It's very useful for mixing powders (e.g., chocolate) into liquids.
*With just a little practice, you can make all manner of foams, from a light froth to a very dense topping that's almost like meringue! It's all in the angle and the depth of the frother within the drink container.

This is undoubtedly the Holiday gift we use most, and I recommend it enthusiastically. (Also available (for a little over $10 more) as a rechargeable unit, though I don't think that's as important as I originally thought.) The review I wrote after only a few days of use is next:


Original Review
The Bonjour frother, like any frother worth its salt, does an incredibly good job of injecting lots of air into your cup of milk, resulting in a thick foam that can be poured over coffee, milk, or the creative beverage of your choice. That little round wire wisk is powerful, creating a tiny whirlpool as it quietly works.

Operation.
You put the round end directly into a cup, and turn it on by holding down a very large black oval-shaped area on the frother's body. If you let go, it will stop after a few seconds--this can be useful if you want just small bursts of power. However, most people want the full whipping experience, hold it down and about 45-60 second later, a change is gonna come. The milk, previously still quite liquid--although shot through with lots of tiny air bubbles--begins to thicken (as when you make meringue). This induces a small pre-coffee high. After awhile, the foamy milk becomes so thick that the frother slows noticeably. You may be tempted to lift it from your cup to the thinner liquid, but resist this temptation: You could wind up splattering your kitchen.

Uses of Foamy Milk.
There are no hard and fast rules here, but, as stated above, froth can be poured over coffee for the classico cafe latte, over espresso (a subset of coffee, I suppose), over smoothies and desserts and whatever else you can think of. Add some Torani flavored syrup, get or make some biscoti, and enjoy the glory that is Rome. (Fortunately, a brief recipe book comes with the frother to stimulate ideas.) You can even froth your drink AFTER you poured the froth into it, but purists may scoff. I think it's a nice alternative, and it's extremely useful when your chocolate mix won't blend with milk.

Maintenance.
The frother cleans extremely easily, and you can hang it to dry in the enclosed stand. The latter was a pleasant surprised; I expected it to tip easily, but--contrary to some other reports here--it didn't. Of course, you need to place it in with some coordination and balance, but the inexpensive little stand works admirably.

Batteries and How to Insert Them.
The frother runs on 2 AA batteries (need I add that they are not included), and herein lies the single drawback: Closing the frother after inserting the batteries is not as easy as it should be. You have to push a tab on each side AND fit the end of the battery container into a slot at the end of the frother, and it takes patience and practice. If you have opened an electric razor to change the blades, and had difficulty closing it, you'll know what I mean. Suffice it to say that you DO NOT WANT TO FORCE anything, or else the tabs may break. Slowly but surely does it (or ask your clever neighbor); once you "get it," it probably won't be a problem anymore.

Ergonomics and Apppearance.
It fits nicely in your hand, and it's light, but the ergonomic advantages are somewhat overstated by Bonjour. The contrast of matte black and "brushed" aluminum looks good, and the frother is compact.

I give this a small deduction for the battery learning curve, but otherwise, a very useful small appliance. Primo, dude.

Actually, I LOVE this thing - and when I got it as a gift, I thought it was pretty hokey. I used to work at Starbucks and I know there's no faking frothy, steamed milk.
But this guy does it!
To clean it I just dab a drop of dishsoap on it and send it spinning under the hot tap.
To change the batteries, make sure to squeeze *both* sides of the case.
This makes giant, fluffy hot chocolates - it does an amazing job with the marshmallows! As dorky as it is, I now have it in high rotation in my kitchen!

We own the rechargeable version of this as well. Both work quite well in making froth. However, this battery version falls short of the rechargeable and so gets 4 stars for two reasons: The switch design placement is very awkward (on the side of the thing) and really does not fall to hand easily. The other version has the power button on the top, so it is easy to hold it pinched upright and press the button with an index finger. Also, the stand is not very stable. Since it hangs, the whole thing is top-heavy and prone to being knocked over easily. The recharger stand is designed to accept the device upside down, so it is bottom-heavy. (The recharging unit seems to use magnetic induction, just like most modern electric toothbrushes.)
Otherwise, for the price and since it still does work well, this battery only version is a good value.

I've had three of these already and found that they just don't last long. After being used once a day for about a month or two, it just doesn't spin as well as it did when newer. Yes, I have been changing the batteries when it slows and it no longer makes a difference in the function. It is so slow, that it only makes a couple of bubbles now, no froth. When new it works better than expected and makes mountains of foam and that's the reason I keep purchasing another every couple of months. Maybe some moisture is getting in to the battery compartment?? - not sure why the problem.

This unit exceeded my expectations. Very easy to use and whips up my supplement drinks with no mess or fuss. I found the batteries very easy to install. I have three drinks of supplements per day and this very light unit has smoothed out the lumps in my drinks in an instant.

Hard to imagine a better unit at a very reasonable price. I don't think you'll be diappointed with this frother/mixer. It has a very nice, unobtrusive stand that I leave on the sink for quick access. This unit is highly recommended.

As other reviewers have stated, this is a niftly little device, although a bit pricey, i think, at 18, considering that it's a battery powered little vibrating whip-in-a-circle, coil gig....but it works exactly as intended and advertised, in that it makes a mountain of froth to pour on your coffee drinks if you like that kind of thing, which i do. i actually have found it useful to have handy in the kitchen for other purposes- such as quickly mixing eggs with milk for scrambled eggs, or smoothing out small amounts of batter (for frying...such as tempura) or even adding my yogurt starter to a bit of heated milk, before making yogurt. i've found it handy on a lot of random occasions, so much so that i use it rarely for frothing milk in comparison. The device is not big, or very powerful, but i find that the ease of cleaning it makes for a convenient boost of power when mixing any dry power to wet liquid (corn starch into water), or mixing paste into liquid (mustard and apricot preserves into balsamic vinegar for pan pork), when i'd normally just be using a fork. again- it's not very powerful, but it's handy none-the-less. i wouldn't be trying to make whipped cream or anything like that- i doubt it would work. But, nice to have around anyway. i have it hanging next to my Braun hand-mixer (the type which looks like a stick), which happened to come with a wall attachment and a little slot for an accessory i dont use, but which fits the frother reasonably well. if you have everything, and want just that extra random device that will smooth your batters, or LOVE coffee drinks with froth, (or have children that prefer to drink milk if it's frothy--bubbles!)this is for you. i give it 4 stars because it is a bit of a random device, and really not completely necessary to my life...but that's a weak criticism, i guess. i'd buy it again, yes.

My husband wanted a frother for the milk in his coffee, but found that this frother can do SO MUCH MORE! He really likes soy milk and so we tried it with soy and it performed wonderfully, frothing the soymilk to 3 times the amount we started with. (However, after a short while, it settled down again, but that could be normal). But what's more, my husband also uses it to mix up his energy/protien shakes! Works like a charm. And we just rinse, pat dry and place back in it's stand. Can't beat it, especially for the price.

I received this product as a gift, but I work at Caribou so I'm used to frothing milk on a huge La Pavioni. As a suprise to me, this product made great froth from skim milk.

The spinning end does not come off to clean, but it merely needs to be run underneath the sink to rinse it off. The battery compartment also didn't cause too much of a hassle when I first tried to get the frother juiced up on a couple AAs.

One gripe I have is that it merely froths milk and doesn't heat it. But for a price well below the hundreds of a decent home espresso machine, I can live with microwaved milk. For the price, this product definitely delivers great froth.

For the price, you cannot go wrong.

Like another reviewer, I was skeptical about this, but I wanted a frother to give as a Christmas gift and was willing to risk 20 bucks. I was pleasantly surprised. Okay, it's not a fancy automatic steamer/frother, but it does what it claims--creates froth out of milk. It seems to froth cold milk better than warmed milk, but I've been happy with both. I didn't have much trouble putting in the batteries, and the stand could seem top-heavy, but we haven't knocked it over. Only thing I wish could be improved--seems like a lower speed might work a little better--the speed of the frothing tip moves the milk so far to the side of the mug that it spills out. I've had better success using a wide-mouth "latte mug" than a regular size cup or pint pitcher.

When you first see this little frother you probably won't be very impressed - BUT - I just made an eggnog latte that would cost me $4 at a certain upscale coffee house. I used eggnog (which doesn't froth great but works),heated it, added a little vanilla syrup and the warm eggnog to the coffee and topped it with foam and a little pumpkin pie spice - I dare you to tell the difference! It really whips non-fat milk beautifully. The stand keeps it handy and takes hardly any room on the counter. I purchased 2 for gifts and hope they like them as much as I do!
Kathy