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My husband works evenings and I don't punch a clock, so for years we used our morning coffee routine as a kind of bizzaro caffeinated cocktail hour—a leisurely pause to slow down and catch up before jumping into our day. But then we became parents. Now, with missing sneakers to locate and lunches to pack, we're lucky to slug down one warm cup before dashing for the school bus. Relaxing it is not.
I know that the years are short and soon we'll probably be pining for the days when our son required 10 minutes to put on his socks—but in the meantime, I'm grateful for every little thing that helps us get through the morning with more chill and cheerfulness. And that is why I can honestly say that the Bean Envy Handheld Milk Frother is one of the best things that has ever happened to us.
If that sounds crazy, stay with me: I used to roll my eyes at the mere idea of owning a milk frother. I was not that person; I do not weigh my beans before each brew or have a repertoire of latte art up my (tattooed) sleeve. But the universe clearly had other ideas because, lo and behold, at a family gift exchange a few Christmases ago, a milk frother showed up in my pile. I shoved it in the back of a cabinet and forgot about it for a couple of months. Until one miraculous morning, when we happened to be running ahead of schedule, the box fell out on the kitchen counter. I handed it to my husband and said: "You want to see what this thing can do?"
Turns out, what it does is transform a serviceable cup of French-press coffee into the sort of fancy brew—piping hot, balanced, and finished with a blanket of sweet, soft, fine-grained foam on top—that I have happily dropped 5 bucks on at a fancy coffee shop. There are no bells and whistles involved—the frother itself is really just a teensy whisk—but its battery-powered motor is brawny enough to whip a small cupful of milk into a creamy, foamy cloud in seconds. The milk has to be warm to get properly foamy, but as we were already in the habit of heating milk for our coffee, frothing barely tacks another minute onto our routine. And happily, even when factoring in breakfast tantrums and lost library books, that's a minute one of us can usually spare.
Using the frother regularly does run through batteries at a fair clip and cleaning it can be a bit fiddly—still, considering the $20-something price tag, the cost/benefit analysis seems like a clear positive. And with a lifetime warranty, you never have to worry about losing one to breakage or malfunctions. Our current model has been going strong for over a year—and we only had to replace its predecessor after it accidentally took a tumble into a sink full of sudsy dishes.
I thought a frother was a silly thing. But I've changed my mind. Because every single morning when my husband hands me a warm mug topped with a velvety layer of milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, I'm struck by the urge to give him a big smooch. So, I do. The milk frother has brought a little taste of those bygone leisurely coffee mornings back. And isn't that what everyone's day needs more of?
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