Good milk frothers are interesting! We wanted to know: is the DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother good? Because if so, there are countless uses for preparing cappuccino with latte art.
Maybe you have at home a manual espresso brewer like the Flair, the 9Bar or a Picopresso? Who hasn't stood in front of one frustrated and wanted to make a cappuccino for their best friend? Maybe you also have a single boiler like the Quick Mill Carola, because you don't drink milk yourself? The DREO could help. And even next to the Moka pot, the DREO milk frother could make a good impression, if… yes if the milk foam works.
Microfoam in various creaminess levels
The DREO essentially has two main uses, but only one is interesting for us. It can froth milk and milk alternatives and it can heat and mix milk. Mixing and heating is for example intended for preparing hot cocoa. The practical thing about DREO is that the milk doesn't burn because it is constantly stirred.
For us, however, the milk frothing function is especially interesting, which can be set on the left side of the BaristaMaker. There are four foam levels to choose from:
- Thick
- Cold
- Cappuccino
- Latte
- Flat White
While Thick, Cappuccino, Latte, and Flat White produce increasingly thinner foam in descending order, "cold" allows you to froth cold foam that has an airy texture not suitable for latte art.
There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for using foam thickness. Basically, we can say that all levels produce excellent microfoam. It is very silky and creamy and shines with a closed surface when poured as cappuccino or flat white. The quality of the milk foam is excellent.
Frothing tips and recipes
Depending on your choice of milk and milk quantity, we recommend different frothing levels. You must necessarily try this yourself with your own milk or milk alternative.
Basically, we can say that with larger milk quantities over 200ml, firmer milk frothing (Cappuccino or Thick) worked better for us. With oat milk, we also used thicker frothing levels.
With an amount of 150ml cow's milk frothed at Cappuccino level, the foam was, on the other hand, almost too thick and we would suggest frothing less vigorously.
A list of good oat milk can be found here.
According to the manufacturer, the following milk alternatives can be frothed:
- Milk
- Almond
- Oat
- Coconut
- Soy
- "Half and Half"
Temperature of the milk
After extensive testing, we conclude that the milk is consistently heated to 64 to 67 degrees. From our perspective, that's at the upper limit of what we recommend. Such a temperature is not too hot; however, sometimes frothed milk at temperatures above 65 degrees tends to develop a slightly dry taste and loses some sweetness as a result.
It is important for us to emphasize that we have probably tested the first DREO device with a Shuko plug and a voltage of 220/230 volts for the European market. It is quite possible that the device can still be slightly recalibrated here.
Our YouTube test colleague Aramse tested the DREO BaristaMaker with 120 volts for the American market and found temperatures that were somewhat too low. We are curious to see how the DREO will perform when it is also rolled out in Europe.
At the moment, we would recommend not closing the included lid, as the DREO would then heat up another two to three degrees. Also, the milk jug should be removed from the heating plate immediately after heating.
The DREO is currently not available in Europe, but can be pre-ordered via Amazon*.
The big but: frothing time
The DREO largely convinced us. The only drawback is the slow frothing time compared to a classic espresso machine. 3:30 to 3:45 minutes is what it takes for heating and frothing.
- The slowest espresso machine we've tested so far achieves a frothing time of around 1 minute and 45 seconds.
- Many classic machines take between 45 and 75 seconds.
- Faster machines froth in 20 to 40 seconds.
- The DREO takes three minutes for this.
However, this is offset by the fact that espresso machines themselves need to heat up first. So if we start the DREO BaristaMaker in parallel with the preparation process for brewing with the Flair or after 4 minutes of brewing time with the 9Bar, our milk foam is probably ready when the espresso is in the cup.
If you want to learn pouring and frothing latte art and cappuccino yourself, you're in the right place with our latte art training!
Wish list for the future
Still, we're putting a somewhat faster frothing time on our wish list. But that comes at the very bottom of the list. At the top we're putting that we'd like to be able to set the temperature while frothing milk. That shouldn't be too difficult anymore. The function is already implemented in the DREO for the mix mode. If that is now also applied to the frothing capability, that would be a dream.
💡Do you want to learn how to pour latte art on a cappuccino? Here we explain how to do it.
Cleaning a big pro
Cleaning the DREO BaristaMaker is simple and practical. The removable jug, which by the way could theoretically also be used to pour latte art, can be removed and washed in the dishwasher. That's already very practical. The same applies to other parts such as the impeller attachment for microfoam and the disc attachment for "rough foam".
Since the handle of the integrated jug is relatively bulky and the spout also lacks guidance, we used our own jugs for pouring latte art. Our barista trainer Michel Indelicato has developed his own jug, which he used in our tests.
Energy measurement
The power consumption of the DREO is 0.0239 kWh for heating 240 ml of milk. It is therefore usually above the measured value for milk frothing with a portafilter machine (San Remo YOU: 0.0213kWh, Ascaso Steel Duo PID: 0.0118 kWh). However, if you include heating, the power consumption of espresso machines is far above the DREO. (San Remo YOU: 0.2431kWh, Ascaso Steel Duo PID: 0.06612 kWh). But of course we don't just want hot milk, we want cappuccino. The most economical combination would be here: turn off the steam boiler of the machine and froth milk with the DREO.
If we compare dual boiler, dual boiler, or thermoblocks with the DREO, heating milk with a milk frother is more efficient than heating the steam boiler.
Conclusion DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother
We have a very positive impression of the DREO milk frother. Especially the result, the milk foam is really excellent and puts no limits on your latte art!
Yes, the frothing process takes time. But if during that time the espresso is being prepared or the espresso machine is warming up, that doesn't seem like a real obstacle to us.
It would be desirable to have an adjustable temperature setting when frothing milk. Foam frothed at slightly lower temperatures is often sweeter and goes well with many coffees!
We really like the dishwasher cleaning option. The removable jug, on the other hand, is somewhat bulky, as is the entire frother with dimensions of 13.5 cm in width and 24.5 cm in height, which is rather large.
Similarly bulky is the name, which in the English original is DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother. But the short form fits well too. We'll simply call our milk frother DREO affectionately.
Where to order and commission link
As always, we bought this test device ourselves, directly in the USA. Meanwhile, DREO can be pre-ordered via Amazon. According to the manufacturer, delivery to Europe is planned for later this year.
Important, make sure you order a variant for Europe with 230 V and alternating current.
* This is a commission link. If you order the DREO through this link, it won't cost you any more. However, we receive a small commission, which we reinvest in test material. 
