Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte Maker - Automatic Espresso & Milk Frother for Home Barista - Perfect for Morning Coffee, Office Breaks & Entertaining Guests

I love this! It’s my 3rd one- so upsetting they don’t make them anymore. Now I have a back up. It’s so easy! Put milk in carafe- add water and coffee and turn on. A perfect latte every time!I'm only a partial coffee snob, or so that's what I've recently concluded.I drink my coffee black. I never participate in coffee clubs at work, take my own coffee on vacations all over the world (even, I mean, especially cruises), and on business travel. I haven't used a hotel coffee pot since I don't know when (never hot enough for one). I like a medium roast and I mix a lb of flavored beans with a lb of medium roast decaf (or vice versa). I never buy french roast or even Samatra as non flavored coffee because it overpowers the flavored coffee. I carry a Melita cone filter that fits on any size cup (or you can buy the larger Melita cone filters to make large pot of coffee. I've had and been carrying around this cone in my luggage for 20+ years. Super easy--all you need is hot water and in most countries in Europe, and other parts of the world, it's easy to get a tea kettle than it is a coffee pot--if there isn't one already in hotel room. The last cruise we took had one in room.Based on reviews of many of these cap/latte makers, I don't know what a real latte is if I believe the finished product from this machine is a latte. I accept that. I'm actually okay with that and will concede to that as probably factual.Some reviews say these lattes are nothing more than watered down coffee that gets mixed into heated milk. And that even the heated milk is in no way even almost comparable to "steamed" milk you get with a real latte.Again, I would say okay...then that is probably true as well. Even I know there is no mechanism that steams the milk, and I certainly know the difference between coffee that comes from a drip system as opposed to the strong compression (psi) of those "real" expresso makers.So, that leaves me to accept that when it comes to lattes, I'm pretty easy to please (never drink expresso drinks). In my mind, I believe that whether coffee is pressed and then poured into steamed milk, versus very strong coffee is poured into hot milk.....well, perhaps I'm looking through rose-colored latte glasses, it's the same end result. I'm afraid if you gave me a glass of steamed milk and the milk that is heated from this machine--I doubt if I could tell the difference. And if I could, I don't think it would matter all that much.I love this latte maker. I use a cup of almond milk (30 cal cup and 2 carbs) , some strong french roast (way stronger than I would drink alone) and add sugar free white chocolate syrup, and I fill a large latte mug, having to discard some of the froth! The taste is awesome and did I mention 30 calories? I can't even tell the difference between cow's milk and almond milk when you add syrup to the drink.Maybe my taste buds will "mature" someday like they did years ago with beer and wine. But I'm thinking that as long as I'm enjoying my lattes half as much as I am now with this super-simple latte maker, I'm good.The other part of this review must address the temperature of my latte. When I order a latte from a coffee shop, I request 185. I hardly ever get anything I can't guzzle the minute I am handed the cup, so that is always a disappointment, especially since I'm not a guzzler. I waited for nearly 15 years to buy a coffee maker for my house (yep, every am the Melita was on counter and tea kettle was on), until Keurig finally came out with a coffee pot with heat adjustments (mine is set at 192). So this latte maker whips up a very, very hot latte. I don't want to have to preheat my cups, or nuke the beverage once it is made--I want to drink it and this latte maker does that too.I would have given this product 5 stars if they would have designed this with a cone-shaped filter. I know they could have done this as they have other coffee pots that have cone-shaped filters. And while I understand the dichotomy of my snobbish black coffee drink and my amatuerish criteria for a latte--I am convinced the cone-shaped filter provides a superior product--regardless how you end up drinking it. If Mr. Coffee retools this product with a cone-shaped filter, I'd buy it today and take this to work. I paid $49.99 on Amazon and had it delivered to my front door. Life is good. Now it's time to go make my latte!I purchased this latte maker for the sole purpose of being able to make my own chai tea lattes for myself in the morning before work. I have a rather long commute (50 miles one way) and a chai latte makes it much better. Unfortunately, the Starbucks by my house has gone downhill as far as service goes (15 minute waits in the drive through and receiving someone else's order are not uncommon).I had previously purchased the Mr. Coffee ECMP50 Espresso/Cappuccino Maker but it was such a project to get one cup of anything that I eventually abandoned it. I needed something that made my latte in one or two steps with minimal effort. I'm happy to report that this Mr. Coffee Latte maker does exactly that. All you are required to do is put the ingredients in the right places and turn it on. It takes about 5 minutes for the whole thing to cycle through.I have made only chai tea lattes with this as I'm not a big coffee drinker but the process is the same for coffee as it is for the chai tea. In the top reservoir, you pour your water for the tea/coffee. There are markings for one cup and two cups that are easy to see. You put the coffee grounds/tea bags in the filter in the top and close. The maker comes with three paper filters but I would recommend getting the permanent filter basket as it is so much cheaper and easier to use.In the bottom pot, you put your designated amount of milk to make the froth. The latte maker comes with a simple recipe book that covers many different types of lattes and will tell you how much milk to put in. I've discovered that skim milk seems to make the most froth. The twist top that is on the pot comes with a little whisk attachment which is what does all the frothing for you. This attachment comes right off so if you wanted to make a plain old pot of coffee, you could certainly do that.After you've put your ingredients in, you press the lever down and away you go. When I watched it the first time, I thought I had to stop the cycle as it seemed to be taking a while but this is not the case. Hands off until it is done! It will turn off when the latte is hot and ready to go.The pot and the cover that contains the whisk are not dishwasher safe. In fact, you're not supposed to immerse them at all. This is due to the bottom of the pot containing an electrical contact that matches up with the machine. Every time I use the pot, I rinse and wipe it out with a paper towel. This sounds like it might be troublesome but it's actually not. From start to finish, it takes about five minutes for me to get a latte.Here is my recipe for making a chai tea latte that is just about like Starbuck's:1) 3 bags of Celestial Seasonings Chai Tea in the top (decaf or caffeinated, it doesn't matter)2) Water up to the one cup line in the top reservoir3) 1 1/2 cups of Skim milk in the bottom pot4) I sometimes also sprinkle cinnamon on the top for kicks after it is doneI've tried using the liquid Tazo chai tea in a box. In that case, I skipped the tea bags on top and just put water in the reservoir. The liquid Tazo tea goes in the bottom pot with the milk. It tasted fine, but the Celestial Seasonings tea bags actually seemed closer to the taste that I was looking for. I recommend tweaking your recipe until you find the recipe that works for your beverage. One nice side effect is that your kitchen and/or house smell great after brewing something.