Is special barista milk worth foaming?

From the high sales figures of fully automatic coffee machines with integrated milk frothers, it is clear that coffee specialities with milk are still very popular. Every barista swears by his or her own personal favourite milk to froth up the perfect milk foam for cappuccino or latte macchiato. Anyone who has ever tried to get milk into shape with the help of a nozzle knows about the difficulties. For example, the perfect cappuccino should not be an espresso with a stiff milk foam cap, but a creamy emulsion of coffee and milk. To achieve this, the bubbles should be fine-pored and the milk should be well mixed with the coffee. Owners of a fully automatic coffee machine with automatic milk frother have only limited influence on the generation of the milk foam. But using milk that is easier to process is simple. But what should you look for when buying milk?

Compete against each other in the frothing test: Weihenstephan long-life milk, Weihenstephan long-life low-fat milk, the newly introduced Weihenstephan Barista long-life milk with extra milk protein and vly No Milk Today Barista, a vegan pea-based protein drink for all those who cannot or do not want to drink cow's milk. The taste is similar to regular milk, only with a slightly sweeter note, and since the protein content of Weihenstephan's fresh milk is the same as that of long-life milk, it is not considered here.

The protein content, colloquially also called protein or protein substance, is significantly responsible for the foaming behaviour and forms the desired fine pored bubbles - similar to baking with beaten egg white. The fat in the milk as an aroma carrier ensures a more intensive taste. In addition, the milk should be frothed well chilled so that it does not get hot too quickly and tastes overcooked.

The long-life milk from Weihenstephan was heated ultra-high for about 3 seconds during production and has a shelf life of about 4 months. The vly pea protein drink has a much longer shelf life of 10 months. For our test we frothed 300ml of all four candidates with the steam nozzle of a professional sieve carrier machine of the brand LaCimbali to have an even and dry steam. The milk or protein drink has an initial temperature of 7° Celsius and is foamed until a temperature of 60° Celsius is reached.

As a result, we received a decent milk froth from all candidates, which could be frothed reliably and well. We achieved the finest foam with low-fat UHT milk and Barista UHT milk. With these two the foam was also the most stable. Even after two hours, a cappuccino made with them was cold, but still looked delicious. The foam of UHT milk with 3.5% fat, on the other hand, was already much more reduced and was virtually no longer present in the vly protein drink.

So is it worthwhile to go for the Barista UHT milk? If you can tolerate cow's milk or don't want to conjure up latte art on your coffee, you don't need extra milk especially for foaming. An ordinary low-fat UHT milk produces an equally great milk foam. If you can't tolerate milk or want to eat a vegan diet, a protein drink can produce a good milk froth. But the coffee should be served and drunk quickly, because the milk foam does not last that long.