How to froth milk with a Bodum French Press

Cafe latte, with a serious amount of frothed milk 

Producing the right amount and quality of frothed milk for the cappuccino can be a difficult challenge and a great debate, because there are multiple solutions and approaches for achieving the velvety, smooth and delicious frothed milk.

My opinion on this subject is towards the espresso machine way of frothing, because the steam produced is caramelizing the milk and therefore making it more sweeter and richer compared with heating the milk in a pot. Besides if you are able to create a whirlpool in your pitcher; tiny air bobbles will be incorporated perfectly into the milk.

Nevertheless my girlfriend introduced me to this frothed method using a french press to create the proper micro foam. She had seen the method on one of the blogs she´s following; her interest for blogs also got my passion for the world of coffee online into this blog your reading right now.

The metal filter used to incorporate tiny air bobbles into the heated milk 

The method is includes some preheated milk, perhaps heating it in a pot to the correct temperature - meaning heating the milk just before it starts boiling, max. 75-80 degrees. If the milk starts boiling it will affect the flavors by adding a burned rice pudding note, which can't be recommended.

Pouring heated milk into the french press 

After you have preheated the milk; pour the milk into the glass container of the french press - in my case the Bodum french press glass container. Use the french press filter to create micro foam by pressing the filter in a vertical direction.

Vertically pull of the filter to create micro foam 

This method is very effective to incorporate air into the milk, but the air which is merged with the milk is cold and therefore the heated milk quickly becomes lukewarm - especially when pouring the drink and about to take the first sip, the micro foam fells cold against the lips.

I will suggest this method if you haven´t got anything else, which could come in handy - I would certainly not produce my morning latte by this method, due to the long process and first heating the milk and second creating micro foam - and thats just the milk! Also you end up with a wide range of kitchen products that needs a serious cleaning afterwards.