A few weeks back I was contacted by Mr. Coffee to see if I would like to try their Cafe Latte maker. Being a coffee lover, I had no problem saying yes. I was curious how this machine would work. Could it really make a decent latte at home? I’ve worked as a barista twice in my life, so I’m well versed in making lattes. A lot of special equipment is involved and you have to steam milk, which is easy in a coffee shop, but not so easy at home. I have never been able to duplicate at home what I would make in a coffee shop.
So, how did the Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte stand up to the test?
It passed! I won’t deny that I was shocked it really makes a great latte. I’ve tried at-home espresso makers in the past and they were so difficult to use and produced a sub par product. I always enjoyed steaming milk on the big machines in coffee shops, but not at home. There’s a fine line between perfect froth and scorching the crap out of your milk. I enjoy espresso drinks, but I find I like my lattes better with coffee. With this machine, you can choose to make them the traditional way with espresso or if you want something not as strong, use coffee.
Out of the box the machine is pretty much ready to go. All you have to do is snap on the frother to the lid of the carafe. No other assembly is required. While the base is really light and doesn’t take up much space on your counter, I did notice the carafe is heavy. The bottom of the carafe contains the electrical elements to heat the milk and plug into the base, so that’s where the weight comes from. This feature also makes the carafe hand-wash only. You cannot put it in the dishwasher or submerge it in water. This was the only thing I found that I didn’t like. You have to be a bit careful cleaning it.
The cafe latte comes with a manual, a quick start guide, and a recipe booklet. The quick start guide is easy, but you’ll want to review the manual first so you’ll know how to clean the carafe before you use it the first time. There are a lot of great recipes included. A basic latte, flavored lattes, lattes with liquor, lattes with tea, and hot chocolates. I had a tough time deciding which to try first!
A great feature of this machine is that it’s really quiet. Espresso machines with steamers are pretty loud, so I was surprised at how you could barely hear this one brewing and frothing. It only took a few minutes to have everything ready, which is really great for those mornings you’re headed out to work. No lines, no waiting. It took no longer to make a latte than it would to brew a regular cup of coffee.
The first one I made was a caramel mocha. Coffee goes in the brew basket, milk, chocolate and caramel syrup in the carafe and in minutes I was sipping on a delicious drink. I’ve since made caramel and a vanilla cinnamon that was out of this world! Of course, another benefit is the price. Pennies compared to what you’d spend in a coffee shop! So if you’re looking for a fast, inexpensive way to enjoy lattes at home, this Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte is for you.
Bonus! The nice folks at Mr. Coffee have a special offer for my readers! You can purchase the Cafe Latte at www.mrcoffeelatte.com and receive $10 off your order AND free shipping! Just enter code MLAT10A during checkout. This would make a fantastic gift for you or a friend!
For fun I made a video using the Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte. You can see how quick and easy it is to make lattes at home and how quiet the machine is. Please excuse my novice video skills and my I-didn’t-realize-it-was-this-thick Southern accent!
Disclosure: Mr. Coffee provided me with a Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte at no cost and I was not compensated for this post. All opinions expressed here are solely my own.
I wish my boyfriend would have seen the code. He got this for me for Christmas! It was a BIG suprise. I told him I wanted a coffee maker for Christmas but I didn’t specify which one. We are on a budget and I didn’t want him to spend lots of money. I’ve been eyeing this machine for a long time and I didn’t buy it because I couldn’t afford. I was soooooooooo excited when he got it for me. He was happy because he didn’t know I wanted this one. He just happened to pick up it and assumed I’d like it. I can’t wait to start using it. I gotta go out and buy some coffee beans. đŸ™‚
The reason you aren’t getting the expresso in your milk is that your filter is ‘pinched’ forward where the water drips into the coffee laden filter as it gets hot…you can see this if you carefully raise the lid while brewing. Solution is to make sure the back of the filter is flush with the back of the machine.
I’m not sure what you are referencing as I had no problems with the espresso/coffee brewing into the milk. Thanks for the tip though.
I tried your code MLAT10A and website (as per your post) said
it was unknown. I tried LAT10A and MLAT10 and these also
were unknown. Would be nice to have the $10 discount. What
would you suggest? I ordered it anyway, and paid through PayPal.
Figured if I wait, as it’s Christmas, it may be sold out soon.
Hi Julietta, this post is almost two years old, so that code has since expired. Sorry!
Can the machine make only espresso coffee when you want to?
Hi, Jill. It’s not designed for that. It uses a coffee filter carrier, so it doesn’t use steam pressure like a true cup of espresso. It would turn out pretty weak. It’s great mixed with the steamed milk though!
Hi! I’ve been using my Mr. Coffee Latte maker for almost 4 1/2 years and I love it!
I think they mention it on the Mr. Coffee site, but I can’t remember if it’s in the printed literature… You get A TON of foam when you use a low-fat milk. When I switched to 2% milk, it cut down on that a lot. If you still prefer skim milk, the foam does go away somewhat if you let it sit for a while before pouring your coffee. (I can’t drink mine straight from the end of the cycle, too hot for me.)
When you make mocha lattes, what type of chocolate syrup do recommend? Thank you!