One fateful day, five years ago, my husband and I were driving on a highway between New York and Pennsylvania when we stopped at a rest stop, most likely because I had to pee. While we were there, he bought a vanilla latte at the Starbuck’s. Back in the car he offered me a sip, saying that I might like it because it was sweet. I don’t like coffee, no not me, I am a tea drinker. But, I took a sip because I am cooperative open to new things like that when I am on the road and bored.
It was good. It was very good. It was the beginning of a habit.
Rather than try to kick the monkey off, I decided to find a latte machine I could use at home. This way, I can have my lattes and not go broke. I’ve used the Kuerig and we got a Tassimo a few years ago, but neither of them could produce a latte to rival Starbuck’s. This year for Christmas, my best friend bought us a Verismo
How to Make the Perfect Vanilla Latte
Even with a good machine you need to test and tweak your way to the perfect latte for you. When I first got the machines I tried variations with milk (whole to skim), more or less syrup, using the spring on the frother, and even using just the Verismo with the latte pods made for it. Finally I got it right. Here’s what I do:
1. Without the little frother spring attached, fill the frother to the max fill line with skim milk and start the heating.
2. Measure 1.75 ml of Starbuck’s vanilla syrup in the coffee cup.
3. Place an espresso pod into the Verismo machine and press the espresso button.
4. The milk will be ready almost as soon as the espresso is done. Pour the hot milk into the cup and top off with the creamy foam left in the frother.
Voila, it’s even better than going to Starbuck’s because the espresso is always fresh, and there is no barista variation on how much vanilla sweetness or foam you end up with.
The Pros and Cons of the Verismo & Frother
The best thing about these machines is that you can truly replicate the Starbuck’s latte you love. The machines are both reasonably priced, and the money you save making your own drinks will easily pay for the machines in a few months. You will be able to do a lot more than just make lattes. You can also make delicious hot cocoa, Macchiatos, Cappuccinos and regular coffee.
On the con side,
1. You need both the Verismo and the frother in order to replicate a true latte. Even though the Verismo says it is a latte machine and has milk pods, it comes out tasting like fake milk. So if it’s lattes you want, buy both machines.
2. The Verismo drips for a bit after, making a mess in the tray, so you need lift the handle and let the used pod fall which will stop the dripping immediately. Also you need to run water through it after each use to clean the spout. It automatically sets itself for the cleaning run, so you can’t make a another coffee until you have clicked the espresso button that doubles as the rinse button.
3. The water holder is in the back and not so easy to get in and out from that angle. There is no “low water” warning which means every now and then you ruin a cup of coffee running out of water part way through the process. When this happens, I just throw the same pod back in and do it again after I refill the tank.
4. The milk frother interior gets cooked milk stuck to it requiring a little scrubbing to get clean. A little scrubbing destroys the interior layer of non-stick coating, which in turn exacerbates the milk getting cooked and stuck on in that spot. We’ll see how good they are about returns/replacements.
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