Velvetiser questions.

[Phyllidakettle]

I’m thinking about buying one as a gift. I’ve read the drink isn’t particularly hot and they are a pain to clean out? Do you agree if you own one? They are quite expensive I know.

OMG I'm starting to wish I'd never looked at this thread as it's putting all manner of temptations my way- I also never thought of adding alcohol & I think amaretto might be amazing!!
I had a memorable hot chocolate in E. Wedels in Krakow with raspberries & raspberry liquor in it hmmmmmmm

[quote NalPolishRemover]@SoupDragon do you just add vanilla bean paste to hot milk? Or do you add chocolate too?

Dd loved the HC white chocolate with vanilla. I love any of the milk chocolates & dh loves the weird ones in the multi pack- ginger, chilli, mint etc[/quote]
I just added the paste to the milk before putting the machine on. I wanted a drink that was hot and sort of sweet but not sugary (if that makes sense!)

John Lewis have two Dualit models in stock? Not sure which is best

This is the one I was looking at. Amazon have it for £45.99 today.

www.johnlewis.com/dualit-milk-frother-black/p231706525

I like my drinks hot so I run some hot water from the tap into the mug and leave it there while the velvetiser runs. That makes it the perfect temperature to drink immediately to my taste.

I use Cadburys drinking chocolate powder or posher Cafe Direct powder or Knoops chocolate flakes for a treat.

Don't find it difficult to wash - the whisk goes in the dishwasher and I run the interior under the tap - it's non-stick so doesn't need intensive cleaning. Every now and then I'll give it a proper wash as per the manual by running it with water and a couple of drops of washing up liquid which couldn't be easier.

I’ve taken the plunge and ordered a velvetiser this afternoon. Christmas shopping started!

@Santastuckincustoms marginally - it’s ready to drink but I found that I had to practically down the Velvetiser one, whereas the Lavazza one seems to stay warmer.

We get Whittards or Green & Black, mainly as stocking fillers for each other, and keep a stash of marshmellows too.

@Phyllidakettle

I’ve taken the plunge and ordered a velvetiser this afternoon. Christmas shopping started!

Enjoy

We love ours and use it loads. Drinks are hot enough for me & cleaning it isn’t particularly hard. Definitely worth the money.

I really love mine and use it all the time. I’m very lazy and find cleaning very easy. I don’t need to use an entire sachet so I save money using half or a third at a time.

Is the dualit one the milk frother? And you can add chocolate to the milk in the machine?

The boys use ours loads - think I’ll suggest Nutella to them. Quite fancy the brandy shot in mine!

I love my one. I make cold drinks to just put it over ice instead.

We have the lavazza version. Less than half the price & you can (at least, we do) put chocolate in it, not just milk. I have occasionally used very dark chocolate chunks, chopped up small instead of hot chocolate mix, as they're cheaper, nicer & have less crap in that I'm intolerant to.

It does get the milk decently hot, I usually have my hot chocolate half (oat) milk & half boiling water, but you could just run it again if the cup is large & you wanted all milk. It's pretty fast.

There's not officially a cleaning cycle on the lavazza, but it cleans very well on setting 1 with a drop of washing up liquid, just needs a good swill out afterwards & leave to drain upside down.

Its another gadget that is completely unnecessary in our consumer world.you dont need it.it will end up in landfill in less then 2 years!

@Cowpad

Its another gadget that is completely unnecessary in our consumer world.you dont need it.it will end up in landfill in less then 2 years!

We've had ours for more than 2 years, I bought it before we found we had to leave our old house, which was several months before the start of the pandemic. We use it a lot. DH made me some hot chocolate in it earlier this evening. To be fair, we didn't have a microwave, electric kettle or a toaster at the old house, so we didn't feel guilty about a milk frother.

@Cowpad

Its another gadget that is completely unnecessary in our consumer world.you dont need it.it will end up in landfill in less then 2 years!

Not in our house! Santa brought one 3 years ago and it is still going strong. Not daily use but quite often in Autumn/Winter. Probably more eco-friendly than boiling up milk on the stovetop and having to boil a kettle too to clean the saucepan.

We gifted one to SIL's family last year and they rave about it.

We use chocolate flakes from a local chocolatier, yum! Also eco-friendly as no sachets involved.

I really want one of these but I'd love if someone could bring me three hot chocolates, one made in the Velvetiser, one made in the Dualit, and one made in the Lavazza, so I could decide which gadget I liked best.

If someone could arrange that for me it would be fab.

Are they not just the same as a milk frother? Aldi are doing one for £20.

@WhatHoMarjorie

I really want one of these but I'd love if someone could bring me three hot chocolates, one made in the Velvetiser, one made in the Dualit, and one made in the Lavazza, so I could decide which gadget I liked best.

If someone could arrange that for me it would be fab.

I'm not sure if this is any help but...The Velvetiser is manufactured for Hotel Chocolat by...Dualit!

The Velvetiser is often demonstrated on QVC - here's a link with some helpful reviews and a video. They have it on offer as a "TSV" once a year, maybe around September/October and the package is usually very attractive then

www.qvcuk.com/Hotel-Chocolat-Velvetiser-with-2-Tins-%26-Pod-Cups.product.809907.html

Sorry, I don't know anything about the Lavazza machine - maybe they are demonstrated in store?

Ah, thank you, @SageRosemary. That's very helpful!

I love mine so much. But I don't buy their chocolate flakes. I buy my own chocolate (favourite is Lindt sea salt chocolate) and grate big batches to keep in a tin. Much nicer and cheaper to boot.

If you rinse it out with hot water straight away that's all it takes to clean it.