Reddit reviews La Cafetiere Bialetti Tuttocrema Frothing Jug, Teflon Non Stick Surface and Double Filter For Extra Frothy Milk

Bottom line is: not really.

Even the moderately good super-automatics start at 4 times the top of your budget ... and they come with plenty of problems of their own which will mean you're going to end up being disappointed in them.

In your budget, you can get yourself a decent hand grinder; a moka pot and a milk frother ... team those up with some decent fresh roast beans and you can get yourself a very acceptable cappuccino. If you spend just a little more and get an electric burr grinder, then you're going to find it a lot easier and faster to grind your beans and you'll use the moka pot more.

For what you're saying, I'd recommend going with: an Encore; a bialetti; and, matching milk frother. All those links are pulled straight from Amazon, but by all means shop around and you might get it down to your budget. As it is, that comes to around $200 - most of which is the grinder. Once you have that grinder, though, you open up a whole world of good coffee in the home.

Edit for link

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0001IXA4Y - Bialetti Tuttocrema.

If you want just a frother, you can pick up any french press or try a Tuttocrema.

I started doing lattes with a moka pot before moving on to an all out espresso machine.

I found the best way to forth the milk to be something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Cafetiere-Bialetti-Tuttocrema-Frothing-Surface/dp/B0001IXA4Y
French press works just as good. But you have to pump the milk to air-rate it without taking the plunger too much out of the milk because you don't want to create foam. If you whip the mik with taking the plunger out of it it will create a lot of foam. I was able to produce some latte art after a lot of trial and error.

It doesn't compare to an espresso machine though. The milk texturing is completely different with a wand/steam and thus the results are better in both taste and the actual art.

The froth from aeroccino is very thin in my opinion. I have one myself and will not recommend it. Try a manual bialetti frother. With a little practice the froth becomes thick and nice! Be aware the one I have is in aluminum, so will not work on induction ovens by itself - then you'll have to heat the milk in a pan first. I highly recommend this, it's fool proof, will not break, makes great froth and it's also cheaper than most other options.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-BA008100-Tuttocrema-Frother/dp/B0001IXA4Y

I guess it's not going to be possible in the budget I'm really prepared to spend on coffee:

Aeropress - £23.50

Grinder - £19.00

Frother - £21.00

Good beans - £5.50

That adds up to ~£70 which is about $100. Eek. I know lots of people here spend lots more than that on it, but it's quite an investment for something I have no idea if I'll even like as much as the pro machine stuff. :(

I had an ESAM4200 and I thought it was rubbish. I think the two main issues where the grinder not going fine enough and the water not being hot enough or consistent. It used to give watery under extracted espresso.

If that was my max budget and I wanted milk based drinks I would get grinder, moka pot and a milk plunger. This is what I replaced my ESAM with while I saved for proper gear.

Bialetti Brikka 4 Cup Espresso Maker with Cream Valve https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001DJT7G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fi7JxbV7097A6

Bialetti Tuttocrema Milk Frother https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001IXA4Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xj7Jxb9E44BEK

Dualit 75015 Coffee Grinder, Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005VBNSJ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Xk7JxbKP9TTJM

Note: the grinder won't grind fine enough for a real espresso machine, but it's fine for using with a moka pot, if you want a better grinder the Eureka Mignon would be a good choice.

If I had to pick between the two machines you posted I would pick the Melitta, but only because I already had an ESAM.