Photo: RoseArt
We tried out the Creative Cafe Barista Bar from Roseart, which lets kids make lattes with creative designs. Kids can watch milk be frothed, mix and measure ingredients, and practice their art skills with stencil designs to top off their lattes!
The Barista Bar uses milk and flavored packets for a caffeine-free latte safe for young baristas! Children can follow the recipes provided to create specific tasting lattes or use their imaginations for other great tasting drinks. Once the milk and flavoring has been selected, the kids fill the frothing pitcher, place it into the Barista Bar, and pull the lever to lower the whisk into the milk. The frothing pitcher is kid-safe, using no heat. Kids can then decorate the top of their drinks with one of the three stencils provided.
In addition to the frothing unit, the Barista Bar comes with 2 flavor packets (chocolate and strawberry), 2 spoons, pitcher (for frothing), 4 paper cups, and 3 stencils. The paper cups provided are smaller than the average size cup but larger than a small Dixie cup which makes finding the right replacement a little tricky. You can adjust the size of the serving to fit the size cup you use once the paper cups provided have been used. We found it much easier to get a good stencil design when the froth reached the top of the cup (getting the perfect stencil is pretty tricky).
Currently, the barista comes with 2 packets of flavoring – chocolate and strawberry. Refill packs with 3 additional flavors will be available at JoAnn’s and Amazon in mid-November. You can also use other drink mixes, similar to Nesquik, that work quite well! Once they get the hang of it, kids can experiment with drink powders and flavorings.
Overall, we found the setup and cleaning of the product relatively easy. Some parts of the frothing unit are hard to take apart once you have clicked them on so keep that in mind for storage! The frothing unit takes 3 AA batteries. which are not included in the package; plan accordingly if lattes will be on the menu for the holidays.
Similar to other cooking activities, the Barista Bar offers a fun STEAM activity incorporating math and art into a delicious snack. The kids enjoyed making lattes that were “fancier” than mom and dad’s coffee. They had fun measuring the ingredients and choosing which kinds to make. With the addition of the other flavorings there is opportunity for experimenting with different flavor combinations. The Barista Bar is recommended for ages 6+ but with a little bit of help it is suitable for even younger baristas!
The Creative Cafe Barista Bar retails at $29.99 but several sites are currently listing it just under $20. It can be purchased at Amazon, Walmart and Target.
Leave a Reply