The kind and generous folks at Baileys® sent us a free gift of a coffee frother. It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see 'reduced to clear' in a pound shop. I decided to give it a consumer test to see if it did what it said on the box.

• The main selling points on the box were (my findings in brackets);HANDY UPRIGHT STAND ( a thin piece of moulded plastic with a hole in it)
• EASY USE LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION (made of thin plastic with holes in it)
• SAFETY ON/OFF SWITCH (important to have it switched off in the cupboard to prevent small children reaching in and being horribly frothed)

There was also some handy trouble shooting information 'If your frother stops working, try changing the batteries'. Hmmm - I'll write that down somewhere.

The instructions said the frother is great for making latte so I made half a cup of coffee and put the milk in a glass. The box said to whisk it for 10 seconds so I gave it a full minute because it was fun.

Nearly all the milk turned to froth and I dumped it into the coffee. It looked awful, the coffee went cold  and the froth was gone within a minute.

I tried re-whisking it. Nothing much happened until the end fell off.

It wouldn't stay on the handle after that so I stuck it back in place with super glue.

The coffee ended up looking like what floats in on the tide at Southend-on-sea.

After that I read the instructions more carefully. Heat the milk first it said - Ahh, now why didn't I think of that...

This time it looked and tasted much better. The froth lasted right to the end of the drink (about 5 minutes). Yummy.

Time to get adventurous - I had some 'instant cappuccinos' in the cupboard. These things froth themselves. I'm not sure what ingredient does this but the only other product I know that self froths is used for cleaning drains.

I made the cappuccino as normal then in went the frother. It foamed up right over the rim of the cup then the froth all but disappeared. When I sprinkled the chocolate on the top it seemed to fizz - I decided not to risk drinking it.

My last test was on a cold drink. I wondered if it would make an ordinary Nesquik milkshake thick and creamy.

Not a chance.

I whisked for about two minutes and only managed to achieve about 1cm of froth. This was a disappointing 10% of the whole drink.

The Baileys® frother is a handy device which can save it's owner many hours of backbreaking drink stirring. It comes complete with batteries (which frankly are probably the most expensive component), it is light weight and will fit easily into a lady's evening bag for those unexpected emergency drink frothing moments.

The Baileys® frother can also be used for;

• Disposing of cobwebs.
• Light concrete mixing jobs.
• Surprising a friend.
• Relief from minor itching (Under the supervision of a trained medical professional).