Needed: 28 MOLINILLOs (Mexican Hot chocolate frothers)

Dear LTH, HELP!! My daughter's kindergarden class is singing the Bate Bate chocolate song for their winter assembly. The Arts teacher wants them to have these frothers as accessories and I foolishly volunteered to find them. There are 28 kids in the class, split into two rows, so I need a minimum of 14. I have found some, but they are rather large (about 10", a tempting bludgeon) and expensive ($5 each). Has anyone seen smaller and/or cheaper version of this? I need to get them by Thursday, so a local source would be best.

Help me LTH-wan-Kenobi, you are my only hope...

Cheers, Jen

Not any beautiful manual molnillo you asked for, but if you can use an battery powered version similar to the one pictured below


[image from amazon.com]

Ikea has something similar (slightly flimsier than the aerolatte pictured) for $1.99
It requires 2 AA batteries (not included).

Probably most people who are actually making hot chocolate use one of those-- or just the blender. Alas, I need these for a prop, so the Aerolatte doesn't quite fit the bill. Thanks though!

Cheers, Jen

I suggest giving these folks a call:

La Fortuna Imports
2515 W 25th Street
Chicago, IL 60608
(773) 247-6860
Fax: (773) 247-6885
http://www.lafortunaimports.com/

I think they are wholesalers, so I'm not sure if they would handle a small order or not.

Otherwise, I would check with Artesanias D'Mexico -- if they don't have them perhaps they could suggest a shop in Pilsen/La Villita which does. (Note that Artesanias D'Mexico often closes for periods while they go on buying trips to Mexico.)

Artesanias D'Mexico
1644 West 18th Street
Chicago, IL 60608-2836
(312) 563-9779

Good luck!

Hi,

This may seem far fetched, but maybe not. It is possible the Mexican Fine Arts Museum has a children's section. Maybe they have a number of these chocolate frothers they might lend you for a day.

I hope you are not also responsible for the cost of these gems.

Regards,

One thought would be the stall at Maxwell street that sells Mexican kitchen ware. I don't remember if I saw molinillos there specifically but it's definitely a place where you could make a deal.

Thanks everyone! La Fortuna does indeed require a tax or retail number, alas. I am checking on other places, and also checking whether I can find a parent with the retail number. Hmm, maybe the PTO has a tax-exempt number. Otherwise I am going to have to stop at a bunch of places and wipe them out of frothers, haha.

Cheers, Jen

Not sure how much this helps but I have several teachers in the family and know that when they needed to get products for their schools they were able to get a copy of the school's tax exempt letter to take with. Perhaps directly contacting the school office might be of use...

You might visit or call one of the local supermercado chains (Pete's Fresh Market, El Güero and Tony's Finer Foods come to mind but there are others). Most supermercados have molinillos in their cookware aisle (definite recent sighting at Pete's) and probably have more in their warehouse. If you talk to the store manager they might be able to get however many you want quickly. At the worst you could visit each location and buy them out, being reasonably assured of getting the same item at the same price.

Jen, what part of town are you in? If it were me, I'd start at the Touhy end of N. Clark and work my way south. Most of the independent dollar stores and groceries have a Mexican housewares section. MexGrocer.com has them for $4.95 apiece.

However, in your situation: I would take a drinking straw and paste two cardboard cutout photos of a molinillo on it for each child. Less likely that someone will poke out an eye, less expensive, and then you aren't stuck with 27 useless objects. You can then pick up one or two real ones at any of the places mentioned for the teacher to demonstrate.

Amata wrote:I suggest giving these folks a call:

La Fortuna Imports
2515 W 25th Street
Chicago, IL 60608
(773) 247-6860
Fax: (773) 247-6885
http://www.lafortunaimports.com/
...
Good luck!

Amata and everyone, thank you very much! Armed with my PTO's tax-exempt letter, I went to La Fortuna. The people there were so friendly and helpful-- I very much recommend La Fortuna. They were great. I scored 20 molinillos (the other 8 kids will have signs) for $2.15 each instead of $5. Once again, LTH saves the day.

Best, Jen

Hey, that's great! Thanks for reporting back.