 |
Best Blender |
Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 883
From: Indiana
|  Posted: 2008-01-15 12:36 pm
Time for a quality blender, anyone have recommendation? I know I can spend upwards of $500, but does that make sense when the drink volume at my house doesn't really require a commercial blender?
Does anyone own a Breville Ikon Die-Cast Stainless Steel 750 watt blender? I was looking at one at Bed, Bath and Beyond. $199, then take off 20% with one of their frequent coupons, so it's $160.
[ This Message was edited by: Bongo Bungalow 2008-01-15 12:37 ]
|
UtopianDreem
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Jun 02, 2003
Posts: 286
From: LA County, CA
| Posted: 2008-01-15 12:49 pm
Not familiar with the Breville, but my Osterizer has served me well for many years--just the basic pushbutton model. Haven't burnt it out yet!
Check out these past threads for some more recs:
Crucial Blender Assistance/Advice Desired!
Island Oasis Machine
Anyone have a margaritaville machine??
|
Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 883
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2008-01-15 12:51 pm
Dreem, I swear I searched "blender" and got nothing. Thanks for your comment.
|
Rob Roy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 03, 2004
Posts: 325
From: Ventura, CA
| Posted: 2008-01-15 1:04 pm
Try www.willitblend.com from Blendtec blenders.
|
Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 883
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2008-01-15 1:16 pm
Wow! 1500 watts of blending fun!
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 7827
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-01-15 1:59 pm
Tiki snob alert! Assuming you are intending it for Polynesian mixology, here I go:
Classic Polynesian bars used mostly top MIXERS, which create a different drink texture than BLENDERS, which did not come into use until blended cocktails like the Margarita took over from the Mai Tai. They usually were made by Hamilton Beach, which has reissued their classic design, albeit in lighter metal than those old die hard cast iron mixers:
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-01-15 14:00 ]
|
Chip and Andy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 1860
From: Corner table, Molokai Lounge, Mai-Kai.
| Posted: 2008-01-15 2:04 pm
It sounds like you need something to handle your basic drink making tasks along with the basic kitchen needs. I offer the following advice....
1 - Set your budget first. A Blendtek will turn marbles to dust and an iphone to chips in no time, but do you really plan on making drinks out of marbles? (great videos, and the website is so much fun!)
2 - get the highest watt motor in your price range.
3 - try and get a metal container instead of glass. It may be a bit louder, but will survive way more drops behind the bar than glass.
4 - look for the prettiest one.
Unless, of course, your blender is going to live on the counter, then move the pretties one to number two on that list.
I have a Westbend that I got at Target for about $50 that I am really happy with. And the Oster I had before that (12 years) was great too.
|
GentleHangman
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Jun 23, 2006
Posts: 270
From: Florida - Formerly Andover, Mass.
| Posted: 2008-01-15 2:39 pm
I too have been using my Osterizer "Classic" for over ten years now. It only has a simple up/down switch for high and low and a heavy glass pitcher. As long as you start off with crushed ice, it can handle "frozen" drinks with ease but will leave lumps of ice is you use whole cubes.
I've had it so long, I can't even remember what it origonally cost, but I think it was just over $100.00.
I'm fortunate that I've not dropped the pitcher - I agree with C&A that metal or thick plastic would be better.
_________________
I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.
GH
|
DJ HawaiianShirt
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 04, 2006
Posts: 143
From: NoVA, DC
| Posted: 2008-01-15 3:38 pm
Going off Hangman's post, I'll bring up something I posted about a while back.
I'm a young guy in an apartment with a freezer that makes decent ice cubes. How the heck can I make blended drinks if one can't do it with whole ice cubes? Pounding cubes in a bag isn't really an option: no matter what surface I do it on, anybody within a 2 room radius can hear it.
I'm not really trying to pull the thread off-topic. To push the thread onward, I'll ask: Is there a blender that can make drinks of homogenous consistency using ice cubes?
_________________
Spirited Remix - cocktails and spirits blog
http://spiritedremix.blogspot.com
|
Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 883
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2008-01-15 3:46 pm
DJHShirt makes a good point, 'cause if the blender or mixer can handle ice cubes-- all the better.
BBro offers the classic Hamilton and it sure looks cool, and makes the drink right-- but to make the drink right I need crushed ice... so something to crush ice and the Hamilton mixer? Mmmm... gonna have to looks those up.
|
Kahuna Kent
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Aug 19, 2007
Posts: 73
From: Woodland Hills, Ca
| Posted: 2008-01-15 5:03 pm
Vitamix is an awesome blender
And it can do crushed/shaved ice in a pinch
|
JanetMermaid
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 31, 2007
Posts: 126
From: Lockhart, TX
| Posted: 2008-01-15 5:26 pm
According to Consumer Reports, the Vita-mix 5000 is the #1 blender -- with an overall rating of 85. It got excellent on all but 2 things: convenience (ease of cleaning/changing blades) and noise. But it's $400.
The CR Best Buy was the Braun PowerMax MX2050 -- got a rating of 72 (very good instead of excellent pretty much across the board) but it only costs $50. AND it has a glass jar instead of a plastic jar like the Vita-mix. AND AND, it has a removable blade (easier to clean) which the Vita-mix does not.
You could burn up a LOT of Braun's for the cost of one Vita-mix.
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 7827
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-01-15 5:34 pm
I would like to gently bring up the point about MIXING drinks versus BLENDING drinks again, and discuss if it is Tiki snobbery/purism, or a valid concern.
The evolution of a popular art form is often dictated by changing tastes and growing awareness, which is good. But just as often changes seem to be brought on by compromises that have to be made, and practicalities, and in retrospect it is hard to say if that one element that got compromised is negligible, or if it is one of the contributors to the devolution of the art form.
In observing mid-century modern Tiki culture, and looking at all the elements that fell into place to create it and endear it to the public in its heyday, the decline of the care of making the original cocktails certainly was a contributor to its downfall, to its (literally) watering down.
The change in public tastes made the Margarita the cocktail of choice in the 70s, so did it become too much hassle to have both, a top mixer and a blender behind the bar? Was the discarding of the mixer in favor of the blender one of the many little compromises that caused the "Gatoraid-ization" of the Polynesian cocktail?
This is not a trick question, I simply do not remember what my mixology adviser's (the Bum) stance on this is, but I would like to know.
|
GatorRob
Grand Member (4 years) 
Joined: Aug 20, 2004
Posts: 1604
From: FL
| Posted: 2008-01-15 6:19 pm
Actually, you bring up an interesting point Sven. I didn't realize that classic tiki bars originally used top mixers. And the difference in what a mixer does to a drink versus a blender would make a good study. It's also interesting to me that many of the drinks in Sippin' Safari call for blending the drink for no more than 5 seconds versus shaking the drink in a shaker with crushed ice. I haven't done a comparison as to the difference that makes in the final result. I'd also like to know what Jeff Berry says on this.
With regards to the original question, I'll just say that I use a KitchenAid that has served me well. It wasn't cheap, but with a 20% off coupon and some gift cards that we had, we made out okay.
|
Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 883
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2008-01-15 7:19 pm
I looked up the Hamilton top mixer and it's less than $30! That's the new one, of course. I'm all for that... but I'll still need a blender that can crush ice and make a fruit smoothie...
|
