Best blender for margaritas

★★★★★ Great smoothie blender as long as you follow a few rules. If you are looking for a blender to make smoothies this review might help. For the last 5 years I have been making 2 smoothies every morning, one for me and one for my wife. I used a Cuisinart emulsion blender, I made one smoothie at a time and although there are tricks to making a smoothie with a emulsion blender so that the smoothie does not blow back and get all over the place it made excellent smoothies. Nice thick consistency, not airy, smooth and not chunky to clog up the straw. Well the emulsion blender finally died after it’s storied career in the smoothie business, that’s when I decided to get a blender so I could make 2 smoothies at a time just put everything in the blender hit the button and forget it. I have to say for the most part that has been true I have only had the blender for a week and made smoothies 5 or so times but for $24 this machine has worked wonderful. The foot print is small so it’s easy to store and it is easy to clean no need to take it apart just rinse it out with water and a quick wipe with a sponge and let it air dry. The power of the motor is good 700 watts seems to churn thru anything you put in there. To make two smoothies I will put about 500 ml of liquid and 2 scoops of protein powder in the blender then add a hand full of fruit usually frozen strawberries give it a pulse or 2 then hit the button they say is for smoothies and let it do its thing. I will put more fruit in along the way stopping the blender or opening the top and throwing in another handful until I get about 38 ounces of smoothie enough for 2 drinks. It works great I use whole strawberries and the blender cuts right thru them. If you are making 2 smoothies it works like a charm as long as you add the frozen strawberries a little at a time. Today I made only one smoothie and even though I added the fruit a little at a time the fruit did not get pureed it kind of sits on top while the blade swirls I had to shake the blander a few times to make the fruit drop to the blade and get pureed, the end result was a great smoothie with a nice consistency. I put whole strawberries in the blender for both a double and single batch of smoothies and with the extra liquid of a double smoothie batch the blender worked fine you can just drop the fruit in and walk away but making a single smoothie using whole large strawberries you will have to give it a shake as the berries get stuck hovering above the blade. The smaller the fruit the easier the process works if you use frozen blueberries or cut the fruit up into smaller pieces I don’t think you will get the frozen fruit hover and have to shake the blender. The picture of the blender with the pitcher packed full of fruit is a little deceiving I don’t think you would be able to puree this into a smoothie with out a lot of shaking the blender and probably even having to sticking something in to help mix thing up. If you put the frozen fruit in a little at a time and or cut the fruit into smaller pieces for smaller volume smoothies this machine will work great. The only real downside to this blender is the cord is very short only 26″ long, I have had to use a extension cord so I can get it to a convenient place on my kitchen Island to use it. There is a slot in the bottom of the blender the cord can be pushed up and stored in but that is more of a pain then anything I just wrap it around the side thru the handle and it works fine.Here is what I found to make a great smoothie every time.Don’t over stuff blender like shown in the picture it will not puree to a smoothie consistency with out a lot of help.Add frozen fruit a little at a time not all at once.If only making a small smoothie (18 oz) cut fruit up or use small fruit and don’t forget add fruit in portions not all at once.

★★★★★ Great. Ordered because my smaller blender wasn’t big enough for large batches of smoothies or milkshakes. This is great, cleans easily. The lid was very stiff at first but after a few uses it slips on better. I love the spout on the lid, makes it easier for pouring directly out of it.

★★★★☆ It works well as a blender – not a food processor substitute. This isn’t a Vitamix by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s I think it’s a decent value for the price. Where else can you get a 40oz 5 speed blender with a glass pitcher for under $40 USD? I picked this blender for a couple of reasons1. The previous blender I had for over 15 years was a Hamilton Beach2. The toaster I have is also a Hamilton Beach, which I’ve had for over 20 years.Do I like it? I think so…Short recap of below1. For a sub $50.00 blender I like it. It works well2. I really like the (heavy) glass pitcher. This is the main reason why I purchased it.3. I like the base (motor) it feels solid, and it works very well4. It’s quieter than my old Hamilton Beach blender, which is my only point of reference. For me that’s good.5. The button feel very similar to my old blender which lasted a long time, so that too is good.6. I REALLY don’t like how hard the top is to remove7. I don’t like the cheap feel of the plastic bits attached to the pitcherWhat I like1. I like the glass pitcher – yes it’s heavy but it’s also made of glass thick enough to withstand crushing ice relatively quietly. Plastic pitches sound like they may shatter in the process.2. I like that the bottom screws off making the pitcher and blades easy to clean.3. I like the several blending options (though I use the two pulses more than the other 3 options).4. It makes a great smoothie & crushed ice drinks such as Margarita or Daiquiri very quickly and evenly blended.5. Worked great for making pesto & Harissa too, though the parsley had to be added in a bit at a time to ensure smooth consistency. I typically make these two items in my Cuisinart Food Processor which performs both of the above tasks in about 1/3 of the time it took in the blender. The consistency is also better in my Cuisinart. I figured I’d give the blender a go on these just as a test. I’m not gonna try making peanut butter.6. The base and mechanical bits under the pitcher have a quality feel for the price sub $50.00 price tag. The blender stays put, and a hand isn’t required on top of the blender to keep the pitcher from walking off the spinny bits.What I’m on the fence (can’t decide) aboutit’s not particularly quiet – but quieter than my old blender, and definitely NOT quieter than my Cuisinart Food Processor. So I’m on the fence.What I don’t like, and I mean really don’t likeThe top is made of LDPE plastic making it extremely hard to get off when at room temp and especially straight out of the fridge. I’m not being a wimp; the top is extremely hard to get off. So hard I’m afraid the “lifting tab” is going to snap off in my attempts. My wife gave up getting the lid off and leaves it for me to struggle with.I don’t even try anymore to get the lid off if its cold. I run the whole pitcher under really hot water before I attempt to get the lid off. The hot water makes the LDPE plastic top pliable, making it easier to remove. Effortless is not be a synonym I’d use to describe removing the lid from the pitcher.This would be a deal breaker for a person with disabilities, Arthritis, weak fingers, and/or an elderly person. There is now way my Mom wouldn’t be able to get the lid off this blender.What I mildly don’t like1. The top has a secondary flap, for what I’m not sure. The flap doesn’t have a proper hinge. The hinge is molded into the lid of the pitcher. Being made of LDPE plastic, I’m pretty confident it’s going to snap off in time.2. The whole top / lid to the pitcher has a ton of nooks and crannies making it a challenge to clean quickly. A brush and soaking in hot soapy water is what works for me. I use it every day, so I wash by hand instead of using the dishwasher.3. The base that holds the blades onto the pitcher is made of thin ABS plastic which I’m quite certain if the base came into contact with counter top at an angle with a bit of force, aka dropping the pitcher onto the base or inadvertently smacked against the edge of the counter it will result in a broken base.. Maybe shatter would be a better termThose are my thoughts and experiences with this pitcher – You decide.

★★★★★ Great quality for the price. The glass is heavy and the blender looks great. In regard to noise level, it is a blender.

★★★★★ Put the lid on correctly, lol. You have to press down to lock. At first, I was thought I was going to have to send the product back because the lid would not seat / lock correctly. I tried it two different ways. Then my husband came to look at it and he pointed out I had the lid on backwards and I needed to press down on lid to snap/lock in place. The first picture is correct. The lid is facing in the right direction and is pressed down in place. The second photo shows the lid on correctly but it’s not pressed down into place. The third photo shows the lid is on backwards.I haven’t really used yet, but I did put some water in it to try all the buttons and it seems to work great for my purpose. I did buy the warranty just in case. My motto is buy the warranty and you won’t have any problems or don’t buy the warranty and yeah you’ll have problems lol.

★★★★★ Midnight margaritas and smoothies galore. This was a big step up from our last blender from the same company. I love the sturdiness of the glass pitcher and the easy cleaning options. It makes quick work of frozen fruit and roasted veggies. Dinner and breakfast done it makes a perfect pitcher of late night margaritas for girls night. Easy to pour spout and a spot in top to add more liquid if needed.Only draw back is that it is not quiet.

★★★★★ Product appears exactly as listed

★☆☆☆☆ The product reached totally damaged as in broken in pieces. Have returned the same and asked for a refund.

★★☆☆☆ thank you very much

★★★★★ I’ve used this blender more or less on a daily basis with frozen fruits and vegetables for about two months. I knew that I would be getting a lot of use out of it, and have had experience with both low end blenders (always disappointing) and high end blenders (from working at a smoothie making business), and was a little bit hesitant to purchase one at this price point, rather than investing in a higher end, more powerful one.However, I was happily surprised by both the quality and easy of use of this blender. It has a very solid glass jar (I’ve had bad experiences with cracks in the jars of cheaper plastic blenders). It also comes apart for easy cleaning and can go in the dishwasher. It’s so easy to clean and used so frequently in my household that I rarely need to put it in the dishwasher unless I’m in a rush. The motor may not be as powerful as some more high end blenders, but as long as you make sure to start with a liquid base, it has no trouble blending frozen foods.The only caveat that I have is that, about a month into use, my unit started leaking. At first, I thought it was because I was putting it back together incorrectly, but then I noticed a small crack in the plastic/rubber ring in the cutter assembly. After wondering how difficult it would be to get the part replaced, I continued using it for a few weeks, but finally made the call to the Hamilton Beach office in Canada today.The real reason that I had to post this review was the pleasant and quick service that I got while making that call. All I had to do was give them the product model/series and describe the part that was affected. There was no fuss about proof or purchase or anything else. The new part is free because of the 3 year warranty and they charged me $5 for shipping (which I knew I would be paying anyway because of the clear warranty policy). It should arrive within 7-10 days. When you purchase a product that is not so high end, you sometimes worry about the service that you’ll receive if any problems come up. I will not hesitate to purchase similar products from Hamilton Beach in the future if they have such an easy to access warranty service.

★★★★★ While it’s not supposed to make perfect hummus or baba ghanoush, it actually does! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a food processor and it’s not claiming to be. But it can do a lot more than it says! The blender is very powerful. I have run it for an extended period and the motor didn’t burn out or something. The glass jar went through subsequent hot and cold water and nothing has happened to it so far. So far very pleased with its performance and build quality.I would recommend 100%. Definitely value for money!!