Best Blender

So now let me ask a question that could only be answered here on these boards. And please, I'd like to have at least several opinions.

Is there any "slushie" drink that a tiki snob accepts? A follow-up to that, I guess, would be: Are any of the vintage recipes supposed to be slushie in consistency?

On 2008-01-18 16:08, Little fragrant Tiare wrote:
The red drink..what is it?

Don't get too excited. That's a Shirley Temple for my daughter. :) Dad is in front, wife is on the left, son is in the back left and daughter is in the back right. My kids get exposed to a LOT of great tiki.

Ah...nice kiddie cocktail! but the parents Mai Tais looks very tasty too..(are both Mai Tais?)

I love those TVs Mai Tai glasses, i have been to the web page to see if i could order one (very pricey..)but they don`t seem to ship out of the States..
I also wanted to try their Rock Candy syrup just to make a comparaison to my home made stuff.

[ Edited by: Little fragrant Tiare 2008-01-19 09:01 ]

On 2008-01-19 06:48, DJ HawaiianShirt wrote:
...Is there any "slushie" drink that a tiki snob accepts? A follow-up to that, I guess, would be: Are any of the vintage recipes supposed to be slushie in consistency?

For me? Lots.....

Derby Daiquiri come to mind first. Not originally a Slushy drink, but if you order one from the Mai-Kai now that is what you get and it is very tasty!

Coconauts are slushy and very tasty.

Pina Colada's, while not a tiki drink, are very slushy and tasty when done well.

There are more, but this is a good start for the conversation....

If you trust the Don the Beachcomber book (Hawai'i Tropical Rums Drinks), many of the recipes in there are of the frozen (i.e., slushy) variety.

I thought of the Derby Daiquiri too, but wasn't sure if that technically qualified as a frozen drink.

Here's Mariano Licudine's invention in all its vintage glory and served in the appropriate glassware:

I have to agree with C&A that the Coconaut is a slushy drink with much to recommend it -- tasty, simple and really cold on a hot day.

I'd also like to reflect that what we Tikiphiles resent about the Margarita, if I've got it right, is not this venerable cocktail, but the brilliant green, blue, pink frozen variations and the Buffettization of what was once the territory of a darker exotica.

A good Margarita is a wonderful thing. It has to be made with decent tequila, Cointreau and fresh lime and it has to be shaken and strained. If you haven't had one this way, you haven't had one. The frozen thingies in the TGI Fridays are not Margaritas.

As for blenders, mine is a Waring Pro basic black bartender's blender with two settings, high and low. It has out-blended every kitchen model I've ever owned and the ones I had weren't cheap. I got the Waring new on eBay for about $70. I also use a hand-cranked IKEA Groggy ice crusher to crush the ice first if that's what the Bum says to do; he's mixed and drank a lot more Tiki drinks than I have and I defer to his experience and adherence to quality.

I also defer to the guys behind the bar at the Mai Kai as to provenance. Their drinks are similar in consistency to what I get when I follow the instructions of the Bum and the Trader. So no, I don't think we're drinking any devolved, heathen version of the original Tiki texture because we have left the top mixer behind. But that's just my opinion.

[ Edited by: TraderPeg 2008-01-20 15:22 ]

After watching over this thread for a bit, I decided I had to see if there was a difference for my own self.

I picked up a Hamilton Beach DRINKMASTER Number Thirty with the 4-fold Aerator, with the Jade base, that was used in a restaurant here in Portland that closed down many many years ago.

I'll be throwing together some cocktails throughout the week for experimentation, and putting up results on my site and here.

On 2008-01-20 12:52, TraderPeg wrote:

A good Margarita is a wonderful thing. It has to be made with decent tequila, Cointreau and fresh lime and it has to be shaken and strained. If you haven't had one this way, you haven't had one. The frozen thingies in the TGI Fridays are not Margaritas.

[ Edited by: TraderPeg 2008-01-20 15:22 ]

A bit off-topic:

Couldn't agree more. As some know, I am part-owner and operate some Mexican-themed restaurants in the midwest and while we have wonderful frozen margaritas, (and sell a hell of a lot of them), we also offer fabulous made from scratch margs we call Arriba Margaritas. They're made to order with fresh lime juice, simple sugar, Cointreau or Grand Marinier and your favorite premium tequila. Guests choose from a list of 25 tequilas including personal favorites such as Patron, Cabo Wabo, and Paradiso.

Over the course of 2008, I'll be introducing made from scratch, premium tropical drinks at our restaurants, including the Mai Tai and Zombie. IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT YEAR!

A bit on-topic:

I picked up the Breville blender over the week-end. Really great on ice and everything I've thrown in it so far. Got so much to learn. (Looks and acts more refined than the commercial blenders IMO) Haven't picked up a Hamilton top mixer, but I'll get one of those too.

Interesting topic.

I use a Ice-o-Mat hand crank ice crusher for cracked ice (for cocktail shaker drinks), and in the other direction for finer ice (when the recipe calls for crushed ice as in Sippin' Safari). However, I don't think it makes good crushed ice (like they use in the best tiki bars) because the pieces vary in size. Wen I blend Sippin' Safari tropical drinks for a few seconds in my Waring Blendor single speed like this one:

using the exact quantity of ice called for and briefly blended, there are just some larger chunks of ice left, and the rest of the ice disappears. I am inclined to believe a top mixer would be more effective as it wouldn't pulverize the ice as much, thus diluting the drink less. But I have not compared both methods.

Someone send me a top mixer and I'll do some testing. :wink:

Interesting topic.

I use a Ice-o-Mat hand crank ice crusher for cracked ice (for cocktail shaker drinks), and in the other direction for finer ice (when the recipe calls for crushed ice as in Sippin' Safari). However, I don't think it makes good crushed ice (like they use in the best tiki bars) because the pieces vary in size. Wen I blend Sippin' Safari tropical drinks for a few seconds in my Waring Blendor single speed like this one:

using the exact quantity of ice called for and briefly blended, there are just some larger chunks of ice left, and the rest of the ice disappears. I am inclined to believe a top mixer would be more effective as it wouldn't pulverize the ice as much, thus diluting the drink less. But I have not compared both methods.

Someone send me a top mixer and I'll do some testing. :wink:

I am looking forward to the results of the Blender/Top mixer comparison tests! :)

I like a good Margarita (or two, or three) as much as the next guy. I was not dissing them, just reminding people that they are an indicator of the time line of Tiki ending, and the rise of the Margarita coinciding with the rise of the MACHINES!!!.. RUN!...THEY WILL DESTROY US ALL...! ...err, sorry, I mean blenders. (Terminator is on tonight. Tiki Test: WHERE was John Connor conceived?)

I really have no idea if the mixer yields more authentic results than the blender, I just get suspicious when classic Tiki tools are nonchalantly cast aside and not mentioned anywhere...no one was recommending one here.
All this might not ever yield conclusive results, I just wanted to raise a cautious call of "Remember the Mixer!" :)

Okay, just finished round one. Admittedly, this is a very preliminary round, as I'm playing around with different cuts of ice as well (fine vs. coarse, machine vs. crank vs. hammer in a burlap sack, etc).

The Drink: Navy Grog
The Ice: Fine, Machine-grind
Technique 5-second count blend/mix
The Machines...
Blender: Oster Osterizer, Contemporary Classic Beehive Blender
Mixer: Hamilton Beach Number Thirty Drinkmaster, mfg. 1927

Initial results:
Use of the machine ground fine ice was a bit of a mistake, as the drinks were a touch watery, with a only about 1/4 of the glass containing ice in the served cocktail.

At first sip, the drinks were fairly similar, except for a bit of large bubbling on the top of the mixer-made drink. The visuals of the drink are noticeably different, in that the mixer made drink is slightly less transparent, and the ice has a more natural iceberg shape, with variations in the ice-chunk size. The blender made drink is more of a solid band around the top of the drink.

After 10 minutes or so, the drinks were becoming different. The blender made drink was a bit colder, with smaller condensation droplets, and seemed to be lasting in its initial flavors longer, not succumbing to the melting ice. For test two, I'll need to bring down a thermometer for more concrete data.

At the end of the drinks... well, 9 ounces of rum into a test (had to try out the mixer first... for fun), and see how well you fare. I'll have to make something different, and with a coarser cut of ice tomorrow evening. I'm considering Zombies. Any TCers in the Portland Area who want a free drink (tips welcome, encouraged, and graciously returned with a fancier garnish) send me a PM for an invite and directions.

So far, I'm concluding that the Drinkmaster has some superior connotations for a few reasons. The first, being that it gets hand-hurtingly cold, like a good Ramos Fizz, within SECONDS. The second being that instead of the specialized fitting and cleaning of the glass bottom-blender, even a standard shaker can be used in the Drinkmaster. It is also quieter, and if you can get the triple-capacity model (as at the Chin-Tiki), just looks damned cool behind the bar. The blender doesn't seem to be any bit more sluggish, I just have the natural fear that the difference of one second of the ice in those sharp blades can turn a Mai Tai into a blended drink within seconds (though, seriously, shake your Mai Tais).

I took pictures, which will be on the site soon, after tonight's recovery.

This one drink comparison sounds inconclusive...so they tasted the same ? But the dilution time differed? I am afraid that there has to be a series of tests, and you will have to sacrifice yourself for science!

On 2008-01-21 19:00, Trader Tiki wrote:
Okay, just finished round one. Admittedly, this is a very preliminary round, as I'm playing around with different cuts of ice as well (fine vs. coarse, machine vs. crank vs. hammer in a burlap sack, etc).

The Drink: Navy Grog
The Ice: Fine, Machine-grind
Technique 5-second count blend/mix
The Machines...
Blender: Oster Osterizer, Contemporary Classic Beehive Blender
Mixer: Hamilton Beach Number Thirty Drinkmaster, mfg. 1927

Initial results:
Use of the machine ground fine ice was a bit of a mistake, as the drinks were a touch watery, with a only about 1/4 of the glass containing ice in the served cocktail.

At first sip, the drinks were fairly similar, except for a bit of large bubbling on the top of the mixer-made drink. The visuals of the drink are noticeably different, in that the mixer made drink is slightly less transparent, and the ice has a more natural iceberg shape, with variations in the ice-chunk size. The blender made drink is more of a solid band around the top of the drink.

After 10 minutes or so, the drinks were becoming different. The blender made drink was a bit colder, with smaller condensation droplets, and seemed to be lasting in its initial flavors longer, not succumbing to the melting ice. For test two, I'll need to bring down a thermometer for more concrete data.

At the end of the drinks... well, 9 ounces of rum into a test (had to try out the mixer first... for fun), and see how well you fare. I'll have to make something different, and with a coarser cut of ice tomorrow evening. I'm considering Zombies. Any TCers in the Portland Area who want a free drink (tips welcome, encouraged, and graciously returned with a fancier garnish) send me a PM for an invite and directions.

So far, I'm concluding that the Drinkmaster has some superior connotations for a few reasons. The first, being that it gets hand-hurtingly cold, like a good Ramos Fizz, within SECONDS. The second being that instead of the specialized fitting and cleaning of the glass bottom-blender, even a standard shaker can be used in the Drinkmaster. It is also quieter, and if you can get the triple-capacity model (as at the Chin-Tiki), just looks damned cool behind the bar. The blender doesn't seem to be any bit more sluggish, I just have the natural fear that the difference of one second of the ice in those sharp blades can turn a Mai Tai into a blended drink within seconds (though, seriously, shake your Mai Tais).

I took pictures, which will be on the site soon, after tonight's recovery.

Is it an official typo, then, that the Grog Log does not say to shake a Mai Tai? Check if you don't believe me.

I've always been shaking mine... BUT! I'm learning just what a great blender can do. I've just made my usual double Mai Tai recipe, then... instead of shaking... I tossed it into my new blender... hit "pulse" a couple of times and... OH NO! It's too frothy!... hold on... the froth dissipates quickly and I've got beautiful, broken, clear, icy-ice! The standard straight-from-the-automatic-refrigerator-ice-cube-dispenser cubes have transformed into something of of real beauty! Slightly slivers, slightly chunks! And the drink is very, very cold and wonderful to the lips, the tongue... and I'm in Tiki heaven! Mr. Bongo, time for another!

I'm not sure you're replying to my post, Bongo, but just to clear things up for everyone...

The preparation of the Mai Tai on Grog Log page 50 says "Serve in double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice and spent lime shell. Garnish with mint sprig." Nowhere does it say to blend or shake. I've always just poured the ingredients and stirred, much like a Gimlet, for example.

What is correct?

On 2008-01-22 17:19, DJ HawaiianShirt wrote:
...The preparation of the Mai Tai on Grog Log page 50 says "Serve in double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice and spent lime shell. Garnish with mint sprig." Nowhere does it say to blend or shake...

It should be shaken. You want to mix everything together and get it cold, If you are using crushed ice you do not have to shake too hard or too long, just till you get a good chill on the shaker.

And, if you are 'presenting' Mai-Tai's this is an opportunity to show off a bit....

More discussion specific to the Mai-Tai can be found here

Round 2, The Zombie.

I've settled on the course, machine ground ice for testing. I'm very satisfied with tonight's results.

Tonight, I threw together Don the Beachcomber's classic Zombie. May I just reiterate, what a fine damned drink. If you haven't put together the recipe from Intoxica yet, just do it... go buy the book now (I've got links on the site), and make the damn "thing".

Same recipe, same amount of ice, same mix/blend time.

Again, I've got pictures I'll be posting on the site when I do a wrapup of this later this week.

The glass was notably chillier in the blender-made drink this evening, with the liquid inside just a touch more transparent. The ice was pretty much the same in both. The blended drink had a damned decent amount of froth to it. That 4-fold aerator is no joke, and whips a LOT of bubbles into the drink. I'd imagine if my Passion Fruit Syrup had anything to trap that air (maltodextrin, gum arabic, or some other thickening agent) it'd make a LOT more difference, but the froth stayed on top for a good 8 minutes.

The texture of the drinks themselves were not noticeably different, but the mixer-made drink seemed to keep the sharper edges of the Demerara 151. My wife has a keener palate than mine, and she noticed some more depth in the blender made drink.

After a second test, as far as the end product is concerned, I can't honestly say there's a wide gap in difference. I do have my preference for the mixer though, for a big ol' variety of reasons (looks sharper, less moving parts, faster to make drinks) that might be keen for a professional setup, but I do give the blender a very fair shake. So far, it seems personal preference is king.

DJ HawaiianShirt: I learned to make the Mai Tai in this way: Into a Double-rocks, place a spent half-lime shell, and fill just beyond capacity with ice. Build the ingredients over the ice, pour into a Boston shaker, shake gently (5-10 seconds to cool, not to chill), and pour back into the double-rocks. Garnish with mint. Believe me, I hold the Bum and his works in the HIGHEST esteem, but have also learned a thing here or there. The key is to take it all into accord to use at your discretion, for preference or however you may like it.

By the by, if this disappears or I don't post for awhile, I'm going through some funkiness with the site, and renaming my old account (tikimonkey) to Trader Tiki. We'll see how that works out.

Any suggestions or takers-on for round three? I'm thinking of the Cobra's Fang, but any suggestions will be tried, pictured, and of course sampled!

Account updated, I'm back.

Trader Tiki - thanks for actually doing this comparison instead of just talking about it. I was afraid we were going to have page after page of learned theories on the differences between a blended and mixed cocktail - your hands-on approach is much appreciated!

Now for my learned theory - as someone posted earlier, I think the ice is the most important factor - commercial ice is softer and blends very differently from hard home ice. How can we make our home ice more like commercial ice?

On 2008-01-22 23:59, Koolau wrote:
Trader Tiki - thanks for actually doing this comparison instead of just talking about it. I was afraid we were going to have page after page of learned theories on the differences between a blended and mixed cocktail - your hands-on approach is much appreciated!

Now for my learned theory - as someone posted earlier, I think the ice is the most important factor - commercial ice is softer and blends very differently from hard home ice. How can we make our home ice more like commercial ice?

Well, this is where the blender comes in. It transforms cloudy, half moon, kitchen ice into attractive shards, chunks, hunks and pieces. It makes the drink look and taste more professional-- dare I say it?-- more exotic!

I love using my bar shakers. I think I'll try prepping the ice in the blender and place that result in my shaker, or make the whole thing in the blender, then dump into the shaker for a little show... so much to learn.

[ Edited by: Bongo Bungalow 2008-01-23 00:13 ]

Koolau, thanks! It's all for the love of science... and a damned fine excuse to toy with new equipment.

I use my home, fridge-made ice, but ground through an electric ice crusher (Oster snoflake, 120 watts). There's a good discussion on Ice Crushers here.

Bongo,
I've found that my using my Osterizer pulverizes the ice WAY too fast, resulting in pretty much what amounts to frost. The snoflake has been serving me very well for home use, though at a limit of a 3-5 cubes at a time can make the effort a bit timely, and best done before guests arrive.

On 2008-01-22 23:59, Koolau wrote:
Now for my learned theory - as someone posted earlier, I think the ice is the most important factor - commercial ice is softer and blends very differently from hard home ice. How can we make our home ice more like commercial ice?

That's a good question, but I don't think you want to make your home ice softer. The better high-end bars use ice machines like a Kold-Draft to make very hard, clear, perfect square cubes. Hard cubes will melt more slowly, resulting in a colder, less diluted drink. Dale Degroff and Audrey Saunders (of The Pegu Club) both swear by this.

Unless you're willing to fork out the big bucks for a commercial ice maker, the best thing you can probably do to make good ice is to freeze distilled water in good ice trays that have 1 to 1 1/2 inch squares. Imbibe magazine has featured some of these trays in past issues. Then put the cubes in freezer bags to keep them from absorbing funky freezer smells and use them fairly soon. I picked up the freezer bag tip from Alton Brown. The cubes won't be perfectly clear, but they should be clearer because they will be free from impurities.

In Trader Vic's article from 1970, recounting how he created the Mai Tai, he says "a generous amount of shaved ice" - This stuff is really fine, sliced (or "shaved") with a blade from a big chunk of ice, not "cracked" or "crushed" - I don't think Trader Vics restaurants make them this way today - they use "crushed ice" - little chunks a few millimeters across. I've made them at home using both "crushed" and "shaved" ice - and really the shaved ice is much smoother and colder of a drink.

In the interest of brevity, I'll keep tonight's results a touch brief.

The drink was a Cobra's Fang, which adds the element of mint flakes (next time, doing a chiffonade) within the drinks. The blender had a huge advantage here, and chopped up the mint eagerly, while the mixer still had mint in the same chunks I had ripped the leaves into.

The ice levels were very different tonight, which may be attributed to varying levels in ice... a scoop isn't always a 100% measuring tool. Again, a picture will be up on tradertiki.com within the next 2 days.

Again, the mixture seems to keep the intensity of the citrus and alcohol flavors. This may be attributed to very minute variations in measurement (same jiggers used for each), and slightly varying levels of ice. In a perfect world, I'd be able to work in alternate dimensions where the exact same scoop of ice was used with each, but, since I still haven't picked up a Quantum Physics textbook yet, parallel worlds are still outside of my scope.

I did a temperature measurement as well, and found that both drinks settled at a reasonably chilly 28F after two minutes.

Overall, I'm feeling that both pieces of equipment are earning their place in my bar. Of course, if I'm going to serve another pitcher of Cocoanauts, you're damned right that blender's staying.

Tomorrow night's test, the Painkiller! Lets see how that Coco Lopez whips into shape!

[edit: Changed coconut syrup to Coco Lopez]

TraderTiki.com
Cocktails, Slinging Booze, original drinks, and Tiki

[ Edited by: Trader Tiki 2008-01-23 20:32 ]

Tonight's results, and yesterday and today's pictures are available on this post. In the creating the Painkiller, it seems the Drinkmaster truly is king.

I'm a bit out of ideas for tomorrow night's final round. If you've got something you'd like to see, I'll whip it up and post the results!

Its with great interest i`ve been reading your testings, nice job! i have no ideas for new drinks right now though..let me think for a while..

Well, I'm happy with my conclusions, after a rather busy week and weekend.

The full blabbity-blab is up on the site at Blender vs. Mixer, finalé.

here's a snippet:

Overall, I would conclude after a good week’s experiments (and what a week!), and some input from those in the know, that for tropical drinks, unless desperate for new hardware and a nice foam, you’ll do just fine with a 3-5 second blend in a good, powerful blender, such as the Oster Classic Beehive Blender. The mixer is more of an option than a necessity.

I'm really interested in getting some further input from the folks at the Tiki-Ti, for those in the area.

I was in an antique store recently and spotted a Waring commercial drink mixer. It was in great shape and the price was right, so I snatched it up. After about a half dozen drinks or so, I have to say... where has this been all my life? I find that it is superior to a blender for many drinks in these respects:

• aeration: It definitely draws more air into the drink, which creates a nice foamy, frothy head
• temp: it chills the drink better than a blender, resulting in an icy cold drink
• ice: it doesn't pulverize the ice like a blender does, so it's not watered down
• cleanup: much easier

So, I'm pretty thrilled. Thanks Trader Tiki for all the tests. Definitely got me thinking. I read Martin's comments and yours on your blog after I got it and I wholeheartedly agree. The blender has its uses, but the mixer is going to get much more use out of me.

Hear hear!

I personally LOVE the VITAMIX, for a 120 v blender its the best I have used hands down. So powerful you can dump in a can of peanuts and make the best peanut butter you ever had. Ice runs scared when they hear this thing and besides my gas powered blender its the best without all the 2 stroke gas fumes!!!

Here's a new article that discusses how blenders are making a comeback in bars. Several good blender tips from our own drink wizard Martin Cate, as well as quotes from Beachbum Berry and Mike Buhen (Tiki-Ti). No mention of top mixers versus standard blenders though.

The Pulse of Summer: Blender Drinks are Back

On 2008-06-25 05:38, GatorRob wrote:
No mention of top mixers versus standard blenders though.

I think they are simply a forgotten tool, not even considered anymore. Not because of lack of quality, but for economic reasons.

I was surprised to learn from the article that not only are blenders not standard in all bars, but they are actually despised in what would seem to be the majority. Damn! I thought you couldn't get a liquor license and a permit to run a bar unless you had a kick ass blender.

On 2008-06-25 05:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
I think they are simply a forgotten tool, not even considered anymore. Not because of lack of quality, but for economic reasons.

I'm not sure cost is the reason. I walked through a good restaurant supply warehouse recently and saw several commercial top mixers. I don't recall the price, but I don't think it was too far off from the better blenders. I more suspect that most of today's bartenders would see a top mixer and just think "milkshakes".

Actually I talked with the writer about drink mixers at length- he probably didn't have the room for it and it was a little beyond the scope of the story. Since they're reaching out to home users, most have blenders and few have drink mixers. It's the same reason Jeff uses pulse blending in all of his recipe descriptions in his books- easier to do at home.

On 2008-06-25 08:51, The Gnomon wrote:
I was surprised to learn from the article that not only are blenders not standard in all bars, but they are actually despised in what would seem to be the majority. Damn! I thought you couldn't get a liquor license and a permit to run a bar unless you had a kick ass blender.

I was once sitting at the bar in a small jazz club when a patron got rather irate that he could not have a blended margarita because there was no blender. He said "what kind of bar doesn't have a blender!" I turned and replied, "The kind that's a jazz club, not a bar." His reply was "I'm not asking you, bitch!" It was the last thing he said before being escorted out by the bassist who was in the middle of a solo that was rudely interrupted by this guy's outburst. :)

Blenders have their place in bars that focus on the drinks, but I'm grateful that some establishments whose primary function is as a music venue, do not allow them due to the noise. I would hate to be on stage in the middle of a quiet passage in a heartbreaking ballad and have a blender go off because some jerk couldn't stand to have his margarita on the rocks!

edited to correct a typo

[ Edited by: JenTiki 2008-06-26 14:18 ]

On 2008-06-25 14:53, GatorRob wrote:

On 2008-06-25 05:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
I think they are simply a forgotten tool, not even considered anymore. Not because of lack of quality, but for economic reasons.

I'm not sure cost is the reason. I walked through a good restaurant supply warehouse recently and saw several commercial top mixers. I don't recall the price, but I don't think it was too far off from the better blenders.

By "economic reasons" I mean that to most bars it did not make sense to pay for the TWO mixing tools, and the blender became the more used one, so the mixer got dropped by the wayside. That goes even more for the home front.

On 2008-06-25 15:30, martiki wrote:
Actually I talked with the writer about drink mixers at length- he probably didn't have the room for it and it was a little beyond the scope of the story. Since they're reaching out to home users, most have blenders and few have drink mixers. It's the same reason Jeff uses pulse blending in all of his recipe descriptions in his books- easier to do at home.

Further proof of the mixer being dropped for "convenience" reasons... :)

On 2008-06-25 17:27, JenTiki wrote:
Blenders have their place is bars that focus on the drinks, but I'm grateful that some establishments whose primary function is as a music venue, do not allow them due to the noise. I would hate to be on stage in the middle of a quiet passage in a heartbreaking ballad and have a blender go off because some jerk couldn't stand to have his margarita on the rocks!

At Blues Alley in Georgetown their blenders are musical instruments. I was there once when Wynton Marsalis popped into the club and blew the tops off the Osterizers. Good stuff.

Don't laugh, but I've found the Magic Bullet to be very useful in making drinks that require a short pulse blend (don't use it for "slushy" drinks), especially if you're making lots of different drinks in rapid succession. I still use my big Oster blender, but it's a pain to rinse when you're dealing with a high volume of small drinks.

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bullet-Express-17-Piece-High-Speed/dp/B000AEZVRS

It doesn't take up much space and it comes with a half dozen cups/mugs that are small and easy to rinse. And the quick, one-speed motor does the trick just fine for those 5-second-or-less blends.

Two quick things:

1. I've noticed that no one has yet mentioned immersion blenders. We call them "wands" in the professional kitchen. There are several different types out there, and seem to me to be the best of both worlds combining the mobility of top mixers and the power of a blender. I've seen ones that have interchangeable heads including a rippled disk like those on top mixers. Another device that might help is called a blixer. Not terribly common, but could meet some of your needs.

2. In response to the side by side testing of recipes, the perfect Dominion you're looking for where measurements are the same exists. As un-barlike as it is, measuring your ice by weight will guarantee even amounts. I'm guessing that most of the variations in these tests are resulting from adding uneven amounts of water by weight. A cup of shaved ice will weigh much differently than a cup of crushed ice than a solid block of ice the same volume.

On 2008-07-07 22:57, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Don't laugh, but I've found the Magic Bullet to be very useful in making drinks that require a short pulse blend (don't use it for "slushy" drinks), especially if you're making lots of different drinks in rapid succession. I still use my big Oster blender, but it's a pain to rinse when you're dealing with a high volume of small drinks.

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bullet-Express-17-Piece-High-Speed/dp/B000AEZVRS

It doesn't take up much space and it comes with a half dozen cups/mugs that are small and easy to rinse. And the quick, one-speed motor does the trick just fine for those 5-second-or-less blends.

Interesting. I'll give it a shot.

I've had the same problem which HH reported - hassle of using a big blender when making a handful of blended drinks in one evening. I solved this two ways -- using a vertical drink mixer ("milkshake mixer") with my shaker tins, or using the Oster Blend-N-Go ware. They have the same base as the Oster blender, but smaller capacity. I own 5 or 6 of these, along with 5 or 6 shaker tins. I bring 'em out, use 'em, and then wash them when the evening is done. Voy-lah!

Here's a pic of the Oster mix-n-go jars:

Here's a pic of the drink mixer:

My dog freaks out when I use my Vitamix so testing a top down mixer more or less became a necessity at my house. I started with El-Cheapo Hamilton Beach chrome one.

I've come to pretty much the same conclusion as what seems to be the general consensus regarding aeration and ease of use, I find that it's not so hard on the liquids (which as I type this already sounds stupid). As an aside, is "bruising the ice" a thing? I've always heard it was when shaking but never did any in-depth research on it.

I like the top down enough that I'd like a more robust one, it gets a lot of use. The Smuggler's Cove book has some recommendations in there - I won't spoil the surprise.

If your space can only accommodate the footprint of one appliance, I suggest getting an Osterizer with an additional steel jar fitted with the "milkshake" blade. It's pretty comparable to a top down mixer, very reasonable in price, and quick to clean.

Mixer in my daughter's commercial hospital kitchen. 2 feet tall with a one gallon container :lol:

Cool, yay for the pro stuff! Now check out this gigantic stick blender we were using to mix cocktails for Hukilau 2016. Those containers hold multiple gallons.

Just noticed in the Oster world --- aftermarket replacement parts. They seem to work fine, but in my case the plastic lid is just a bit less spiffy as I'm used to seeing with original Oster. So I found a great vintage square-top Oster glass jar at a thrift store. It needed the "kit" with the lid, filler cap, and the base/blade/gasket. I did a Google search, selected a vendor, ordered the kit for $9 with shipping. It arrived just fine, works just fine too, but you can tell the lid is an inferior quality lid made with molded black vinyl.

For me, this is a "secondary" jar which only cost me $2 plus the parts. I plan on using it to fine-grind ice for making my ice cones, so I'm not really worried about it. But it is the first time I've received stuff which doesn't look as spiffy as the normal Oster stuff. For all I know this could have come directly from the same people who make this stuff for Oster in China, but there's no way to tell except to use the hell out of it and see how it goes. (I'm sure it will be fine, and I saved a few bucks.) I did go for the lowest price online, and I'm fine with that, but wanted to share with others just as an FYI and to bump this thread since Oster rocks the basic at-home blender world.

I'm still in love with my Oster jar blenders. Oster has kept the same parts configuration and design for what, 40 or 50 years without any changes? But I'm also still loving and using my stand mixer. I posted pics of both in an earlier message.

If you can't blend it, SHAKE IT!