Frozen drinks in a party margarita machine

I've just been offered the free use of a margarita machine for our tiki party. I don't want to make margaritas though. Anyone have experience/recipes for making something else in one of these? Pina coladas are the first thing I thought of, but have never made mass quantities, and am also serving the similar tasting Painkillers among the other fine tiki drinks that will be served.

Both these sites have recipes, but they both call for their own brand of mixes. Anyone know if these are all heinous? I'd rather make something from scratch.
http://www.slusherzz.com/recipes.html
http://mrmargaritatampa.com/margarita_machine_mixes_recipes.cfm

[ Edited by: Koitiki 2010-08-01 17:13 ]

[ Edited by: Koitiki 2010-08-01 17:19 ]

Pina Coladas and Painkillers are both easy to make from scratch and putting them in the slushy machine should be a lot of fun!

What will make it even more fun is watching peoples face when they get a 'good' drink from the machine that isn't made from horribly synthetic tasting pre-mixes.

You may need to experiment with the machine to get the consistency right for both those drinks.

How about some Hemingway Daiquiris?

Missionary's Downfall is actually not bad served in a slushy style.

Second on the Missionary's.

I am not sure a Pain Killer would be wise. Coco Lopez might just stick to the inerds.

I would go with a Derby Daiquiri. That's what I make with our Margarita machine. That and Margaritas of course.

Thanks for the advice everyone. We experimented first with small quantities in our blender. We tried several dacquiris, but couldn't get them to taste as good as they do at the Mai Kai, but really, do they ever? Missionary's downfall was tasty, but the procurement of large quantities of mint posed a problem, as everyone's mint plants died last winter. Small bunches at my grocery were pricey. I've since heard it can be found cheaper at Asian markets. Also there was some concern over the bulk of the plants in the machine. We heard that pulp can screw up the machine.

We ended up filling one side of the machine with Lei Lani Volcano from Beachbum's Remixed. We made the recipe as written and straight multiplied it for the quantity desired. Then we added 1/4- 1/3 again as much water to create the slushy ice. They came out excellent! The Lei Lani is on the sweeter side with the guava. Against my advice the other side of the machine was filled with a Hurricane machine mix doctored with some fruit juice. It wasn't heinous, but was an unearthly color of red and of course not as good as the other.

The machine we used was a commercial machine. These take longer to freeze, but keep the mix a more consistent consistency. Many of the party rental types will freeze faster, but sometimes let the drink become almost solid. I recommend asking a lot of questions. Also quanity of liquid, amount of alcohol and room (or outdoor) temp affect the freeze time. When we did a batch of about 6 drinks, it only took about 20 minutes. When filled it took more than 5 hours. This was outside in 100 degree temps. Supposedly it speeds up the process if you chill the ingredients before pouring them in the machine.

Happy slushy-ing!

[ Edited by: koitiki 2010-09-13 17:59 ]

Any pictures of the machine filled with the drinks? I have always wanted one, but could never justify the cost and then having to store it for the small amount that we would use it.

Doesn't look too pretty, but here's a pic.