If you’re a stickler for frozen drinks and everything iced, you can’t afford to take a chance with an ordinary blender. You need the best blender for frozen drinks that will blend everything to perfection without leaving any chunks of ice floating in your chilled beverage.
These blenders will start off with a powerful motor and those that fail to meet the mark will usually end up burnt out. Or, they will come with special cooling features or auto shut functions to prevent overheating which can easily become an issue, especially when dealing with tough ingredients like frozen fruit and ice.
So, if you want to make impressionable frozen treats like a pro then avoid blenders that fail to deliver on power, performance, and reliability. Instead, look at others that boast a motor capable of driving its blade mechanism with the right force to crush through frozen ingredients. And here are my top recommendations.
Top Rated Blenders For Frozen Drinks
| Name | Image | Learn More | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Overall | Vitamix 5200 C-Series Blender |   |
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| Best Budget | Ninja BL642 Blender Duo With Auto iQ |   |
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| Blendtec Total Blender Classic |   |
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Vitamix 5200 C-Series Blender: Best Overall
A blending beast by every standard, the Vitamix 5200 is the pinnacle of blending perfection.
Power-Driven Performance
The Vitamix 5200 covers all the basics of blending smoothies, making purees, and pulverizing veggies and then goes beyond into the domain of crushing ice, mixing dough, and grinding nuts into butter. Its small wonder then, that with a 2HP motor, the 5200 can make almost anything. It can even go as far as making soup just by the mere super-fast spin of its blades.
The blades on this unit rotate at 37,000 RPM giving them enough friction to generate a lot of heat. But with such power and speed comes the need for durability and the Vitamix 5200 delivers here as well.
Backed by a 7-year warranty, you can expect the Vitamix to last for at least that long and with proper upkeep, even longer.
Read More: Full Vitamix 5200 review
Design and Features
The Vitamix 5200 is a broad-based model that accommodates its powerful 2 HP motor nicely. It comes with a tall pitcher as opposed to a low-profile one with a generous 64-oz capacity. The design uses a fan type blade that works to pull ingredients down from top to bottom in a continuous loop resulting in smoother blends with no chunks. The blades are constructed from aircraft-grade stainless steel which will last you for life.
Even though there are no pre-programmed functions, the blender’s 10 variable speeds give you a fair bit of customization to control the texture of your blend. These features all come together to make this the best blender for frozen drinks.
Ninja BL642 Blender Duo With Auto iQ: Budget Pick
For a decent price tag, the Ninja BL642 is an absolute delight for people who want quality frozen drinks without blowing the bank.
Makes the Best Iced Drinks on A Budget
The Ninja BL642 allows you to combine a nice assortment of frozen fruits and vegetables with ice in its extra-large 72-oz container. The large capacity of the blending jar allows creating a range of drinks for a crowd easily.
This best blender for frozen drinks comes with 5 timed preset programs, 3 manual settings and works better than many other blenders for frozen drinks. The Frozen Drinks/Smoothies preset is ideal for creating snowy treats in no time with no room for error. The Pulse feature is an added bonus to have more control over the blending process.
The 1500-watt motor with the Total Crushing blades and pulverizing technology give you a smooth texture with no lingering ice chunks.
Read More: Full Ninja BL642 review
Double-Duty Blender
The Ninja BL642 is a big machine that doubles as a countertop blender as well as a bullet-style version. The massive 64-oz pitcher is what you would use for blending frozen drinks for a larger crowd but for smaller, individual tasks you can choose from an assortment of 18, 24, and 32-oz cups.
Despite its large capacity, the big pitcher has a low profile making it easy to store under kitchen cabinets. Plus, its Auto-IQ technology includes an automatic load sensing capability giving you the convenience of hands-free operation.
Blendtec Total Blender Classic
The Blendtec Total Classic is a top-of-the-line blender that may be quite an investment, but the tradeoff is getting incredibly smooth blends with no chunks of ice in your frozen drinks.
Hefty, All-Round Performance
The Blendtec Total Classic runs on a 3HP motor which can crank out 1560 watts making it very suitable for working with ice and other frozen ingredients.
This blender works wonders for frozen drinks with its six pre-programmed cycles and 10 variable speeds. The Smoothies and Ice crush presets, in particular, give you the perfect touch for creating any kind of frozen drink. And with its multiple speeds, you get a nice leeway to customize the texture of your blend.
To make sure that the blender doesn’t wimp out after just a few months, this model features an all-metal drive. The base is sturdily designed to keep the blender from vibrating or tipping over during blending.
Read More: Full Blendtec Total Classic blender review
Innovative Blade Design
A Blendtec blender review cannot be complete without mentioning its innovative blade design. The Total Classic also features the trademark thick, blunt blade known so well for crushing ice. The immense power of the blade gives ice cubes such a thrashing that it transforms them into soft, fluffy snow and that is exactly what you need for the perfect frozen drink.
When you put the blade inside Blendtec’s patented WildSide+ Jar with its square design, your frozen ingredients will get the beating of a lifetime and you get praiseworthy frozen drinks every time.
But the action doesn’t stop here. The blades are equally effective for churning out ice cream, hot soups, kneading dough, and whisking up some batter. You pretty much get a jack of all trades with this purchase.
Best Blender for Frozen Drinks: A Complete Buying Guide
In your search for the best blender for frozen drinks, you need to choose wisely to avoid the mayhem of a lumpy or grainy drink. Here’s a checklist of features that you should look for.
How To Choose A Blender For Frozen Drinks?
Blenders are one of the essential components of a well-equipped kitchen space. Whether you have friends over or you want to relax with a glass of cold blended iced drink on a hot summer afternoon, blenders, specially equipped for frozen drinks, are a must.
Finding the right blender among the hundred choices available in the market is a herculean task. I am here to help you with this job. The following tips will help you in selecting the right blender for your needs.
Power and Speed
As ice and frozen ingredients are involved, look for a machine with a fair bit of torque. Anything above 1000 watts is worth considering and machines that go up to 1500 watts and beyond will have no trouble working with frozen ingredients.
Speed-wise, look for multiple speeds to get the right consistency with preference given to higher speeds.
Selecting a blender with multiple speed settings will help you in obtaining the best results. The higher number of speed settings available, the more control you will have over your drink’s texture and consistency.
Blade Design
Another important consideration is the blade system that goes hand in hand with power. Your blender may have a lot of power but that wouldn’t do much if its blade system remains inefficient.
You can go with either sharp, pointed blades such as those featured in Ninja blenders or take your pick from thick, blunt blades such as those used in Blendtec blenders. Both will do the job well when paired with a strong enough motor and durable construction materials.
So, while different designs can work equally well, the decision stands unanimous that the blade material should always be stainless steel. Stainless steel’s strength and durability make it the ideal contender to handle impact and slice through the most solid ingredients.
Easy To Disassemble and Clean
Make sure that you are going for a blender with removable blades. Blending a drink is a messy job and cleaning the blender is messier.
Blenders with detachable parts will not only help you to clean every nook and corner properly but also maintain the overall hygiene of the equipment. If you can invest more, go for the self-cleaning blenders available in the market. If you entertain ofter, then cleaning is an important aspect to think about when choosing the best blender for frozen drinks.
Proper Insulation Is A Must
Most drink blenders have an insulating facility attached at the base of the blender or in the dispenser. The function of this part is to keep the drinks cool and fit for further consumption. Invest in blenders with a good insulation system and keep your drinks cool for a longer time.
Blend Functions
Making frozen drinks for one or a party of two with a basic blender with no presets works just fine. It’s really not that time consuming to manually choose a blend setting when you cater to one or two people. Besides, if you happen to be particular about the thickness of your drink, manual settings are a great option.
But playing host is a different story. Here, pre-programmed settings can be a blessing as the blender does the work for you while you get to enjoy the party. The drinks keep coming with the press of a button and everyone gets a refill without having to wait too long.
Motor Power
Blenders with high motor power and sharp stainless blades will help to crush the ice cubes to be used in a frozen drink effectively. The swift blades will grate the ice cubes into fine particles, thus avoiding any chunks in the final product. This also works for sturdy fruits and fibers.
Capacity
Think of the audience you’ll be making the frozen drinks for. Is it just for yourself and a friend or do you always serve frozen delights at your party?
Large capacity blenders are better for hosting but come with a wider footprint. Smaller versions take up less space but aren’t ideal if you have to spend your time in the kitchen making one drink at a time.
Think realistically about how you plan on using your blender and choose a capacity that works with your situation and kitchen size best.
Advantages Of Having A Quality Blender For Making Frozen Drinks
Investing in an expensive blender offers you versatility and power over your choice of frozen drinks. With the help of a quality blender, you can stir up any drink you want within seconds. However, the best blender for frozen drinks doesn’t have to be expensive.
The entire process turns out to be hassle-free and extremely convenient. Every blender is made for a specific purpose. While an average kitchen blender is mostly used to stir up smoothies and fruit or vegetable juices, blenders specifically designed for making frozen drinks come with an entirely different set of features and functions.
Here is why you should invest in a quality blender for making frozen drinks:
Time-Saving
Purchasing a quality blender will help you in saving a lot of time. Unlike the usual blenders used to make smoothies and fruit juices, a top-quality frozen drink blender is faster and blends up all the contents in no time.
Lasts Longer
Investing in a good quality blender is a good idea because it will last longer than any average blender, and you would not have to replace it every year. It is a one-time investment that promises you great results. You won’t face issues like overheating, shocks, jamming, or shutting down frequently.
Convenient Size
A quality blender will come with an added advantage of occupying lesser space on your kitchen top. Standard juice blenders are bulky in size and take up a whole lot of space. Although some frozen drink blenders are big in size, they can be easily dissembled and kept in storage when not in use.
A Great One Time Investment
The best part about owning a quality blender for your frozen drink needs is the fact that you will not have to step out of your home to purchase expensive cocktails or drinks.
You can customize the drinks according to your choice and sip on them from the comfort of your home. As mentioned before, a good quality frozen drink blender is a one-time investment that bears great results during the long run. This is something to think about when shopping for the best blender for frozen drinks.
Higher Volume and Storage Capacity
Blenders with higher volume storage are definitely helpful. High-performance blenders come equipped with stackable jars, thus providing you with an extra storage place. You can make drinks now and store it for later in these jars.
Automatic Timer Settings
Quality blenders come with an automatic timer, thus allowing you to multitask. You can stir up drinks in your blender and cook at the same time without the fear of destroying the consistency of the drink by excessive blending.
Warranty Feature Available
High Functioning blenders come with a warranty period during which you can opt for replacement of parts free of cost. Replacement, repair, and even servicing is free of cost if the blender malfunctions within the warranty period.
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Blender Features Required For Stirring Up Frozen Drinks
You cannot use a regular blender to make frozen drinks. There are specialized blenders created just for the purpose of making frozen drinks. You would not want your drink to look and taste like a bland, watery mess, so you must take your time when choosing the best blender for frozen drinks.
Sharp, Sturdy, and Stainless Blades Of The Blender
A blender with sharp blades is one of the foremost prerequisites of a top-quality blender devoted to making frozen drinks. There is nothing worse than huge chunks of uncrushed fruits and ice floating in your frozen drink.
Sharp blades that are rust-resistant help in grinding and crushing the ice cubes and frozen fruits into finer particles, thus creating the perfect iced drink.
Read More: Best Blender for Smoothies with Frozen Fruit – 3 Top Models
Speed and Time Settings Available
If you are not a professional bartender, it can become very tricky to achieve the right texture and consistency of the iced drink. Certain frozen drink blenders come with pre-installed time and speed settings that can help you stir up the perfect frozen drink just like a skilled bartender.
Self-Cooling Feature Is A Must
Unlike normal blenders, Blenders curated for frozen and iced drinks need a cooling feature to store the excess drinks and keep them cool for further consumption. A large capacity ice reservoir helps you to store your drinks and serve them later as desired. Ice is the main component of frozen drinks that needs extra attention.
Stainless Steel Body
The best-suited container for frozen drinks is made of stainless steel. Although blenders made of stainless steel are the most expensive, they are highly durable and keep the drinks cooler for a longer period of time.
Pulsing Button Attached With The Blender
For making iced drinks, the blender should ideally have a pulsing button to control the grinding of the ice cubes. The ice cubes fall into the blades when paused and are grounded and crushed up again when the blades begin to spin. Without the pulsing button, the process becomes a hassle because you will have to stop and mix up the ice before starting the motor again.
A Pre-Installed High Functioning Ice Crusher
What is worse than finding poorly ground ice particles in your drink? Unlike normal kitchen blenders, the blenders made especially for frozen drinks come with a high functioning ice crusher that helps you achieve the perfect texture and amount of ice in your drinks. Ice is essential for frozen drinks and the ability to crush ice is also essential when you are looking for the best blender for frozen drinks.
High Powered Motor
If a blender is equipped with a motor with low wattage, it will overheat quickly and get jammed while trying to crush out the harder ingredients like ice and frozen fruits.
A high-powered motor ensures that the blades are constantly spinning unless you get the fine-textured ice drink. It prevents jamming, overheating, and excess power consumption as well.
What Type Of Blender Is Suitable For Making A Frozen Drink?
By now, you must have a clear idea about what to look for while investing in a frozen drink blender. With all the relevant features penned down, now is the time for you to decide what kind of blender will be suitable for creating your ideal frozen drink.
Having the best blender for stirring up your frozen drinks will help you out when you fancy an ice-cold coffee or a smoothie or even the classic margarita without any chunks of ice floating in your drink. A quality blender that specializes in making iced drinks will essentially have the following features:
Sturdy Body
Making frozen drinks involves grinding a lot of hard content. If the blender has a body that can get tampered easily, it will not even last for making one iced drink. The blending jar needs to be strong and should be able to withstand any kind of rough movement.
Cool Storage
A frozen drink is supposed to be served cold. In case you have stirred up excess juice, you can always store it in the insulation chamber attached to the blender. Instead of putting the excess drinks in the refrigerator, you can save space by storing it in the insulation chamber which is usually present in the dispenser of the blender.
Multiple Speed Settings
Frozen drink blenders come with multiple speed settings that are set for different types of iced drinks. You need to set the speed to a slow level initially and then increase the speed to crush the remaining particles. This is one of the most important features of a frozen drink blender because it directly affects the consistency and thickness of your drink.
Tight Seal
A good frozen drink blender needs to have a tight seal. This depends on the lid of the blender. A tightly fit lid will prevent any mishaps and spills. If you want to double your blender as a cocktail shaker, make sure that your blender has a properly fitted lid and a nice tight seal. Thus, the blender multi-tasks as a shaker and a blender at once.
You will not have to invest in a separate drink shaker if you purchase the best blender for frozen drinks.
High Wattage
While normal fruit blenders can do the work even at a low wattage, frozen drink blenders require a high-powered motor. This is essential because a high-powered motor will help to crush all the contents finely without jamming and overheating.
Stainless Steel Parts
Not only is stainless steel more durable, but it is also stronger too. Frozen drink grinders would require sharp stainless-steel blades to shave the ice easily and grind down the frozen fruit or other frozen components in a jiffy. These blades are rust free because of which they won’t be affected by the moisture that comes with the process of making drinks.
Easy To Store
Since frozen drink blenders are usually bulky in size, most of them come with the ability to be dissembled when not in use. An average kitchen top blender will not be detachable and obviously takes up a lot of space, unlike these blenders. One can detach most of the parts of a frozen drink blender and keep it in storage when not in use.
Whether you are craving a nice cold cup of coffee or a tangy sip of margarita, a frozen drink blender will serve all your needs whenever you want. Although these blenders are a bit expensive than regular blenders, they are an excellent investment.
If you want to purchase a blender just to make smoothies, you will not have to spend more than 200$. On the other hand, if you are looking for a blender that gives you much better results and comes with more functionality and power, you will have to spend around 299$ to 300$.
Why opt for a special frozen drink blender? Putting uncut ice or frozen fruits in a regular blender will dull its blades and damage it. Frozen drink blenders come with special steel or aluminum coated blades that are made to grind and crush completely frozen and hard contents like ice.
You will not have to store the drink container separately in the refrigerator. While some bartenders swear by the fact that shaking up margaritas make its taste better, some choose blenders to do the job. Manually shaking the drink to bring consistency is not an easy job, and not all blenders can achieve a professional consistency or texture of the drink.
The frozen drink blender comes into use here. With its impeccable features, it is definitely the most trusted type of blender to create magical iced drinks!
Best Blender for Frozen Drinks: Final Thoughts
Rated as the best overall blender to give you perfect sorbets, slushes, and Coladas, the Vitamix 5200 upholds the brand’s tradition of excellence. Offering enough power and durable construction, it stands apart from the competition with its consistent performance. Pricey as it may be, its performance quality cannot be denied and if you have the money to spend on a machine that delivers on every score, then this is the top recommendation.
But if you can’t spare the cash for a Vitamix, then the Ninja BL642 is a durable machine that will give you fast and smooth blends at a very reasonable price. It is a reliable blender that will get the job done and is a welcome option for people looking for power and versatility in a low-cost package.
The Blendtec Total Classic is as user-friendly as they come and it’s built to last. All pre-programmed settings give the promised result and the unit’s cost feels justified given its performance and durability. Despite being beaten by the Vitamix, the Blendtec is most definitely worthy of being crowned the best blender for frozen drinks.
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