Frozen drinks are a great way to enjoy the summer weather, and you can even add alcohol to them for parties! Since they make use of ice and a blender, they aren’t as simple to make as regular cocktails and summer drinks.
Fortunately, there are a number of simple tips that can help you create the perfect summer drink, no matter what ingredients you want to put in it. Follow the tips below to become an expert frozen drink maker.
Use a High-Powered Blender
While you can use any blender to make frozen drinks, the best models will have several settings and will operate at high power. This guide will show you how to choose blender for frozen drinks, but the most common brand names include Kitchenaid, Oster, Vitamix, Ninja, and Blendtec.
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Use Crushed Ice for Slushy Frozen Drinks
An important thing to remember when making frozen drinks in a blender is to always use crushed ice. While your blender is able to break up regular ice cubes, it will take longer and the consistency is not the same. Crushed ice can create a slushy instead of ice chips.
This also places less stress on your blender’s blades. While an ice cube won’t damage the metal, long-term use can lead to dulling eventually.
Use Frozen Fruits (Or Veggies!)
When blending a frozen drink, it is important that everything that you add to your blender is frozen as well. While you can blend fresh fruit and vegetables, they will become stringy and mushy. You may even have pulp floating around in your drink.
For a proper frozen consistency, make use of frozen fruit. This will blend similarly to the ice, while still adding a splash of flavor. You don’t have to buy fruit pre-frozen: you can buy your own fresh fruit and freeze it yourself so that you know you’ve got the best quality!
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Start Slow and Speed Up – and Know When to Stop
This is more of a general blending tip than anything specific for frozen drinks, but it’s a good idea to always ramp up your blending. Starting at a high setting can place unnecessary stress on your blender’s motor and blades.
Pulse the blender on a slower speed several times, and then turn it up a notch to your desired setting. This breaks apart everything that’s collected around the blades, and still gets you to the consistency that you want very quickly.
Avoid over-blending. You want to make sure that you stop once your mixture has reached your desired consistency. Staying at a high speed for too long can lead to a runny or watery drink, which is just unpleasant.
Don’t be afraid to take the lid off and test the consistency, blending more if necessary (though of course with the lid still on).
Blend All Summer Long
If you follow the above tips, the only other thing that you will need to make the perfect frozen drinks is a little bit of practice! For more ideas on how to make your summer the best one yet, check out our Cool Vibes section on our blog.
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