Hello!

I've been wanting to get a nice blender for beverages for awhile, and managed to get a used BarBoss Advanced (Which Seems to be the Drink Machine Advanced now?), and wanted to make sure this sounds normal for a blender.

I am not sure if the commercial blenders are built any differently and maybe it's just cause this has a lot of power, or if it's something else.

If it is of any help, I took a dB meter to it and it's about ~75 at full speed

Saving me and my family’s time, energy, money, and blood sugar compared to driving over to a fast food chain or convenience store for $2 frozen drinks in the afternoons when we’re dying from this tropical heat wave. Also great for helping plain water-averse family members stay hydrated.

2 cups of water
2 cups of ice cubes
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sweetener (I use 2 packets of Splenda)

Blend on high just for a minute or two. You want a liquidy slush.

When you go to pour it out, learn from my mistakes and use a spoon to scoop out the slushy ice into a glass first, and then pour the liquid over. If you try pouring directly from the blender, the slush will clump and “plop” out, making a mess.

The ice gets nice and fluffy, like a slushy snow consistency. I put it into a double walled metal cup and sip it with a straw. It stays icy quite a long time.

Riffs:
- There always needs to be a little acid for balance, so lemon slices or adding a lime is non-negotiable IMO. Peeled fresh lemons and limes (deseeded), fresh juice, bottled juice, powdered juice, or even a bit of citric acid would all work. Whatever is convenient.

- I’ve ad libbed slushies using fresh/frozen fruits, watery vegetables like cucumber or celery, fruit juices, and sodas, and they’ve all come out pretty good. I’m sure powdered drink mixes (lemonade, ice tea, koolaid, tang) would be good too, although I’d blend them first with the water and then add ice to ensure they dissolve. Play around with ratios to get the right sweetness and concentration of flavor you like.

- I train for half marathons, so I’ll sometimes add a pinch of salt and use sugar/honey/maple sugar for electrolytes too.

- I’ve also upped the ratio of ice:water for a denser “frozen lemonade” situation that I pour into a bowl and eat with a spoon. I’ve made a carrot apple ginger and a watermelon lime that were pretty good.

- I don’t drink alcohol, but I’m sure it pairs well with a fruity slushy.

Just wanted to share in case it can help inspire other folks to use their vitamix more. Stay cool, y’all!

Hi! We're considering purchasing a Vitamix Ascent X2 but I noticed that there is no listed personal cup attachment for it, I am also seeing the VX series and both the VX and ascent series look very similar to me and yet for attachments for the VX series I do see a personal cup

What are the differences between the VX and Ascent series? To me VX3 and Ascent X2 look the same? But something must be different considering the compatible attachments

Hi. I'm new to the Vitamix world and am feeling completely inept. I want to love my new blender (it is the 5200), but I lose my vortex and then panic. My ancient Oster was suitable for my occasional blender needs and I feel like I over purchased. That it might be the best blender, but not the best blender for ME. Tonight I used it to blend 2 cans of chickpeas with the aquafaba and I thought I had it smooth, but found a lot of little chickpea pieces in my final stew. It made me so sad. How do I know if I have everything smooth? How do I blend and use the tamper correctly? How do I not panic when I try to use the tamper and it doesn't really seem to help and I think I'm going to blow my motor? I swear I've never felt so angsty using a blender in my life.

Bought this blender second-hand a while back, and confirmed the warranty would still apply. I had a Vitamix growing up, and I feel like this one sounds like something is off with it. Would yall agree? If so, I will try to send it in under warranty to be serviced. Thanks!

What would you recommend?

I make smoothies almost every day. I mostly use frozen veggies, yogurt, nuts, powder, etc. Might use ice cubes as well. Looking for dishwasher safe.

I also read that there’s a special tool that helps clean them because the self cleaning won’t do the whole job.

Looking for a good small sized but powerful blender for more than just my daily smoothies - but sutff like hummus etc.

VX1 is on sale and there is a reconditioned 5200 on the site - they are essentially the same price

For quite a few years, I have been eyeballing a Vitamix blender. As I live in the Netherlands, it frustrates me that we get lesser models than in the US. I do not care about the price.

What are my options? Obviously, I am on 230V/50Hz AC grid, rather than the US 110V system.

Hi all - does anyone here make hot cacao in their Vitamix?

I have an Ascent 3500, and I've noticed I only get a really nice froth when I use the to-go cup (the upside-down one). With the standard container I get no froth at all, and the same with the stainless steel container, which I tried because of the hot contents.

The catch is that the to-go cup splashes everywhere more often than not. How do you handle this?

I decided to spring for the metal mixing jar when I learned that the Nutribullet was probably whirling microplastics into my daily protein drinks. We've had a Vitamix in the cabinet for a couple years now, rarely used.

Aside from a problem with frozen bananas (mentioned in another thread; it can't seem to blend them), all is mostly well. Of course it's much bulkier and MUCH louder than the NB. C'est la vie.

Here's the problem with my favorite: frozen strawberries. I keep an eye through the top cup on how smoothly the the concoction is whirling. When it evens out, I know the berries are completely blended in. But. By then, the mass has roughly doubled in volume, and half of it is air. It's delicious and velvet-smooth - much smoother than the NB made it. But over the next two hours all the swallowed air makes me miserable.

How I'm doing it now: using the numbered dial, I start on 1 and slowly turn it all the way up as the ingredients get more and more blended. The last chunks take a good thirty seconds at least to get integrated. So maybe half the time at full speed.

Is there a better way?

I have an older ascent with self detect. At that time I was able to buy a small and large cup attachment.
I would like to get this for a friend but they are no longer available? What happened? That small cup is perfect for dressing and dips!

Got myself a Vitamix as a Christmas present to myself and was so excited to finally have "the best" blender.

I hate it so *insert expletives here* much. Everyday I see that hunk of garbage sitting on my counter I feel so upset that I wasted so much money on it.

I don't understand why everyone loves it. It takes manual effort and 2 rounds of blending just to blend a smoothie. How is this supposed to be the best blender?

I had a much cheaper one that made a smoothie in 15 seconds and everything was perfectly blended - no half a banana left after 2+ minutes of blending, no need for that stupid dildo thing either.

I could also blend all the nuts and seeds I wanted, even in tiny quantities. I like to blend my seeds as I need them so they don't oxidise - can't do that with the Vitamix and there's no small cup option?! Why!!

I couldn't even make salsa or chutney in it. I have never needed a separate food processor for my salsas or chutneys. Ever.. not even a £10 blender from some rando shop failed me. And forget about blending any type of fresh greens.

Someone enlighten me?! What is up with the hype?

Any tips for getting this gunk out from the Personal Cup? I have tried with my fingernail to no avail.

Update: Thank you for the help! I used the consensus in your answers, and a similar recipe I found from Vitamix (my original recipe was not), and tried again. I turned it on, went to high without trying to pulse, and just used the tamper madly. (I had used the tamper only a little before, worried it would make stuck blades worse.) It worked! And I think the loud growling noise I'd been hearing was air pockets it was making. Thank you again! I am very happy with my new dessert.😋

I have a new 5200, which I've coveted for several years. (Nothing but Hamilton Beach in my past experience, and I didn't use it much.) I recently tried a mango sorbet recipe calling for 1/2 cup coconut milk and 3 cups frozen mango. The recipe said to pulse, then blend til smooth. I don't have a pulse button. I could just flip it on high and turn it off and on, but the instructions were adamant that I must always start on low and then move up to high. How do you all pulse when needed?

I thought all that mango was going to ruin my expensive new blender. It sounded awful, it smelled bad, nothing seemed to be helping, including the tamper. Yet when I finally gave up, and went to clean the mess out, I discovered it had actually turned into sorbet, with only a few chunks. The only other things I had made so far were soups, so plenty of liquid. Maybe the horrid grinding sound and burning smell are normal for frozen things? I want to make more of that mango sorbet, but fear I am doing it wrong. Any tips appreciated!

Got a new container, replaced the thing it goes into (drive socket) too recently but still even large strawberry gets missed and are not crushed, usually when I use mixed berries it will miss a small one I'm sure when I first got the blender I didn’t have this issue.

Usually i put 1 banana, coconut milk, mixed berries, peanut butter scoup in there, some ginger and turmeric. It's annoying me now as it's consistent and I've had the issue for 2-3 years, I don't think there's anything wrong with the power of the blender.

I never use the crusher mind you but how would I even know when to use it since berries are so small? Ahh maybe I need to put more fluid in there so the berries are higher up?

Vitamix® 010231 Blender, Black

Hi everyone!

I hope someone on this forum can help me. I am looking for a blender that can both make me hot soup from raw ingredients and make me a smoothie in a smaller to go-cup. I found the Sage/Breville the super Q as one that can do both. I would prefer a Vitamix blender, for the more superior build-to-last-quality. However, I can't seem to find a model that dan do both the soup and the smoothie. On the (Dutch) website, there is a picture of a smoothie cup as the main picture for accessories on the linked to the a2500i and a3500i, but to my frustration, I can't seem to find these cups on the site.

Can anybody maybe enlighten this for me? Does Vitamix make a blender that can make me my breakfast smoothie and my evening soup?

Thanks in advance!

I'm on the checkout screen, does anyone have a discount code for me
I am buying the VX1™ ($379.95)
Is it good as the 5200?

1. Does it have a tall container for small batches?
2. When making smoothie, will it keep the blend at the bottom where the blade is and not splattering it vertically along the sides including the lid, like the wide short container does?

Immediately under the blades (i.e., 1mm), I have been trying to clean out this black material. At first, a small piece broke off (visible in the second photo), and I thought for sure it was a rubber or silicone washer (or seal).

I spoke with Vitamix customer service earlier today, and the representative told me multiple times that that was not correct: She said the blades and housing were 100% stainless steel and what I was looking at had to be old food material/dirt/grime.

Cleaning it further, I can't help but think she's wrong. I keep seeing what appears to be rubber or silicone break off. Does anyone know the answer?

Furthermore, how do I completely remove all of this at this stage so it doesn't contaminate my food?

Thank you.

I just learned about the vitamix nano. Anybody has any experience with it? How does it compare to the Ninja?

I will always love the 5200. But I'm wondering if this would be good to keep in my office.

Anyone know where this might go on a series 200 vitamix? My son picked up the base and this fell on the ground. It isn’t the drive socket set screw. I don’t see any obvious place that it came from. I’m wondering if it is an internal screw. It’s possible it didn’t come from the blender but I don’t know how it got on it.

Vitamix is supposed to be a luxury appliance manufacturer, so I find it quite surprising how poor their customer service is.

I've only had to contact them twice about issues for as long as I've owned my machine:

About five years ago, I waited two weeks for a reply via email. Today, I have been on hold for 26 minutes, and the automated service doesn't even tell you what the total expected wait time is.

I was gifted a Vitamix awhile back so I ordered a blade scraper from Amazon. It’s ok for getting under the blades but to squeegee the sides of the jar clean, it just doesn’t fit the shape of the sides.

New to the sub. So be easy on me. I’m looking at a certified refurbished from the vitamix website. A couple days ago the Alta Pro was $229. I threw it in my cart and decided to think on it and do a little research if it would fit my needs. We usually make a leafy protein shake with ice in the morning and my kids make smoothies, so felt it was a good fit. Yesterday, I opened the site back up to buy it and get it on its way and it is now $349.99!! Is this normal for prices to fluctuate that much on the refurbished units ? Also, would a propel 750 or A2500 be just as good ? I’m new to this higher quality blender thing so I want to make the best long term decision since they seem to be built like tanks!! Any help on the main differences between all of these or what you use and what you use it for would be great. But that price change overnight seemed crazy to me… but maybe it’s normal ?