During my senior year of college, I went on a health kick and decided I needed a blender. After a good deal of research looking for the best blender available, I settled on the Vitamix 5200. If you’ve never heard of Vitamix, they’re like the Global of the blender world: they make popular, utilitarian, quality products. At $449, their entry-level 5200 was expensive, but I’d seen that baby in action at Whole Foods demonstration, and I was hooked. You can use it to make ice cream, for goodness sake. Ice cream. From a blender. Because I was vocal about my intentions, my grandmother promised to buy me one for graduation.
It never happened. Unsure of my post grad-intentions (though sure that I didn’t want to drag a blender along during my travels), I requested that she table the purchase. By the time I settled in Manhattan, I felt bad about asking again. I’ve got a job now, I thought to myself. I’ll buy the blender myself, and be done with it.
But lo and behold, that afternoon, my father offered to buy me the blender. To ensure that he bought the right one, I found a brochure and circled the 5200, several times, in black ink. A week later, a blender-sized package arrived at my apartment. Giggling like a villain in Dexter, I cut through the tape with a boxcutter — and found myself staring at a Ninja NJ600 Professional Blender.
“What’s going on?” I asked my dad.
“The online reviews said this was equivalent to the Vitamix”, he said. “Return it if you want.”
When my mom heard about the mix-up, she vowed to send me the right product. When the box arrived, I cut into it with hopeful optimism, only to see a Hamilton Beach 10-Speed Wave Action, along with a note: “sorry honey,” it said. “This was all they had at the store.”
Although still Vitamix-less, my travails blessed me with a healthy amount of blender knowledge. Learn from my despair. If you’re going to buy a blender — whether at the entry-level, mid-range, or high-end price levels — make sure it runs multiple speeds and has at least 1000 watts of power. A solid warranty also helps. If you need a more concrete starting point, we’ve picked out our favorite three options below.
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