Kenwood SB056 Smoothie 2GO

Smoothie 2Go

This is a blender which is specifically designed for making smoothies quickly and efficiently. It is much smaller than a majority of blenders and as it comes with a detatchable goblet, the smoothie can literally be consumed on the go - hence the product name. The smoothie maker is designed and manufactured by Kenwood. It comes with two 0.5l goblets complete with lids, an instruction manual, registration card and plug. It is marketed as an easier way to get your five-a-day. This is much smaller than your average blender as it weighs in at just 1.5kg and stands at just over 30cm high, but the 'mini' design is actually quite appealing in my opinion.

Price and Value for Money

This retails on average for a very reasonable reasonable £27.99 which I feel is fabulous value for such an efficient product. I got mine from John Lewis and paid £23.99 which I am really pleased with considering how expensive a lot of similar blenders are.

Physical Appearence

The smoothie maker is available in two colours - silver or black. I opted for black and I find this to be very sleek and expensive looking. The design is simple with a sturdy plastic base which has the off button and speed options and then the mug slots on and you're ready to blend! This looks fine in my kitchen and doesn't look out of place, nor does it take up much space on my kitchen worktop. Considering how cheap this is, it looks great.

My Opinion

When me and my boyfriend Marc moved into our first home together, we didn't bother taking a lot of things with us as we decided to purchase a majority of things from new. Although my boyfriend doesn't like smoothies, he agreed to buy this for me when we were browsing John Lewis as it's cheap enough and he knows how much I enjoy making (and consuming!) smoothies. Before we purchased this, I used a run of the mill blender with a 1.6 litre goblet, which did the job but I felt that this would be more practical as it's a lot more compact with a detachable mug, which obviosly means a little less cleaning!

As I am the only person who drinks smoothies in my household, I find that this is more practical than a normal/larger blender as I can make just the right amount for myself rather than making too much and it going to waste. Cleaning up after using it is much quicker as only the detatchable mug and chopping blades need a quick rinse. The two goblets/mugs provided with the smoothie maker along with the chopping blades are dishwasher safe which is always an advantage! Considering how compact and lightweight this is compared to larger blenders, it's a very strong and effecient blender. I love making smoothies with frozen bananas and ice cubes, and I was a little concerned that this wouldn't cope, however it is suprising how fast and easily it blends up a frozen banana and it doesn't seem to struggle at all.

The smoothie maker has two pulse speeds - low and high along with plus pulse. I find that this machine is really good at blending the fruit quickly and to just the right consistency even on the lowest speed. The consitency of the smoothies can be easily altered depending on the amount of liquid that you use and with minimum liquid the consistency is usually lovely and thick and creamy. With my old blender, it did blend but there would be lumps of fruit in the drink even when blended at the highest speed. With this though, the texture is nice and smooth although if you do like your smoothies to have a lumpier/chunky texture, obviously you can still achieve this by adjusting the amount of time that you blend itand which speed you blend at.

I like that, unlike my old blender, you do not have to add any liquid into the drink and you can just stick some chopped up fruit in and blend. With my old blender I used to have to add milk or water which I felt spoiled the taste, whereas with this the smoothie tastes of pure fruit. I've also found this blender a little quicker to set up than my old one as the goblet interlocks onto the plastic base of the machine really easily and although it is necessary to fit the stainless steel chopping blades onto the goblet this doesn't take much effort at all. The goblet has a 0.5 litre capacity which is more than enough for me and I can easily get two large glasses of smoothie out of this. I have found that if I am blending bulkier fruit such as cubes of melon or mango, it's easier to blend these first as they take up a lot of space and once these are blended I add the rest of the fruit.

The smoothie machine is quite loud but not any louder than an average blender. I love the two cups that come with the smoothie maker as they allow me to drink the smoothie straight away without pouring it into a glass - really handy and again this helps save on washing up. The mugs have a decent sized handle and come with a grey plastic lid which screws onto the top. The lid is simple in design with a flap which flips up to expose a hole when you want a drink and then flips down when you're done. It is really handy and it's great for people who are always on the go. The machine is 300 watts.

Overall

A brilliant way to get your five a day! Affordable, great quality, robust and very efficient - highly reccomended!