Not everyone knows how easy it is to make a margarita at home with your very own margarita machine. Imagine being able to make a cold and refreshing chilled drink that tastes like you’re at a bar. All you need is some ice, mix, and alcohol along with a machine that has a powerful motor that can blend an incredibly tasty drink. Here are a few tips and reviews to help you find the best margarita machine for some summertime fun.
What Does a Margarita Machine Do?
We have all enjoyed a margarita at a bar or a Mexican restaurant, but how does a margarita machine work so that you can enjoy the same taste that you love at a restaurant? Here is a quick overview of what the machine does exactly.
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- Blending Drinks
This is the core function of a margarita maker. Keep in mind a margarita machine blends drinks isn’t like using a typical blender. With the blending feature in a margarita machine, you get a design that will ensure you have a super smooth drink. - Chilling Drinks
Not only does it make the drink for you, but it will also keep it chilled. And that is definitely not something you will find a typical blender doing for you. - Storing Drinks
And one of the best features of a margarita machine is that it will store your drink for you until you are ready to have another. This prevents you from having to constantly make drinks all afternoon. Just temporarily store your drink in the machine, which is clean and safe, where you can keep your blended margarita until you take the machine down.
Considerations When Choosing the Best Margarita Machine
- Capacity
The capacity of the machine you choose all depends on what you want. If you only make an occasional margarita, then you won’t need a large capacity. If you plan to use it for parties, then you will definitely want something on the larger size. Think about how you entertain when you are deciding on the capacity of a margarita machine. - Ease of Use
You certainly don’t want a machine that is a pain to use. Especially if you are entertaining, you will need your machine to do most of the work for you. Look for a margarita machine that is capable doing all the blending and chilling once you have loaded the ingredients. Then all you need to do is sit down and enjoy your margaritas when you want. - Wattage
The higher the wattage, the smoother the consistency. Look for machines with wattage at 400 and above. - Size
First, ask yourself if you will be using this in a domestic or commercial setting. If you are a busy restaurant owner, look for a margarita machine made for commercial use. Typically, machines for commercial use are more powerful and quite a bit larger. This will allow you to create a large amount of drinks all with that blended consistency we all love. However, if you plan to just make margaritas at home, owning a domestic machine is the way to go. You will also see some variety in domestic machines, so consider if you will be using it at a party or just for a casual get together. Depending on your needs, you may want to go for that machine that is a little bigger and comes with more features. But, if you just want to make margaritas for yourself, opt for the smaller and more affordable option that will still serve you just fine. - Viscosity Control and Temperature
To ensure you get a professional quality frozen drink, look for a machine that has a built-in consistency and temperature control. This will allow you to get the appearance and taste of a margarita that you are looking for. The way this works, a margarita machine will have a compressor or refrigeration unit that helps to keep the mixture viscous and cool while it sits in the pitcher waiting for you to serve it. These are typical features to see on a commercial machine, but you can also sometimes find them on at-home models. This is an important feature for those that are looking to make a professional beverage. - Ice
The ice is the most important component of your drink, especially how finely the machine chops it up. You don’t want a piece that is too large, which will make your drink thick, chunky, and hard to drink. Ice that is cut up too small will have a liquid consistency. Choose a machine that gives you different consistency levels to choose from and that comes with a “shaved” option, which will always give you a restaurant-quality drink when you use it. - Settings
Options are always great to have, especially if you want to make different types of drinks to keep your party guests happy. If this is important to you, look for a higher-end machine that includes pre-programmed drink settings. This will let provide the right consistency and measurements for mojitos, margaritas, daiquiris, and Coladas. Usually, you will only need to pour in your ingredients and the machine will take it from there. - Construction
A good simple and durably built machine is always what you want to look for. This will help you to save time on maintenance and cleaning, especially if it has parts that you can remove and put in the dishwasher. - Jars, Pitchers and Bowls
The container is also another big consideration when choosing a good margarita machine. Typically, you will find a jar on this type of machine, but some models will use different types of containers. Dictating how you pour and serve your margarita, the jar shape is also where all the mixing is done. Some jars will have ends that are dented to help make pouring easier while others will come with small taps or dosage faucets.
The Best Margarita Machine – Reviews
1. Margaritaville Bali
Featuring an auto remix channel and self-dispensing lever, the Margaritaville Bali has a 60-ounce jar capacity with four pre-programmed drink settings. You can make either full-chamber of half-chamber batch sizes to make either smoothies, Coladas, daiquiris, or margaritas. It also comes with a blend controls and a manual shave option allowing you to customize the consistency of your drink.
Constructed with a brushed metallic housing plus polished stainless-steel accents, the Margaritaville Bali comes with a self-dispensing lever. After you load up the machine, it will mix up a batch of drinks. All you need to do then is push the dispensing lever to get a swirled mix that is just the right consistency into your glass.
Coming in at just 22.6 pounds, this margarita maker has a sleek and attractive appearance that you can carry anywhere. The Margaritaville Bali features a durable simplicity that makes it convenient, easy to use, and safe. With its manual technology, it provides direct control that allows you to diagnose issues when they arise.
With the unique remex channel, each drink is blended fresh to make sure it has the restaurant-quality consistency that you are looking for. And, with the super large blending chamber and ice reservoir, you can make either blended batches or shaved ice up to 60 ounces. All you need to do
2. Bartesian Cocktail Machine
Using a simple push-button, the Bartesian Cocktail Machine is a smart drink system that also has an easy to clean design. Using a capsule that is filled with the precise amount of fresh ingredients that you need to make a tasty cocktail, this machine mixes the ingredients with your preferred alcohol in just seconds. You are not required to find all the individual ingredients to make a premium cocktail on demand.
The capsules are dated for freshness since they contain real extracts, bitters, and juice concentrates. Sold separately, these capsules are also recyclable and give you the benefits of having a fully-equipped bar since they are created by master mixologists. You no longer have to be bothered by buying various ingredients and juices to stock your bar.
With an easy to clean design, the automatic rinse cycle will run after you create each cocktail. The Bartesian Cocktail Machine also comes with a manual cleaning cycle and its parts are dishwasher safe. It also comes with five premium glass bottles that let you choose your preferred alcohol.
3. Margaritaville DM1946
This is the Jimmy Buffet Signature Edition Margaritaville DM1946. Made specifically for their core customers, this machine makes restaurant-quality frozen drinks up to 36 ounces. It can make either blended drinks or shaved ice and has a preprogrammed cycle that allows you to choose one, two, or three drinks to be made at one time. Using 450 watts of power, this machine has a super large ice reservoir that can hold enough ice for up to three pitchers of margaritas.
Weighing 21.8 pounds, this is an easy to carry machine that you can take with you to parties or events. The Margaritaville DM1946 comes with 450 watts of shaving and blending power that will not leak, outpour, or short out thanks to its large area for ice storage. Since it is so easy to use, you won’t have as many mistakes, mess, and waste as you do with other margarita machines on the market.
Featuring an easy pour jar, you can open up the jar and pour out your drinks without messy drips. You also get a lot of versatility with the Margaritaville DM1946, which allows you to make mudslides, Pina Coladas, margaritas, and many other fruit frozen drinks. This is an easy to use and fun collectible drink maker that is perfect for a Margaritaville fan.
4. BRAVO ITALIA
Featuring a commercial-grade design, the BRAVO ITALIA comes with a 3.2-gallon bowl and 50 cups. This is a margarita maker and slushie machine rolled into one. This heavy-duty machine features stainless steel construction and an almost unbreakable bowl.
This is a commercial-grade refrigerated that lets you bring the beach party home with you. With its large capacity, the Bravo Italia Margarita Maker lets you make drinks easily for up to 100 people. You can also use it commercially since it is durable and super easy to use.
Made with a great design, the Bravo Italia is easy to clean and work effectively to make tasty drinks. Featuring an easy filling spout, this machine helps you keep things clean by also including a cup holder that is easy to place from the front and a drip tray to catch any messes.
This refrigerated unit also includes switches that are hidden conveniently under a plastic cover that will protect it from dirt. The Bravo Italia also includes an LED display with a temperature gauge that tells you how cold your drinks are. This is a great machine that will create lots of summertime fun for parties and special events.
Nostalgia MSB64
The perfect daiquiri, slushie, and margarita maker, the Nostalgia MSB64 makes an event fun with its powerful motor that creates shaved ice with the perfect consistency. Creating up to 64-ounces, this machine uses an easy flow spout that will dispense frozen drink consistently and smoothly. It also comes with a drip tray and a cup rest that you can detach.
Crushing ice perfectly, the powerful motor does not leave large chunks as a regular blender will. The Nostalgia MSB64 is an easy to use machine that only needs regular-sized ice cubes added to the chamber along with your preferred fruit, liquor, and drink mix to start making a tasty drink. The motor uses a dual swivel system that will shave and pulverize ice and only needs one speed to create just the right consistency frozen drink.
The Nostalgia MSB64 is easy to clean with a blending chamber that you can detach from the base. Plus, the detachable cup rest makes it easy to get your serving while the drip tray catches any accidental mess. This is the perfect slushy and margarita for those hot summer days or your next pool party.
Final Verdict
The winner of the best margarita maker is the Nostalgia MSB64. Perfect for making daiquiris, slushies, and margaritas, the Nostalgia MSB64 comes with a powerful motor that creates shaved ice with the perfect consistency. Creating up to 64-ounces, this machine uses an easy flow spout that will dispense frozen drink consistently and smoothly, and it also comes with a drip tray and a cup rest that you can detach.
Crushing ice perfectly, the powerful motor does not leave large chunks like a regular blender will, and it only needs regular-sized ice cubes added to the chamber along with your preferred fruit, liquor, and drink mix to start making a tasty drink. The powerful motor uses a dual swivel system that will shave and pulverize ice and only needs one speed to create just the right consistency frozen drink.
Easy to clean, this machine has a blending chamber that you can detach from the base and a detachable cup rest makes it easy to get your serving while the drip tray catches any accidental mess. The winner definite of the best margarita maker is the Nostalgia MSB64 hands down.
