Margaritaville DM0500 Bahamas 36-Ounce Frozen-Concoction Maker Review.
"Great Choice over the DM1000 and DM2000" 2008-07-09
By J. Walker (Southeastern U.S.)
I picked up the DM0500 model after some extensive shopping around for one of the Margaritaville blenders. This one doesn't hold as much ice as the others but it holds enough for one pitcher worth of drinks. It also doesn't have the fancy buttons that the others have that denote "mudslide," "daiquiri," or "Margarita"(I've heard there is little difference in these settings).
That is the main difference between this model and the others. It had the standard shave only/ blend only switch and a start button( more on that later).
The blender itself is very nice it has some great artistic accents like behind the pitcher on the machine is a metal engraving of a palm tree and a sea plane. The construction is easy and it works right out of the box. All you have to do is attach the ice hopper and you're finished.
Some of the negatives though are that the metal ice chute (that's what I call it) shifts up and down so that it fits perfectly and tightly to the pitcher which is nice except that it doesn't seem like it is extremely sturdy but it hasn't broken yet so I guess I should report that if it does.
The Start button is nice it makes a drink about the consistancy of a smoothie from smoothie king. I enjoyed it alot. The ice hopper shreds ice like a dream and the seal on the top if fantastic. I noticed some people complaining that it spilled and I have had no such problem.
I would highly recommend this model over the others for it's reasonable price and great offerings.
"Awesome blender!" 2008-02-06
By Patricia P. Strong (Virginia, USA)
I bought this for my father for Christmas. He loves making margaritas, but could never get his blender to shave the ice well. This blender shaves ice perfectly and comes with some great drink recipes. I have the larger version that I also use for smoothies, but this size is nice for every day use if you have limited counter space, or as a gift.
"Perfect Magarita Consistency" 2008-02-06
By Paxton in AZ (Surprise, AZ)
Made the huge mistake of buying the Margarator first. What a piece of junk. We returned that to the store and we were very hesitant to sink even more money into this, but we really wanted something to make frozen drinks. I am so glad we took the plunge and bought this machine. PERFECT SHAVED ICED CONSISTENCY - JUST LIKE IN THE RESTAURANTS! Very easy to make and very fast. Make sure you follow the recipe ratio in the directions. The recipe calls for 2 to 1 ratio. I was used to following the recipe on the back of most Magarita mixes that are 3 to 1 (Mixer to Alcohol).
"Makes Margaritas too, but who cares?" 2008-06-21
By Paul Kerr
The first time we used it, we made margaritas. They came out perfectly! But we're more into on-the-rocks, so that was that. Note that it is dead simple to use, and cleans up very easily. Only ice goes in the ice bowl, other liquids only go in the blender container. The blender container disassembles easily to clean up, dry and reassemble in a couple of minutes, total. The ice bowl and water-catcher just need to be dried.
Since the first batch, like our daughter who has one of the larger units, we just use it to make shave ice and slushies. It is absolutely outstanding at making all of these frozen concoctions.
For shave ice, fill the ice container with ice cubes and use the shave/blend toggle to shave ice. It will make about 2 blender containers full of shaved ice. Put the shaved ice in bowls or paper cups. Pour about a tablespoon of one of the Monin syrups used for coffee drinks, like blueberry or cherry, on each serving of shave ice.
For a slushie, put 12-16 oz of a cold beverage like lemonade or Coke in the blender part. Fill the ice container about half-full with ice cubes, and press the margarita button. For best taste, use drinks made with cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. HFCS leaves an aftertaste, while sugar is cleaner and crisper. If you can get Mexican Cokes at a store that serves that market, or Kosher Cokes during certain times of the year, they're made with cane sugar. Odwalla lemonade is made with cane sugar, too.
For a really fancy margarita, after a lot of experimenting, we reproduced our favorite -- the super-smooth 19th Hole Margarita from the Mexquite restaurant. For 3 margaritas (the capacity of the Bahamas model): put these into the blender part: 4.5 oz Sauza Hornitas Reposada tequila, 4.5 oz orange juice, 3 oz cranberry cocktail juice, 1.5 oz agave nectar syrup, 1.5 oz Gran Gala orange liqueur, juice of 1.5 limes. Fill the ice container to about 2/3 of its max ice line. Press the margarita button, and when it's done (it'll blend twice so wait for it), it's ready to pour...
"Great party machine" 2007-12-21
By Garry C. Begoon (Bryant, Ar)
After looking at several different machines, we decided on this one. We definitely made the right decision. This machine is both easy to use and performs exactly as advertised. The ice is shaved to perfection, not crushed. You simply fill the ice bin, add the ingredients to the blender jar and punch the button. When the machine stops, pour and enjoy. Haven't tried daquiries yet but I'm sure they'll be great!! Would definitely buy again!!
By J. Walker (Southeastern U.S.)
I picked up the DM0500 model after some extensive shopping around for one of the Margaritaville blenders. This one doesn't hold as much ice as the others but it holds enough for one pitcher worth of drinks. It also doesn't have the fancy buttons that the others have that denote "mudslide," "daiquiri," or "Margarita"(I've heard there is little difference in these settings).
That is the main difference between this model and the others. It had the standard shave only/ blend only switch and a start button( more on that later).
The blender itself is very nice it has some great artistic accents like behind the pitcher on the machine is a metal engraving of a palm tree and a sea plane. The construction is easy and it works right out of the box. All you have to do is attach the ice hopper and you're finished.
Some of the negatives though are that the metal ice chute (that's what I call it) shifts up and down so that it fits perfectly and tightly to the pitcher which is nice except that it doesn't seem like it is extremely sturdy but it hasn't broken yet so I guess I should report that if it does.
The Start button is nice it makes a drink about the consistancy of a smoothie from smoothie king. I enjoyed it alot. The ice hopper shreds ice like a dream and the seal on the top if fantastic. I noticed some people complaining that it spilled and I have had no such problem.
I would highly recommend this model over the others for it's reasonable price and great offerings.
By Patricia P. Strong (Virginia, USA)
I bought this for my father for Christmas. He loves making margaritas, but could never get his blender to shave the ice well. This blender shaves ice perfectly and comes with some great drink recipes. I have the larger version that I also use for smoothies, but this size is nice for every day use if you have limited counter space, or as a gift.
By Paxton in AZ (Surprise, AZ)
Made the huge mistake of buying the Margarator first. What a piece of junk. We returned that to the store and we were very hesitant to sink even more money into this, but we really wanted something to make frozen drinks. I am so glad we took the plunge and bought this machine. PERFECT SHAVED ICED CONSISTENCY - JUST LIKE IN THE RESTAURANTS! Very easy to make and very fast. Make sure you follow the recipe ratio in the directions. The recipe calls for 2 to 1 ratio. I was used to following the recipe on the back of most Magarita mixes that are 3 to 1 (Mixer to Alcohol).
By Paul Kerr
The first time we used it, we made margaritas. They came out perfectly! But we're more into on-the-rocks, so that was that. Note that it is dead simple to use, and cleans up very easily. Only ice goes in the ice bowl, other liquids only go in the blender container. The blender container disassembles easily to clean up, dry and reassemble in a couple of minutes, total. The ice bowl and water-catcher just need to be dried.
Since the first batch, like our daughter who has one of the larger units, we just use it to make shave ice and slushies. It is absolutely outstanding at making all of these frozen concoctions.
For shave ice, fill the ice container with ice cubes and use the shave/blend toggle to shave ice. It will make about 2 blender containers full of shaved ice. Put the shaved ice in bowls or paper cups. Pour about a tablespoon of one of the Monin syrups used for coffee drinks, like blueberry or cherry, on each serving of shave ice.
For a slushie, put 12-16 oz of a cold beverage like lemonade or Coke in the blender part. Fill the ice container about half-full with ice cubes, and press the margarita button. For best taste, use drinks made with cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. HFCS leaves an aftertaste, while sugar is cleaner and crisper. If you can get Mexican Cokes at a store that serves that market, or Kosher Cokes during certain times of the year, they're made with cane sugar. Odwalla lemonade is made with cane sugar, too.
For a really fancy margarita, after a lot of experimenting, we reproduced our favorite -- the super-smooth 19th Hole Margarita from the Mexquite restaurant. For 3 margaritas (the capacity of the Bahamas model): put these into the blender part: 4.5 oz Sauza Hornitas Reposada tequila, 4.5 oz orange juice, 3 oz cranberry cocktail juice, 1.5 oz agave nectar syrup, 1.5 oz Gran Gala orange liqueur, juice of 1.5 limes. Fill the ice container to about 2/3 of its max ice line. Press the margarita button, and when it's done (it'll blend twice so wait for it), it's ready to pour...
By Garry C. Begoon (Bryant, Ar)
After looking at several different machines, we decided on this one. We definitely made the right decision. This machine is both easy to use and performs exactly as advertised. The ice is shaved to perfection, not crushed. You simply fill the ice bin, add the ingredients to the blender jar and punch the button. When the machine stops, pour and enjoy. Haven't tried daquiries yet but I'm sure they'll be great!! Would definitely buy again!!
