The Ninja SLUSHi Twist Is the Ultimate Party Appliance – I Tried It to See What the Hype Is About

There’s a star at every party, whether it’s the friend with the biggest personality or the hors d'oeuvre with the most creativity. At my recent parties, an unexpected, chilly guest has impressed kids and adults with its endless possibilities: The Ninja Slushi Twist Smart Frozen Drink Maker.

This is a literal beast of an icee machine, and it can mix two flavors into a swirl pattern. In minutes, it turns liquid into slushy, with no bags of ice needed. If you had your eye on the Ninja SHUSHi and don’t mind spending around $20 more dollars, this two-tone slushy machine is worth the bit of extra money to wow your guests. It is easily one of the best Ninja appliances.

Here’s what I loved after testing the oversized kid’s dream machine for a month, including at multiple parties and even a few regular, boring Saturday afternoons with my five kids chomping at the bit to get the next swirl slushy.

Product Specifications: Ninja SLUSHi Twist

Design and First Impressions

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Unboxing and setting up the product is easy. Carrying it to the counter to do so, not so easy. It’s a hefty package, and those who can’t lift easily should get help. But once it’s unboxed, there are no issues getting it set up. It’s virtually ready to go.

What I did next was head to the store to buy ice. Let me be clear, that’s a total misconception. The beauty of this product is you don’t need any ice, and the slushiness is created in the magic of the smart machine itself. So don’t make the same mistake. You don’t need ice! What you do need is multiple flavors or alcoholic or non alcoholic juices, mixes, or flavors, up to no more than 20% alcohol content.

The product is not easy to move around, so wherever you get set up is where it should stay, at least for the evening. At first it seems intimidating, but the one easy button takes the guesswork out and you literally just push the button. The main button you need to know about is called “dual slush assist,” right in the middle, which basically means it’s going to do all the work for you and even let you know how its progress is coming along with a progress meter.

The best parts of this are that you can go enjoy your parties and come back without having to do anything while it works.

Performance

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A helpful user guide assists with getting your ratios right if you are using a recipe, or you can literally just dump pre-made juice or mix in there and go.

Set up doesn’t really involve any steps other than adding the liquid and turning it on. You can adjust the slushiness level, which can alter the time it might take to get to your optimal consistency of slush, or you can let it do the work with its smart monitoring. Whenever I used the slush assist, I had no issues with it creating the perfect level of slush.

• The Slushie Test: For children at my kid’s birthday party, we got to forgo party favors and give out icees instead. I chose a fruit punch and lemonade combination that created a pretty light red and yellow color, which was enough to have a substantial line behind the slushy machine, which luckily makes 10 servings. It really made much more than that if you used smaller glasses or kid-friendly servings, which helped. The process took around 14 minutes and did not end up with any alert lights to add sugar or water. At the end, I simply dispensed one or both handles at a time, depending on which flavor the child wanted. My only complaint was the skill-building involved in trying to make a swirl pattern as professional-looking as the box and picture, which is a little harder than it looked. Some of the kids ended up with less of a swirl and more of a “split cup” style icee, which they didn’t complain about.
• Frozen Cocktail Test: Once the kids’ portion of the slush party concluded, the adults got excited about its possibilities. On one side of the slushy machine, I used a premixed margarita liquid, and on the other side, we poured multiple premixed tequila cocktails called “ranch waters”. I wasn’t sure how they’d mix together, but they ended up tasting delicious, and most people preferred the taste of a mixed one. The alcohol didn’t take any longer than the kids’ slushies to make, which was a concern I had. It’s also convenient how it lets you know how far along it is in the process, and it glows blue when it’s ready.

Cleaning and Maintenance

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The machine is easy to clean (even after a few adult slushies) by taking both receptacles off. It was easy to hand wash and wipe down the other parts by hand with a wet cloth. The ease of cleaning makes it helpful to switch flavors to please different crowds. Parts of it are dishwasher safe, but I found it pretty simple and quick to just rinse out the containers by hand, which I’d recommend doing promptly to avoid a stickier mess later.

Once you are finished, you can move and store the appliance in a cupboard or on the pantry floor if you have a large area. Some people with limited storage may struggle to find a place to keep it. You definitely do not want to store this on your counter permanently unless you have a surplus of counter space or are having large groups of people over most days of the week.

What Shoppers Say

Many of the reviews share that customers weren’t sure about the product but are surprisingly happy. If not, according to Ninja’s website, there’s little risk. “SharkNinja offers a 60-day money-back guarantee or a 90-day money-back guarantee on purchases for select products. The applicable money-back guarantee will be stated with your order,” they write.

Of 132 reviews on their website, people averaged a 4.6-star rating, and 91% of people recommend the product. “Reviewers rave about restaurant-quality frozen drink textures with customizable thickness using the manual twist feature,” the summary of reviews concludes. I fully agree.

You really can’t get this type of slushie from a blender at home, so it feels splurgy to have one there.

Should You Buy The Ninja Slushi Twist?

Overall, I gave this product a high ranking for quality drinks, efficient performance, little noise, and a generally fun product that improves everyone’s time at a party. After all, isn’t that what kitchen-based entertaining is about?

This product would suit those who are frequently entertaining large groups and would benefit from not having to restart the process every hour. Instead, the large canisters allow you to sit back and enjoy your own get-togethers. I’d also buy this if I had kids, as it's fun to make a lemonade stand with the slushy machine, or just make an average weekday taco night a little more fun with slushies.

I don’t know that I’d personally buy one, just because it’s a hefty price tag at around $400, but if I entertained it weekly, I would consider it. However, it’s obvious upon using it why it costs this much, and it is a good value for the money.

What Else to Shop

To help you add to the experience and make the most of your new investment, I have selected six of the best accessories for your SLUSHi.

All prices correct at time of publication.

While planning ahead for summer, brush up on the entertaining myths that pros want you to ignore to keep things running smoothly.

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