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Love margaritas? Who doesn’t? However, many don’t realize that you can save a ton of money by simply buying a margarita machine for your kitchen.
Instead of spending $10 per marg at a bar or restaurant, you can buy a machine for about $50, and make endless margs for life! We’ve been very comprehensive on our list, so you can purchase a machine that does more than just blend the perfect margarita (if you’re so inclined).
There are thousands of products out there to make margaritas though, so we aggregated millions of customer reviews, tested the top models, and can now confidently tell you the best margarita machine to purchase for your home.
And if you drink them without playing Jimmy Buffett at some point during the experience – we think you’ve probably failed at the whole margarita experience.
Our Top Pick
Nostalgia Margarita & Slush Machine
With tons of great reviews, an affordable price point, and a specific emphasis on margaritas – we think this is the best margarita machine on the market. Now, it’s not the most deluxe – no, there are other picks on our list that cost far more – but if you just want to blend margs, and don’t want to break the bank – get this machine.
Other Great Picks
Margaritaville Key West Frozen Concoction Maker
With a near-perfect score (despite many great reviews) – this licensed Margaritaville blender is tough to beat. Since it’s pricier, we only recommend it for very serious margarita drinkers, but if that’s what you’re into – this is a perfect pick.
Classic Cuisine Frozen Drink Maker
This margarita maker from Classic Cuisine is a great budget pick. It costs about what 4 margaritas might cost at a restaurant – yet it will last for years. Some user reviews have noted that it’s not quite as good at crushing ice as more expensive machines – but if you only make margs sparingly (or you don’t want to spend a lot) – this is an excellent choice.
Bartesian Premium Cocktail & Margarita Machine
Want an upscale margarita (and cocktail) maker? Grab this excellent machine, from Bartesian. Not only is it flawless in making drinks, it only requires one button push – it’s impossible to beat that kind of ease of use and simplicity. Highly recommended.
Hamilton Beach Commercial Rio Bar Blender
Hamilton Beach is well-known in the blender and kitchen appliance market. While this model can certainly do other things besides make delicious margaritas, we love how reliable it is – as do the many customer reviews. A top pick.
Margarita Girl Mini Size Frozen Drink Machine
This mini drink machine is another great choice, and offers the ability to blend lots of margs at once (despite its name). While it is not the cheapest option on our list, it will likely last for most of your life – and what’s not to love about that? Highly recommended.
Margaritaville Tahiti Frozen Concoction Maker
A great pick from Margaritaville itself, the Tahiti is very well-known, and also very well-rated. While it is certainly not a budget pick, we highly recommend it for both its reliability, as well as its durability. An excellent choice, for making tasty margs!
Nostalgia SM32RR
Another great budget pick, the SM32RR costs only about 1/10th of the Tahiti – but it still makes great drinks. For the more casual margarita mixer (or anyone on a tight budget) – this machine will make some tasty beverages in no time. A definite recommendation.
Happybuy Commercial Slushy Machine
Are you deadly serious about making margaritas? Then you most assuredly need this commercial margarita machine from Happybuy. While the price is not low, it can make a huge amount of margaritas at once, and will also last for a lifetime. A great premium pick.
Ninja Mega Kitchen System
The Ninja Mega Kitchen can do so many things – including mixing the perfect margarita. While it is most definitely most famous for other functions, the Ninja is a great buy for someone who is only a casual margarita drinker, and also needs an appliance that can do lots of other things. A great, versatile pick.
What Is A Margarita?
A margarita is an alcoholic beverage that nearly everyone loves. This is because it’s very sugary – which helps mask the taste of the alcohol contained within.
On a more technical level, margaritas contain lime juice, orange liqueur, and tequila. If you want an authentic margarita, almost everyone will tell you that salt on the rim of your glass is also required.
Ice is also a key component of margaritas. You can blend a marg with ice, or shake it with ice. Very rarely is a margarita ever served without ice, at least in bars and restaurants.
Who Invented The Margarita?
Multiple historians note that the margarita came from a related drink, the daisy. This drink contained brandy, not tequila, but was otherwise remarkably similar to a margarita, in terms of ingredients and composition.
Due to prohibition, many Americans went to Mexico for alcohol – where they first stumbled upon the margarita. While it’s not entirely clear what the first record of the margarita actually is, there is at least one account from 1936, which seems to predate all others.
There are also cookbooks from the late 1930s which contain recipes for margaritas, as well as a story of a dancer who was allergic to brandy (but not tequila) – and a bartender who made the necessary substitution for her.
We will likely never know for sure who invented the margarita, but the fact remains that it became quite popular soon after the Great Depression, largely in Mexico and southern California. Many historians note that the La Plaza in La Jolla, California, greatly helped in spreading the margarita to the United States.
The Mexican flavor and spirit of the drink is clear – it has a healthy dose of tequila, which is a quintessential alcohol closely linked to Spanish origins. While there will likely always be a dispute over who invented the margarita, one thing that no one will dispute, is how delicious it is.
The margarita rapidly spread and became popular because it was a far more pleasant experience than drinking straight brandy, hard alcohol, or even other mixed drinks. The healthy dose of sugar found in every margarita, of course, helps this cause greatly.
What Is A Margarita Machine?
A margarita machine is essentially two products in one – it is a blender, but it’s also an ice shaver. At first, a margarita machine will shave your ice, and then it will blend everything together.
This results in a professional, super smooth beverage – which you can endlessly modify to your heart’s content. Of course, you can also make slurpees, slushies, or any other frozen concoctions you can think of.
Why Would I Want A Margarita Machine?
This one is easy – you love margaritas! More seriously, if you entertain a lot, or you hate spending $10 per each margarita you get at a bar or restaurant – a margarita machine is for you.
This is doubly true if you need a blender as well, as most margarita machines can easily blend anything you might want. Since our budget picks are only about $40, it makes sense to get a margarita machine if you even semi-regularly order margs at a bar – it will save you a ton of money, over the long run.
Do Margarita Machines Make Other Things?
Yes, margarita machines (especially the ones closer to blenders) – will make any type of slushy drink. Essentially, the higher-end models are ice shavers and blenders – so you can mix together anything that works with this combination.
If you buy a normal blender to make margaritas – then of course you can use all of its other functions, as well. Serious margarita makers will want to opt for a more expensive machine that specializes in only making margaritas, however.
What Is The Difference Between A Blender And A Margarita Maker?
While you might think they are the same, a truly high-end margarita machine works quite differently than a blender. Namely, it will really be an ice shaver – as well as a blender.
While you can get excellent results with a simple blender, a margarita machine will make even better drinks. These machines will first shave the ice, and then blend all of your other drink ingredients – resulting in a smoother overall beverage.
How We Chose Our Picks For Best Margarita Machine
Choosing the best margarita machine requires a few things. Firstly, you want to establish your budget.
If you want to spend a ton – and/or you make a lot of margaritas on a regular basis – opt for a premium model. However, if you want to just make a margarita once in a while, a mid-range pick (or even a budget option) may serve you best.
Next, we looked at the number of user reviews for each model – as well as what the users had to say about each model. We wanted durability, drink quality, and no weird problems with any model we would recommend.
After that – we tested the best margarita machines! This part was (of course) – quite fun.
But we also seriously evaluated whether each machine would be right for your home. We also factored in whether or not we’d want to buy each margarita machine for ourselves.
What’s The Best Margarita Recipe?
A margarita is really just sugar, water, and ice – so it’s not that difficult to make. However, to make the best margarita – you’ll want to experiment with a margarita machine, until you get just the right amount of ice (to your own individual liking, of course).
Below is a great margarita recipe – modify as you see fit, and enjoy the process. We like to experiment with how much salt we put on the rim of the glass as well, but some people prefer a marg with no salt on the rim at all.
1. The first step is easy – add some ice to your blender container (or the ice shaver portion of your machine, if this is part of your model). We recommend between 2 and 3 cups of ice – the more ice you have, the less liquid (and alcohol) will be in each drink you serve.
2. We recommend starting with 2 ounces of lime juice, which you’ll put into the blender container. Add 2 ounces of triple sec, about 5-6 ounces of tequila (the more you add, the stronger the drink gets), 10-12 ounces of sweet and sour mix, and about 1/2 a teaspoon of additional sugar (the more sugar you add, the less you’ll notice the alcohol – be careful!)
3. After putting the lid on your blender container, set your margarita machine to the low setting, and lightly blend. We like our margaritas pretty icey, so we don’t do much in the way of blending. However, if you want a more liquidy margarita, blend on low for longer.
4. That’s it, you’re done! However, if you want to have an authentic margarita, you should coat the inside and outside of your serving glasses with lime juice, then dip each rim into kosher salt.
What Is Margaritaville?
Jimmy Buffett was lucky enough to compose a song that not only permeated popular culture when it was realized – it’s still a craze, decades later. In 1977, the singer-songwriter released a track called Margaritaville – which instantly immortalized not only the margarita itself, but a certain kind of lackadaisical, slow-paced lifestyle.
The song itself is still hugely popular, and it was actually named after the very drink (which Buffett discovered at a restaurant in Austin, Texas). There have been restaurants, t-shirts, blenders, and many more products all named after the song – and a few even made our list.
With a distinctly laid-back vibe, and lyrics that remind everyone of a long, tropical vacation – Margaritaville is also a perfect drinking song. Any large-scale gathering should play this song at least once – otherwise you’re truly missing out on the full margarita experience.
The Best Margarita Machine
There you have it – our top picks for the best margarita machine. Whether you want something with lots of ice, something more liquidy, or just a perfect Jimmy Buffett marg – we’ve got you covered.
You can choose a machine that makes more than just margaritas – or you can go for a high-end commercial margarita machine. Whichever model you choose – we can assure you that it will be high-quality. Bottoms up!