If you are new to juicing, you will soon realise you need a good blender as well as a good juicer for adding avocado, banana, super greens or protein powders.
There are so many blenders available and everyone has their favourite.
I thought I did too after I bought Juicemaster’s Fusion Booster. It was used every day, two or three times, and was so easy to use: no buttons or settings, just press down the flask, turn clockwise and it goes. It was light, portable, took up hardly any space, was BPA-free and could go in the dishwasher. Perfect for blending-to-go.
Unfortunately it had one serious flaw: the separate black rubber seal on the lid of the blade soon perished and would need replacing every few weeks. It wasn’t very pleasant when I found chopped up bits of rubber in my smoothie! I complained and complained about this design flaw. Customer services were excellent, patiently listened and sent out several free seals – until it was out of guarantee and no longer manufactured. I was so disappointed.
But, someone at Juicemaster* and Retro* was obviously listening! They have just brought out the Retro Super Blend. It matches the Retro Juicer in style and available colours and for me it was love at first sight! In fact, I loved it so much, I bought one for myself and one for a gift, sight unseen.
There are so many parts and functions, it seems overwhelming at first, but it couldn’t be easier to use. There are 3 large blender flasks, 2 blades – 1 for blending, 1 for grinding – 2 smaller blender/grinder flasks/cups, pouring cap, 2 screw-on rings for drinking, 2 screw-on lids and a shaker lid. And dishwasher safe. Ideal for family smoothies. Oh, and it has suction feet so it doesn’t travel when in use.
The best thing of all for me is that they have retained the twist and go action of the Fusion Booster. There are no buttons or settings, you just press the flask into position, turn clockwise and off it blends.
I was a little concerned at first about the large diameter of the flasks, it seems they are designed for a man – I can only just get my hand round them – and I thought it might take more pressure to put them in position on the base before turning, but this is not the case.
Everything is so lightweight and simple to use.
We used it first to make cashew nut milk. The Super Blend has a powerful 700w motor – more than twice as powerful as the Breville Blend-Active, a similar design to the Fusion Booster – and in less than 30 seconds, we had ultra smooth and creamy milk.
It made just under a litre of cashew nut milk, some of which we used to make a version of Happenin’ Hemp Protein Smoothie from the enclosed recipe booklet. Again, it took less than 30 seconds, and no bits.
The blender managed the ice cubes in the smoothie with no problems at all.
We have only used it twice, but so far we love it. It will be put through its paces regularly, so watch out for future updates – hopefully, I’ll have little to write but ‘as above’ or ‘still going strong!’
Available in several colours.
Update: A year on, it is still in regular use, often 2 or 3 times a day. We’ve had to replace the seal once, this was provided free of charge. I’ve just bought another at half-price during April (2017). It makes an excellent gift. We gave one to a family member who is a student and she loves it. It has made a healthy improvement to her diet. It’s become our everyday blender. (We use a larger Froothie Optimum 9200 Blender for making larger quantities of nut milk, for instance, or when making smoothies for a few people).
Highly recommended.
Copyright: Chris McGowan
pearsnotparsnipsdotcom 
Thank you for the heads up on the juicer.
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You’re welcome, hope it was of some help. I’ve seen quite a lot of the Philips 1861 on ebay since Christmas. Many of the regular juicers started off with that one, very reliable.
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