Ninja Slushi Max XL Frozen Drink Maker FS601UK 

Introduction

The Ninja Slushi Max XL Frozen Drink Maker FS601UK is the bigger and more feature-rich brother to Ninja’s original Slushi that we loved when it launched last year.

This one’s got a 3.31L maximum capacity and brings over some clever new features, such as SlushAssist and Frozen Cocktail Max, although with an increased cost of £349.99/$369.99, it’s significantly more expensive than the original Ninja Slushi Frozen Drink Maker FS301UK.

To see if this bigger variant is potentially better, I’ve been putting it through its paces for the last couple of weeks.

Design and Features

• Larger than the original Slushi
• Tactile controls
• Different array of functions to the original

The core of the Slushi Max is the same as the original in that this is essentially a slushy machine you can use at home – pour a mix of fluids in, select the required setting, and a matter of minutes later, you’ll have a frozen drink without the need for freezing any elements beforehand.

This means this Ninja machine is virtually identical in look to its predecessor, as a long and narrow appliance that’s mostly taken up by its 3.3L tank and the associated construction around it to house all of its components. Being the Max model, the key thing is that it’s just a bit bigger.

The knock-on effect here is that the minimum and maximum levels for fluid are bigger than they were on the original. The Max has a 710ml minimum and 3.31L maximum; on the original model, it was 475ml minimum and 1.89L maximum, making the original Slushi a little more optimal for smaller serving suggestions. 

I’m a fan of the gold colourway my Slushi Max sample is in, and it’s sure to stand out in your kitchen at parties and functions where this machine is most at home. Likewise, in typical Ninja fashion, all of the machine’s controls are tactile and easy to use, with buttons having a pleasant click and the pump having good resistance for when you’re pouring a drink.

As well as being bigger, this new model chops and changes the functions around from the original Slushi. We’ve got six to choose from, with the standout here being the automated ‘Slushassist’ mode, where the machine can detect the liquid inside and automatically adjust how thick or thin the resulting slushy needs to be.

Beyond this, there’s a standard Slush mode, plus two different Frozen Cocktail modes (the original machine only had one – the Slushi Max adds a Max setting for higher alcohol content drinks), a Milkshake mode and Frozen Juice.

I don’t mind this array of functions, although by moving up to this bigger model, it eschews the Frappe mode from the original and adds the Frozen Cocktail Max mode in its place. If you’re someone who’d prefer to make more frappes, or simply someone who doesn’t drink alcohol for whatever reason, you may prefer the original machine in this regard.

You also get a small dial on the right side of the machine where you can dial in how thin or thick you’d like your drink to be. Each of these has its own preset, but you can configure it to your liking. There is also a Rinse button to help you drain the machine for convenient cleaning.

With this in mind, the maintenance of the Slushi Max isn’t too bad, especially as all of its internals can be taken out to clean, such as the tank, the impeller, and the relevant drip trays. They are a little large to fit in a washing-up bowl if you’ve got a smaller sink, but you should be okay.

Ninja also bundles an array of manuals and recipe guides with the machine for a vast set of guidance in how to use it properly, such as balancing alcohol and sugar levels. It’ll even notify you if a drink you concoct is unbalanced, with the manual telling you how to fix it.

Performance

• Very easy to use
• Excellent results
• Can take some practice to get optimal results

During my time with the Slushi Max, I made a variety of drinks to best test its individual settings and to see how well it works for making all kinds of slushies. In short, I was impressed with how easy it was to use and how consistently excellent the results were with no need for freezing.

For the SlushAssist mode, I used a mix of San Pellegrino Aranciata Orange and Luscombe Sicilian Citrus Crush carbonated drinks at its default setting. The machine took around ten minutes to dispense a very cold slushy drink. It was a little on the thin side by default, although it was pleasantly refreshing.

For the milkshake setting, I mixed up some ‘cold chocolate’ from my Hotel Chocolat All-New Velvetiser with its mandarin and orange sachet, with a touch over 700ml of milk. Putting this into the Slushi Max resulted in a drink that was almost too thick for a milkshake initially, although it had a rich flavour and better consistency once settled.

One recipe I was intrigued to try was a frosé. A lot of recipes call for mixing wine with cranberry juice or adding sugar to it, although for mine, I took an entire bottle of Pinot Grigio blush, poured it into the tank, selected Frozen Cocktail, turned the consistency dial down a couple of ticks for a runnier result, and left it to do its thing. The result retained the drier taste of the wine in a thicker drink, and perhaps a more refreshing one, being so cold.

I attempted the Frozen Juice setting with some pineapple juice, electing to leave it on its default level, which resulted in a thicker drink than anticipated that almost resembled a thin sorbet in its consistency, and tasted excellent.

For my final test using the Frozen Cocktail Max setting, I mixed two double and a single measure of corn moonshine, plus two full cans of Pepsi to meet the minimum fill line, and dialled the thickness back to halfway. It resulted in a strong and smooth frozen cocktail that was also quite sweet, and alarmingly easy to drink…

Should you buy it?

FAQs

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