When it comes to margarita makers, the Margaritaville DM1000 Key West Frozen Concoction Maker is one of the best. It is a step up in both capacity and functionality from the Margaritaville DM0500 Bahamas. Any of the Jimmy Buffet line of products really are best in class when it comes to making frozen drinks. You’ll find you’ll get a lot for your money with some great features, and restaurant quality frozen drinks.
This is not the cheapest frozen drink maker, from Margaritaville, but probably the most popular. It makes 36-ounce pitchers of your favorite drink with relative ease. It is tough, made to withstand the pressures and forces applied by crushing and shaving ice on a regular basis. This unit is also much sturdier than your common kitchen blender. Oh…and did I mention it makes amazing frozen drinks?
I’ve found the best prices for the DM1000 to be on Amazon. Click to Check Prices.
Margaritaville DM1000 Key West Review
There are a lot of great features on this Margaritaville machine from Jimmy Buffet that really set it apart from even the top of the line kitchen blender. When it comes to making frozen cocktails, no body does it better than Margaritaville. In this review of the DM1000 Key West frozen concoction maker, we’ll take a look at those features and functionality and see why this is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars at most online retailers.
Overview
The DM1000 is the second in the series of Margarita makers and has proven to be the most popular. It is great for parties or just lounging around on a lazy weekend day sipping cocktails. It is very easy to use, looks good, and is also fun to watch.
It has an ice reservoir on the top of the machine that holds enough ice to make two full 36-Ounce pitchers. That is double the capacity of the DM0500. When you start the machine the ice is fed from the reservoir through the ice shaving blades depositing the shaved ice into the blender. At this point the blender takes over and blends your drinks to the perfect consistency.
All you need to do is add ice and drink mix then hit the switch, the machine does the rest. It allows you to automatically combine the right blend of ice and mix to get just the right drink. This is the feature that the cheaper brands don’t have and really means the difference between restaurant quality margaritas and a watered down drink.
Since the Key West has the capacity to hold more ice than you can use in a single pitcher, the ice runoff collector is a really nice feature. As the ice melts any excess water is siphoned away and collected in a container on the back of the machine. This helps keep you from getting watered down drinks.
The Margaritaville Key West Control Panel
The control panel is another area where the DM1000 has some added features. The controls themselves are straight forward and easy to use. You’ll find a power on/off switch, shave ‘n blend toggle switch, shark fin power and status lights, blend only/shave only toggle switch, and a number of drink selector switch.
Blending Modes – Making Drinks
The Key West margarita machine makes it easy to operate and allows you the flexibility to control how many drinks you want to make at a time. You have your choice between 1, 2, and 3 (full pitcher) levels.
The pitcher has easy to read markings on the side so you know just how much liquid (drink mix and alcohol) to added for the number of drinks you are making. From there you select the same number of drinks from the control panel, add ice, and hit the Shave ‘n Blend button. The machine takes over and shuts off when completed.
You may find that your drink is not quite to the consistency you like, maybe either too thick or two thin. Not to worry, Margaritaville has thought of that to. If it came out too thick, press the ‘blend only’ button till it reaches the consistency you want or if needed add a little more mix first. If you drink is too thin, make sure there is ice in the reservoir and hit ‘shave only’. This will shave more ice into the pitcher. Then press ‘blend only’ till you drink is smooth.
Dishwasher Safe – Easy Cleaning
If you have made margaritas before you know things can get a little sticky. That’s why the easy clean up on the Margaritaville machine is so nice. You really only need to cleans the parts that come in contact with the drinks, like the blender jar. These parts are dishwasher safe when put in the top rack. The rest can be cleaned with warm soapy water. Read the manual for full cleaning instructions.
The Verdict
Should you buy the Margaritaville Key West Frozen concoction maker? In my opinion it is a great purchase. And the motors are made to last. It gives you a lot of great features and the added capacity of the ice reservoir is a nice touch when entertaining. You may even want to get a second pitcher so that you can always have another round ready to go.
If you want to make the best restaurant quality frozen drinks at home than this is the machine that you need. It delivers top quality, consistent drinks all the time.
Buy The Margaritaville DM1000 Frozen Concoction Maker
If you are ready to make the purchase or just want to read some more customer reviews, I recommend you visit Amazon.com. I’ve found they have the best prices online and last I checked they were selling it for over $100 off! To Check Prices on Amazon – CLICK HERE.