Ninja SLUSHi Review: A Fun Home Slush Maker With Strict Rules

Ice-cold drinks come into their own in summer, and rather than buying ready-made slushies you can now make your own at home. The Ninja SLUSHi promises to do exactly that, and easily — but independent testing found a stylish gadget that rewards you only if you play by its rules. This review is based on that laboratory test, not our own hands-on trial.

Straight out of the box the SLUSHi needs to stand in place for at least four hours so the coolant settles and the condenser works properly. After that the routine is simple: fill the container (475ml minimum, 1.89 litres maximum) with pre-chilled liquid, connect the power, pick a programme and wait. There are five preset modes — Slush, Frozen Cocktail, Frappé, Milkshake and Frozen Juice — mixed by touch controls and served from a tap.

The catch is the recipe chemistry. Anyone hoping to cut calories is out of luck: Ninja demands sugar, at least five grams per 100 millilitres, so diet drinks or unsweetened tea produce, in the test's words, only "icy sadness" unless you add a spoon or two of syrup, sugar or honey. Alcohol needs precision too — a frozen cocktail must land between 2.8 and 16 percent ABV across the whole mix, so a calculator (or the recipe book) earns its keep.

Testers ran three recipes in the summer heat: a shop-bought iced coffee turned to a frappé, pure strawberry juice into a classic slush, and a vodka-lemonade mix into a frozen cocktail. At around 15 sone the SLUSHi is fairly loud for the category, though programmes only run 20 minutes to an hour so the noise does not last.

Results varied by mode. The strawberry slush finished in just 23 minutes but came out too runny at first; a few extra manual minutes gave it a much better consistency. The frappé was the disappointment — after 36 minutes it stayed very liquid with ice crystals that spoilt the drink, and neither re-adjusting nor changing the temperature helped, as the machine reverts to its default setting after a few minutes. The frozen cocktail fared best, reaching a largely even, convincing consistency after about 63 minutes. One more limit: the maker claims drinks stay cold for up to 12 hours, but in testing the consistency loosened noticeably after just 15 minutes, so slushes are best served promptly.

The clean cycle is meant to be automatic, but the test is blunt: anyone planning to use the machine more than once will have to get hands-on. The built-in mode cannot shift all the ice and sugar residue, so it is a sponge under the tap or the dishwasher to avoid turning the machine into a germ trap. Every part except the motor base and its cooling element is dishwasher-safe, though you should skip the drying cycle, as the heat can warp the plastic.

Where the SLUSHi genuinely shines is documentation. The manual is thorough and the recipe book is excellent, packed with preparation ideas plus guidance on the ingredients and ratios that make a good result — dig in and it pulls you into a world of endless slush combinations, much like Ninja's cult Creami. If frozen coffee is your thing, our best bean-to-cup coffee machines guide covers the hot end, while the best ice cube makers guide handles the ice itself.

The Ninja SLUSHi is a stylish, genuinely fun kitchen gadget — provided you accept the sugar, the waiting and a little trial and error. Cleaning in particular takes patience and muscle, the frappé mode underwhelms, and at around £300 in the UK it is no impulse buy. But for committed slushie drinkers and cocktail enthusiasts it delivers the goods, and it slots naturally alongside the rest of the range covered in our Ninja Woodfire review. Check the price on Amazon.