Ninja Slushi Twist Frozen Drink Maker FS702UKBR Review

Design and features

• Two flavours at once
• Make individual drinks or mix
• Spinning drip tray

If you’ve seen any of the previous machines before, such as the Ninja Slushi Frozen Drink Maker FS301UK or the larger Ninja Slushi Max Frozen Drink Maker FS605UK, then the Ninja Slushi Twist Frozen Drink Maker FS702UKBR should look familiar. 

Of course, the main difference is that the Twist has two tanks for making two flavours of drink at once, either independently or, via the new mode, together with the idea that you mix the flavours together.

If you’ve ever felt that the previous machines were a little too limited, then two drinks on tap should be of interest.

As with the previous machines, the Slushi Twist is quite a beast, taking up virtually the full depth of a kitchen counter. It’s also quite a bit wider than the other machines, with room required for the two tanks. This isn’t an easy machine to store.

In total, the Slushi Twist can make 2.84L of drink, split evenly between each side, which has a maximum fill of 1.42L and a minimum of 475ml. That’s the same minimum as on the original, although that could take a maximum of 1.9L of fluid.

With the larger Slushi Max, you can make 3.31L in total, so it remains the better choice if you want maximum capacity and just one flavour.

With the Slushi Twist, each side is a full individual machine. Each side’s parts are labelled and only fit one way. 

To fill with drink, the containers have a large flap that opens at the top, and you can then fill past the minimum level, up to the maximum, with the liquid of your choice. You need to have enough sugar content, so some low-calorie drinks will need some sugar added; if you’re using alcohol, you can add anything up to 20% alcohol.

Controls are simplified compared to the previous models. First, you need to turn the machine on using the flip switch at the back. It’s at the top, just in case you can’t find it.

For single drinks, you don’t have the selector to choose the type of drink you want, such as frozen cocktail or milkshake. Instead, there’s just a single Slush Assist button.

Hit this, and the impeller starts up, and the machine begins to mix and freeze your drink. Once the consistency has been evaluated, an automatic freezing level is set, and Slushi Twist keeps going until the drink is ready.

If there’s not enough sugar, the Add sugar button lights up. If there’s too much alcohol, the add water button lights up.

There are buttons to adjust the target level, making a drink more or less frozen, which changes the consistency of the drink.

Controlled like this, the Slushi Twist aims to make the best standard drinks, ready to be gulped down.

If you want to use the Slushi Twist like this, you’ll want to attach the straight spouts on the front of the machine, so you can dispense the drink of your choice into a glass. You’ll also want the standard drip tray.

As the real point of the Slushi Twist is to mix two drinks together in a nice pattern, there’s also a middle button, labelled Dual Slush Assist. Hit this and both sides start to slush at the same time.

Again, the machine automatically sets the slush level, but in this mode, the Slushi Twist aims to make drinks with a thicker consistency that blend better. You can adjust the consistency of each side individually, in case you’re not getting the right pour.

In this mode, the angled spouts should be attached, which aim both sides at one glass. They’re a little fiddly to clip on, and need a bit of a shove to lock them into place.

You’ll then want the Twist drip tray, which has a thumb-operated turntable that lets you spin your glass to get a spiral mixture of drinks. I found that it took a bit of work to line up a glass so that it would spin centrally, but the actual turntable works well, only requiring a bit of a push to get it going.

Whichever drip tray you’re not using can be attached to the clip on the side of the Slushi.

When you’re finished, the Slushi Twist needs to be cleaned. There’s a dedicated Rinse mode that just turns the impeller without adding any cooling. Just fill each side to the maximum line with hot water, hit Rinse and then leave the machine long enough to remove any trace of mess.

Once done, you can drain, and then the plastic covers slide off when their handles are released.

Each impeller can be removed and washed in the sink, and the main cylinders can be wiped down.

You should also remove the condensate tray on each side and handwash these. Overall, tidying up isn’t difficult, but there’s quite a bit of handwashing to do.

Performance

• Works fast
• Excellent flavours
• Hard to get a nice spiral mix

I started by using two flavours of Fanta, both for looks and because this drink has the required sugar levels. Getting the Slushi Twist to work was easy: just a tap of a button did the job, and it didn’t take too long before my drink was ready: under 20 minutes.

The consistency of the Slushi was quite thick, but that’s to be expected: if there’s any liquid in there, the drinks will blend, rather than layering on top of each other. So, you need a certain amount of thickness to get everything to work.

Trying to pour drinks in a perfect spiral is exceptionally difficult. Getting the glass to spin is easy, but getting both drinks to pour at the same rate is not. With my fairly thick drink, the Slushi tends to plop out in blobs, rather than pouring nicely at a consistent rate. My first attempt wasn’t pretty.

With the default consistency, I found it easier to layer the drinks, creating a spoon-ready finish with, admittedly, delish flavoured ice drink. I think it looks quite good.

Back to the spiral test. As mentioned, it’s possible to adjust the drink consistency, but each time you do it’s recommended that you wait 10 minutes, check consistency and then adjust again as necessary. It’s quite a lot of effort, and each adjustment takes quite a lot of time.

Go too cold with some drinks, such as my Fanta, and you get something much more frozen and pale in colour, with gaps between the ice crystals.

Go the other way, and you get something more drinkable, but you don’t get layers. With the right consistency, I could get a nice mix, even if I couldn’t achieve a perfect spiral. 

I tried again with fruit juice. With the Dual mode, the result is closer to a sorbet than a slushy drink; again, you need that for layers. Consistency was excellent, and the taste spot-on. Again, getting perfect spirals was beyond me, but I think I ended up with a nice blend.

Using the single mode, you get a more traditional slushy from juices: frozen enough to be an ice-drink, but liquid enough that I could drink it through a straw.

Similarly, you get very similar results from the Slushi Twist for single drinks as you do with the single versions, such as the Slushi Max, whether that’s a milkshake or a frozen cocktail.

Should you buy it?