Review: Russell Hobbs Mix & Go

The whole world appears to be going smoothie-mad at the moment, and it seems that it's infectious. Working in London, it's impossible to walk 3 metres down the street without passing a sleek and slender individual who happens to be carrying a brightly coloured and almost impossibly fresh concoction of fruit and vegetables that would cause Del Monte to go green with envy.

The Backstory

[You could probably skip this if you have no interest in my life and just want to know how the product fares.]

As someone who often has to start work at 0730am [no, I can't quite fathom how I do it either], breakfast can be a bit of a chore. In days of old, I would have skipped it altogether, and just allowed my stomach to provide what sounded like a loud and intrusive percussion solo until lunch, when I'd finally settle down for something to eat. However, after a few years of "growing up", and with the occasional nag from my mother, I've come to realise that breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. Over the past months, I've been continuously buying Nature Valley granola bars, and would scoff these, albeit hurriedly, on the way to work.

Sadly, while these bars taste rather nice, I'm sure one of them could potentially soak up the entire Atlantic Ocean if it was left there long enough. Sick to death of breakfast-induced cotton-mouth, and desperately searching for some way to get my 5 a day, one of my colleagues came to the rescue. Long story short, after seeing them whipping up some heavenly and hunger-killing concoctions with the company blender [yes, I do have a blender where I work, and yes, you should be jealous], I've been bitten by the smoothie bug, hence why I've purchased the Russell Hobbs Mix and Go.

What does it do?

The Russell Hobbs Mix and Go truly is one of those "does what it says on the tin" types of products. It allows you to blend smoothies, juices, and even cocktails quickly. The product's USP [which isn't so unique - but we'll get on to that later] is that you blend drinks directly in the bottles you'll drink them out of. This means no faffing about with extra attachments, no more using giant jugs, and it also means (thank the Lord) less washing up! 

In the box, you receive two blending/drinking bottles with two drinking lids, one 'blending' lid [with blades to blend the fruit] and the actual blending unit itself, which plugs into a wall socket and does the actual blending.

In order to make a smoothie [or juice, or cocktail], you just put your ingredients in the bottle, put the 'blending' lid on the bottle, turn it upside down and align it with the arrow on the blending unit, and push down to activate the spinning motor. For a hands-free blending experience, you can twist the bottle clockwise to ensure the motor spins without you pushing down. 

Once you take a look at the unit, it doesn't take an engineering graduate to understand that the little plastic nubs on the outside of the blending lid lock with the grooves on the blending unit to spin the blades inside the bottle. And before you know it, your smoothie's made in front of your eyes.

As soon as you feel your drink is smooth enough, take the bottle off of the blending unit, unscrew the 'blending' lid off the bottle, replace it with the drinking lid, and sip to your heart's content.

So how does it do?

This blender is quite a specialist machine... and that's a polite way of saying that it's a one trick pony. This machine is purely for liquid, and is about as useful as a chocolate ashtray for blending mostly solid items. This means that most of your smoothies will have to be quite watery, and finding the right liquid-to-solid ratio is incredibly infuriating over the first few uses.

Since this is mostly a trial-and-error process, expect to be screwing and unscrewing the 'blending' lid several times while you make your smoothie - be careful, though. Sometimes it can become cross threaded and attempt to unscrew itself when you next blend with it, spraying copious amounts of bright, fruity liquid absolutely everywhere. [Fun fact, I once got a smoothie splash on my forehead and managed to go the entire day without noticing. Wait, I probably shouldn't have told you that...].

Be afraid... be BERRY afraid... of your
frozen stuff sticking to the bottle!

At the same time, frozen ingredients [such as frozen berries - which take the hassle out of getting an ice cold yet healthy drink] tend to stick to the sides of the bottle quite well, so a long spoon to prod these free always comes in handy if you're in a pinch and don't want a tonne of solids at the bottom of your bottle. On that note, it's worth mentioning that your smoothies will never truly be 100% solid free - I've found that seeds in berries tend to survive the blending process, and you'll probably want to carry a personal supply of toothpicks if these become your fruits of choice.

Despite the scientific trials and tribulations in what state you'd like your smoothie to finally become, the portability of the bottles means that you will forgive any shortcomings during the blending process. Other than the blades in the 'blending' lid, there's nothing to wash up until you've finished your beverage, which is definitely music to my ears. But a word of warning: when you do go to clean the bottle, you'll need to invest in a bottle brush, as unless you're the child of a Borrower and a Hobbit, you'll struggle to get your hand into the long, narrow bottle. The crevices in the 'drinking' lid can become a bit annoying when it comes to tiny pieces of fruit residue, so a scourer might come in handy, too.

The lid itself is leak proof, and hasn't let me down over the past month - no awkward moments on the tube where I have bright pink liquid seeping out of my bag... which is... handy.

"Ravi, I made a pact never to buy a Russell Hobbs product ever again, but I like the sound of this product."

Fear not. The Breville Blend-Active does pretty much exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. However, some online reviews have stated that the blending unit can develop some issues in some cases - so be vigilant!

Summary

All in all, the Russell Hobbs Mix & Go is a nifty little product for those who are already smoothie-fanatics, or those who want to start getting their fruit in a more convenient way. While it's a bit of a one-trick-pony, it does what it does reasonably well, with the occasional hiccup.

Rating: 7/10

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Review: Itsu 3 Minute Noodle Pot [Thai Spicy Flavour]

Even though I've recently finished university, I've found it hard to readjust to normal day-to-day life. By that, I mean that I still have this strange desire inside of me to consume Pot Noodles and other products of the same ilk.
Thankfully, though, I appeared to have found a product that will allow me to satisfy my craving for quick noodles, whilst also throwing away that "I'm a poor student" reputation that these products often come with.

     Itsu is a company that has a range of restaurant and shops in London specialising in sushi and salads, and even though I've never eaten at one of their establishments before, I figured that owning a few fancy restaurants would mean that their noodles would be top notch.

The broth tastes horrible. 

Going broth-less won't leave your breathless, either.

On the face of it, the noodles look rather nice. The packaging looks a bit more fancy than most of the 'run of the mill' noodle snacks on the market. Open the plastic lid, and you'll find a long and deep 'spork' [which, sadly, is about as useful as a chocolate ashtray]; cooked, soft noodles [which are a refreshing alternative to the dry noodle-clumps that most of these products provide]; a sachet of dried vegetables; and a sachet of 'heavenly broth paste'.

Sadly, however, that's where the beauty of the 3 Minute Noodle Pot ends. The broth that is provided appears to have gone a bit too heavy on the lemongrass and ginger, to the point where it goes past being exotic, and tastes like a cocktail of bleach, and alcohol hand-rub, with a hint of Dettol. Remove the God-awful broth from the pot, and sadly the noodles taste absolutely bland. The dried vegetables, which make the noodles look incredibly fancy, do absolutely nothing for the taste of the product - a sentiment that really sums up the Itsu 3 Minute Noodle Pot quite well. The only thing this noodle dish really has going for it is that it's a country mile ahead of the competition on aesthetics alone. But if you'd actually like something tasty to eat, and not just something pretty to waste time on and stare at, this product isn't for you.

Sadly, I won't be recommending this product to anyone. Other than buying another tub simply to hide some Pot Noodle in, I don't think I'll ever consider purchasing Itsu 3 Minute Noodles ever again.

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Product Review: JML Point'n'Paint

There's one part of painting that particularly resounds with me, and that's "pain". When it comes to decorating a room, I can turn absolutely anything into a Picasso-esque abstract masterpiece.

This summer, feeling rather boisterous, and harbouring a massive burst of unspent creativity, I decided to paint my bedroom. Viewers of my YouTube videos will know that, for the past half-a-decade [at least], my room has been a garish green colour [or, as Dulux called it, "Fruit Fool 2."]

This time, however, I've decided to go the extra mile, and I've resorted to covering my walls in an overbearing blue [or, as Wilkinson call it: "Electric Blue".]

Since my paintbrushes and I are not on speaking terms since our last petty squable [painting the living room white a few years ago], I decided to invest in the item you see above -  the JML Point'n'Paint. According to the wondrous video that's played above these products in stores, you don't need to tape around any fixtures and fittings on your walls, and you can paint an entire room in less than an hour. These claims, however, are probably geared towards people who have an iota of common sense and artistic talent. But how would they fare with your common-ore urban idiot [i.e. me]?
[Find out after the very small jump!]
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JML are usually renowned as a company that hold true to their claims, and make devices and products that actually help consumers out in their own homes. But with the Point'n'Paint, they may have overstretched themselves.

Firstly, while the thought of painting an entire room in less than an hour sounds fantastic, you may want to hold your horses. At best, even while listening to a bunch of uptempo, modern dance songs, you'll probably find that you'll do one wall in about an hour. I'm not sure if the JML marketing department lost the memo on this one, but to be classed as a 'room', something ideally needs to have four walls. That means that, most likely, you'll be spending at least four hours on a room. While that doesn't sound too bad, I'll draw your attention to two of the words in that sentence: "at least". I say "at least" because the Point'n'Paint does not spread the paint evenly across your wall. What tends to happen is that you end up with a massive splodge of paint where you start your stroke, and a massive splodge where you end it, with the bit in between making you wonder which universe all your paint has somehow magically teleported to.

Because of this lack of coverage, not only will you need to add a second and sometimes third coat, but by the time you get to your second coat, you'll be in for a nasty surprise.

JML's products usually have great build quality, but the pads that apply the paint to your walls, however, seem to made out of dandelion clocks, and held together with sweat and spit from the factory floor. After just about holding on for one coat of paint, they lose all friction, tear off the bottom of the pad, and fall to the floor [which, in my case, made it look like a ghost of a Smurf/Na'vi crossbreed].

Of course, this is a fantastic thing for JML, as you need to repeatedly run back to the shops and buy yet another set of pads to paint with. If you listen carefully as it thunks into your basket or trolley, you can hear a cash-register chime and a CEO cackle, somewhere in the direction of JML's head office.

In short, while the JML Point'n'Paint is a good idea for novices like me, it simply does not do the job very well, thanks to its shoddy build quality, and its lack of ability to spread paint properly. Unfortunately, then, it looks like I will have to cancel my application to re-decorate the roof of the Sistine Chapel. It also looks like painting, if you excuse the 'gangsta' turn of phrase, will remain exactly that: "pain ting."

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