Wherefore art thou OmniBlend?

Hannah Sunderani
Apr 19, 2016
4 min read

My newest and beloved family member, the Blender OmniBlend I ONYX™

Over the past few years I've been through my fair share of blenders. From the cheap $30 blenders to the high performance blenders (HPB's). I've had more blenders than boyfriends! And, like boyfriends, I learned something from each and every one - my likes and dislikes, and ultimately what I'm looking for in a lifetime companion.

In Canada, my most recent blender was the Blendtec. After my 10th or 11th "regular market" blender I decided it time to invest in an HBP. The Blendtec was good, but to be honest, I always wished I had dished out the extra bucks for the Vitamix. I had decided to purchase the Blendtec instead of the Vitamix to save on expense. It was about $300 cheaper and on paper they performed the exact same; so it seemed like a no brainer. But after purchasing it I realized I may have been mistaken...

In a nutshell, here's why:

A warranty you NEED: I hate admitting this, but I went through THREE Blendtec's in less than a year! Yeah, not good... so when my friends heard I was on my third Blendtec I lost all credibility putting my paycheque towards this lemon. The first time it broke I was blending frozen strawberries and it died on me. Maybe this was my fault because I hadn't added much liquid to the mix. But the second time it died making almond butter! What's the deal with that? So, I was disappointed to say the least....Fortunately the 11 year warranty proved itself handy and they never gave me hassle about exchanging. The third Blendtec didn't give me any more problems thank goodness, (I guess third times a charm), but overall the purchasing experience was tainted.

Quality: With the Blendtec I always felt the parts didn't feel as high quality as the Vitamix. Window shopping at William Sonoma is a favourite pastime of mine, and I was constantly finding myself at the Vitamix section examining the item that could have been mine. When handling the Vitamix, it felt more durable and heavier than my Blendtec. This pained me a little, especially given the Blendtec is still a pricey machine. The Blendtec was much lighter in comparison, I thought it's plastic sticker over the pre-programmed settings also made it look cheaper, and it was extremely loud. *Sigh*...This ultimately turned into Strike 2 for the Blendtec.

Manual knob vs. pre-programmed settings: Another thing I liked about the Vitamix was the manual control knob to adjust the blending speed. With this, you were in charge of the final outcome from beginning to end. On the Blendtec you had pre-programmed buttons for smoothies, soups, dressings etc. You simply pushed a button, walked away, and one minute later had a beautifully blended outcome. Sounds great in theory, but in reality I always felt the need to be more in charge.

3-0 for the Vitamix...

So after finding out I needed to purchase a new blender upon moving to France, I was convinced I would FINALLY buy the the Vitamix! I didn't even have an apartment before I began searching. I fired up my laptop and typed "Vitamix" into Amazon.fr when suddenly, my jaw hit the floor...

The Vitamix is 1000 euros in France!!!!

Whhhhhhaaaaaaa!?!?!

I guess it's safe to assume I WOULDN'T be buying the Vitamix....Devastated, I went back to the drawing board.

A few Google searches later, I narrowed it down to three options: the Blendtec, Vitamix and OmniBlend. For reasons described above I passed on the Blendtec and starting looking into features of the OmniBlend. This is where I discovered the Blender OmniBlend I ONYX™. This OmniBlend and the Vitamix must have been separated at birth because they looked identical! 2200 wattage, 2L high quality container, a manual control knob (yes!), pulse button, and BPA free! But the best part of all.....

The OmniBlend is (only) 235 euros in France!

Okay, so I know what you're thinking. "That's still expensive!!" I know, I know. But, I'm going to take a moment to give those who don't have an HPB some warning:

Once you buy an HPB, you can never go back. Never, ever, ever.

The smoothest smoothies, the beyond creamy hummus - the euphoria when ingesting these perfectly made recipes is like a drug! If there was a patch I could stick on my arm to rid me of this addiction trust me I would use it. But I've embraced life on the dark side; and I was willing to pay the price.

One click later the blender was mine! A few days later it arrived in the form of a brown paper box on my doorstep. Mitch and I brought it inside and began to tear it open. I was excited and anxious all at the same time. I was praying to god I wouldn't have the same issue with the OmniBlend as I had with the Blendtec - that feeling of regret having not purchased the Vitamix.

But what happened next was love at first sight....

I picked up the beautiful, clean, sparkling container and it had the exact durable, high quality feel as I remembered those days in William Sonoma. It felt expensive, and it looked badass! This OmniBlend was beautiful. It was just like the Vitamix I had always longed for, but BETTER. It even came with a nut milk bag to make my own almond milk!! This blender knew my needs! It was like having a mind reader in the form of a BPA free container.

I have been completely smitten with the OmniBlend I ONYX™ ever since! Even Mitch loves it. We've found ourself, on more then one occasion, lost in conversation about how INCREDIBLE this new addition to our family is. We love everything about it. From it's quality pieces, manual knob, power and intensity, and even down to it's complimentary nut milk bag. We can happily say (and it's about time) that this beloved blender will be a lifetime companion.