This Breville LCD blender was used to make Ajo Blanco, Chimichurri Sauce, Honey Dew Frescas and to grind flax seed with happy results. All recipes that proved either taxing or messy for the stick blender with its volume constraints. As a blender it is top notch with five speeds, and two self-adjusted preprogrammed cycles – ice crush and smoothie. The ice crush cycle pulses, which worked well to turn nuts and herbs into uniform and separate pieces. This cycle automatically pulses with decreasing speed with enough time between pulses to monitor food processing progress and to turn everything to mush. There is a snow speed for making lightly shaved ice for desserts, drinks or as a chilly bed for raw shellfish. We used it to making ice snow and as a finishing touch to the puree cycle to turn flax seed into a powder. 

No appliance manual ever admits it is a hassle to clean, but many should. The same design features that provide performance also make this blender legitimately easy to clean, namely the wide blade and bowl design. The straight lines of the jar and the ergo-twist off blade contribute to the easy clean credentials. 

Appliance noise in a small space can be a deal breaker. In this department the Breville iKon Hemisphere LCD blender is as subtle as the design is sleek. All in all, a useful new toy that’s a joy to use.