The Breville Boss To Go is a sleek, powerful personal blender with a die-cast metal driveshaft. It easily liquifies leafy greens and finely grinds seeds.
Perhaps it is just me, but as a category there doesn’t seem to be a lot of design love in personal blenders? The Nutri Ninja has Auto IQ over everything. MagicBullet’s comparative product, the Nutribullet, is covered in logos.
Next to others in the space Breville’s personal blender stands out. It has a stainless-steel body that comes off as both attractive and durable.
Please see the full review on Product Notes. There I’ve included my long-term test notes and further discussion about the Boss To Go.
What’s included
What’s Included? The blender base, coupling, two tumblers and a recipe book.
Pictured above is everything that comes in the box. A 1,000 watt blender base, blade coupling, 25 and 18oz tumblers and a recipe book.
I would have gladly paid for a package that had another set of tumblers, but Breville doesn’t appear to offer one right now.
The little big details
According to Charles and Ray Eames the details are not the details. It’s actually the details that make the product. That’s much inline with my own design philosophy. It’s the collection of little things—these little big details—that actually shape our experiences with products.
Below are some of the details that make the Boss To Go an exceptional personal blender.
Metal Coupling
Every personal blender I researched had a plastic coupling. That was not the case with this blender. A die-cast metal driveshaft connects the motor of the Boss To Go to the blades.
I don’t have any evidence, but my hunch is this blender will last longer because of it.
Cord Grip
Breville uses a 3-prong power cord for the blender. That connector has a little hole in the center that makes it easier to disconnect from stubborn the wall outlets.
Like many great design details this feature won’t sell any more blenders for Breville. However, little things like this show a lot of thought went into the design of this product.
Blade Design
Most people expect blenders to have razor-sharp blades. If you’ve ever cleaned a Vitamix blender, you know that you have to pay close attention. It’s easy to cut yourself on the blades.
The truth is sharp blades don’t necessarily result in a finer blend. Blentec, the primary Vitamix competitor, opts for blunt blades. Blunt blades tend to be better for crushing things—think ice or frozen fruit for smoothies.
Quite frankly I see sharp blades as a negative. They often require a shake or two when blending frozen items as the blades cut right through. The bigger issue is having to pay close attention when cleaning the blades.
Pictured above is the coupling for the Boss To Go. It has four serrated blades. These are not as dull as Blentec blades, but it would be incredibly difficult to cut yourself with this design. I think it’s a solid compromise.
Cord Management
You can wrap and tuck the cord around the base of the Boss To Go. This allows you to shorten or lengthen the cord based on how close to the outlet you keep the blender. If it’s close, you can wrap the cord most of the way so you don’t have stray cords all over your kitchen counter.
Cord management is just another detail that I love, but won’t sell any more blenders.
Cup Design
If there is one feature that sets the Boss To Go out from other personal blenders it has to be the design of the two tumblers that come with it. From my research, it was the only personal blender that provided cups that not come with threaded rims.
For comparison here’s the Breville tumbler compared with a Magic Bullet cup. The Magic Bullet came with additional tops (that I never used) to screw on over the threads. Just comparing the cups it is obvious that the Breville design is going to be better to drink out of.
I’ve been using this blender for over a year now. To date the threadless tumbler has not had any leaks.
Making a smoothie
My go-to smoothie is generally a combination of protein powder, greek yogurt and frozen berries. My previous blender, a Magic Bullet, was fine for that. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the horsepower to properly blend nuts or leafy greens. Every time I would experiment with adding greens it would just shred them. You’d have bits left in the smoothie that you would have to chew—it wasn’t ideal.
For the Boss To Go, I’ve been making the same post-workout smoothie. Specifically, here’s what’s in the smoothie above.
- Chocolate Protein Powder by ON —it really is the best tasting
- Greek Yogurt
- Frozen Raspberries
- Frozen Blackberries
- Frozen Strawberries
- Frozen Bananas
- Fresh Kale or Spinach
- A bit of Water
OK, let’s get blending.
Unlike the Magic Bullet and Nutribullet, you twist the top to start blending. Many people found this difficult. Of the negative reviews I found about the Boss To Go, this was consistently the top reason people didn’t like the blender.
I found it more awkward than difficult. It takes a little torque, but I don’t think it’s a deal breaker at all.
The final product. Everything has been completely liquified.
You can see little specs of the kale, but that is it. The shake has a slight green hue from the kale, but you can’t really taste it over the fruit and chocolate. You certainly don’t have to chew it like with lower-power blenders.
For the most part the Boss To Go has pulverized the raspberry and blackberry seeds.
What’s not to like
Boss To Go is a pretty lame name. I get it. The Boss is their flagship blender. It’s easier to make smoothies to go with a personal blender. Seems like Breville missed an opportunity to name this the Mini Boss. The name doesn’t appear written anywhere on this device, so this is a bit petty.
I wish this came with more than two tumblers (or two of the same size). Packages that include extra cups seem to only appear at the lower-end of the market. With that said, extra tumblers don’t appear under accessories on the Breville site.
As I mentioned earlier, the twist mechanism to start blending feels a little odd. The blender base is heavy enough where it doesn’t move. Maybe I’m just used to pushing down on the Magic and Nutribullet.
What to like about the Boss To Go
OK, so a quick recap. What makes this the best personal blender?
This Breville Boss to Go review took a look at all the details the blender had to offer. Most blenders in this price range—really this segment—have plastic couplings. The Breville has a die-cast metal coupling and driveshaft. That will certainly help this blender last.
The smooth-rimmed tumblers are fantastic. Generally you’d unscrew the cup from the blender top. Then you would screw on a rim or a top provided by the manufacturer. Or, if you’re lazy like me you ignore the threading and drink it without screwing on the top. Other than the clever mechanism, they are super durable. They have to be some of the best drinkware included in any set I’ve seen.
Other stuff to like:
- BPA-free tumblers
- Cord management
- Spillovers drain to side (instead of through a drain bottom of the blender)
Breville Boss To Go
A sleek, powerful personal blender with a die-cast metal driveshaft. I’m a fan of the stainless-steel finish and smooth-rimmed tumblers included.
Other Sources
- Blending with Henry, Breville Boss To Go Personal Blender review, April 2016
- The Food Mentalist, Breville – The Boss To Go Plus – A Review, May 2016
- Blender Authority, Breville Boss To Go Review – Is It the Top Personal Blender?, May 2016
Originally published August 8, 2017
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