When we first saw the Blender Bottle at the International Home and Housewares Show—the largest annual trade show for manufacturers and retailers of housewares and other products for the home—we couldn’t believe it. It’s so simple—a plastic cup and a stainless steel ball—that we couldn’t imagine how it would mix things as well as our hand-held mixer and our blender.

But it does! The ball works like a combination whisk and ball bearing to mix the toughest ingredients quickly and thoroughly. It does so better than handheld mixers and frothers. The convenient size and pour spout make it so much easier and neater than using a mixing bowl. And it rinses clean in an instant. Is there any wonder that this savvy gadget earned our award for Best of Show?

It’s not low tech it’s no tech. You pour the ingredients you wish to blend into the cup instead of into a mixing bowl. Screw the top on give it two shakes of the wrist and your blended and ready to go. Nothing’s unblended there is no residual powder in the bottom. Taking up minimal space and needing no electricity it’s also great for boats camping the office...and for people who frequently mix powdered drinks for diet and/or nutrition.

Blender Bottle has a 28-ounce capacity and embossed ounce and milliliter markings make it easy to measure ingredients. It’s dishwasher safe—but even eggs clean up easily with just a soap and water hand-rinse.

Our cooking and eating efficiencies have been wonderfully enhanced. It will be the best $5.99 you’ve spent in a while—and one of the least expensive and most appreciated hostess gifts you can appear with. It’s also the perfect gift for anyone you know who mixes protein drinks sports drinks or diet shakes.

And let us not forget to mention that using the Blender Bottle is so much fun you just may find volunteers to help shake it up.