 Hey, this video is part of our Vitamix 101 course. Yeah, you can buy this course where you'll get the recipes, shopping lists, quizzes to test your knowledge, support from us, and lifetime access. Otherwise, you can keep watching for free on YouTube. Either way, happy blending! Alright, so as you may or may not know, your Vitamix is built commercial grade. So when you use it correctly, your drinks are going to be as thick, luscious, and creamy as anything that you would get in a juice bar. And with the right technique, you're going to have green smoothies that have the perfect consistency and texture every time. They're going to be easy to make and require a little to no manual intervention. And you're not going to need recipes and really be able to make them with any ingredients. And so to accomplish these goals, we're going to discuss a few things. First, loading method. The order in which ingredients should be added to the container. Then we're going to discuss the ramp, how to properly accelerate and decelerate your machine to get it to work most efficiently. After that, we'll discuss ratio, how much of each ingredient we should use. And finally, we'll discuss the template. The template for making perfect green smoothies every single time. Alright, first things first. Order matters. Let's see what I did there. You should be adding ingredients to your container as follows. Red, leafy greens, soft, watery fruit, hard, fresh items, and then frozen stuff. Basically, it's the softest stuff first and the hardest stuff last. Why? Because loading in this order, your Vitamix is going to run much more efficiently. Well, how so? Well, the liquid at the bottom helps pull the ingredients down into the blade. Also, it helps the blade assembly process all the ingredients when there's a little bit of lubrication, like water or milk, to mix all the ingredients. And finally, the hard stuff at the top helps push all the ingredients down into the blade. Okay, but order is not the only thing that's important. Let's talk about ratio. Generally speaking, you want about half liquid and half solid ingredients. Half and half. Why? Well, think like goalie locks and the three bears. You don't want your drink too watery and you don't want it too thick. And if you use this ratio, you shouldn't get any air bubbles and you shouldn't have a need to use the tamper at all. Certainly, it depends on how you like your drinks and you're going to get better with experience. But if you have a drink with a lot of liquids, you're going to need some frozen fruit to balance it out and of course, vice versa. So now we know about order and the proper ratio, so let's discuss the ever important ramp. Remember how we talked about the importance of running your Vitamix on high speed? Well, let's modify that. You want to get to high speed eventually. Think about it like a sports car. Sure, manual transmission cars are less common these days, but if you're familiar with them, there's one universal truth. You can't start the car in the highest gear. Why? It'll stall. The same thing goes for your Vitamix. Now, your Vitamix won't actually stall if you started on high speed, but the blend itself might. So to picture it, imagine the blade going on high speed with the ingredients not having a chance to catch up. The blade is going high speed, but the ingredients are just sitting there idly. So like a sports car, you have to start in low gear and slowly ramp up to high. Now, it depends on what you're making. Some ramps can be less gradual than others, but starting on variable speed one, ramping up to 10 and then high is crucial for getting your Vitamix to run most efficiently. Starting your blend cycle on low speed allows the blades to pull the ingredients down into the center. If you started on high speed, the ingredients might just sit there while the blade spins by, preventing the vortex from ever being created. Now, the same goes for ramping down. It's not as important as ramping up, but it's going to put the finishing touches on the blend to make for a better consistency and smoothness, but also it's going to prevent any tiny little air bubbles from forming at the top. Ramping it down also prevents any accidental explosions the next time you use it. Moral of the story, start on low and slowly ramp up to high for the best results. Alright, now let's discuss the template to make perfect green smoothies every time. Listen, using a recipe at first is helpful, it's comforting, but eventually you're going to want to be able to use whatever's in the fridge, call it a kitchen sink smoothie. Alright, the green smoothie template. The first thing you want to get is a green. You can use kale or spinach or chard, whatever that is. Fresh or frozen, it doesn't really matter. They're all loaded with nutrients and going to make you feel incredible. The second piece of the template is a super sweet fruit. Mango or grapes were great, but they're both going to provide a really nice consistency and give your smoothie a great aftertaste. Okay, the third part of the template is something creamy. Banana works best, but I know some people are allergic to banana and a good substitute is raw cashews. Alright, step four is to pick a milk. Almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, those are just fine. Say anything that's dairy-free is going to be your best bet. The fifth step is a sweetener, honey or agave nectar. Sometimes I like to use stavia extract. Anything that's going to bring out the flavors in your smoothie, but does not need to be sugar. Alright, so those are the basic five. A green, a super sweet fruit, something creamy, a milk, and a sweetener. But if you want to bring your smoothie up to the next level, add some seeds. Flax seeds are a great way to add cholesterol-reducing properties and dietary fiber without affecting the flavor. These are pre-ground flax seeds, but you can definitely add full, unground flax seeds to the top while it's blending. Alright, now that we have the template for making the perfect green smoothie, we're almost ready to make one, but first, here are three bonus tips. Alright, bonus tip number one. Here's one ingredient that basically guarantees you get the creamiest, most decadent smoothies every time. What is it? Frozen mango. Yes, fresh mango is unbelievable, so delicious, but there's something about frozen mango that makes your smoothies literally unbeatable. Alright, bonus tip number two. Only when the blend is finished is key to getting perfect tasting smoothies. Think like when you were learning how to cross the street. Stop, look, and listen. It's just like with your Vitamix. Stop. Let the machine run for at least 45 seconds. It's going to be tempting to stop it early, but don't. Look. Look for tiny pieces of produce. When you can't see them, it's probably good. And listen. Listen for the machine to stop working so hard. Alright, bonus tip number three, dealing with big air bubbles. Now, if you're doing a good job with the ramp, the ratio, and the loading order, it shouldn't be an issue. But if it is, try these three things. One, slow the speed down so the blade can catch the ingredients. If that doesn't work, try using the tamper to push the ingredients down into the blade. And if that doesn't work, turn the machine off and use a spatula to mix everything manually. Phew. Can you believe there's so much to know about making green smoothies? I can't believe it either. But now that we know everything, let's go ahead and make one ourselves. We're going to make a Caroline's Green Smoothie. So when you're ready, mark this complete and head on over to the next unit. Hey, it's Lenny Gale with Life is No Yoke. 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