This unique stand mixer style is your excuse to finally indulge in a KitchenAid

As always, the KitchenAid Colour of the Year has caused a stir. This time it’s a stir (mix, knead, and whisk) in the colour spearmint: refreshing, reinvigorating, and refined. At first glance, it looks like another beautiful addition to the brand's line-up, but when I saw it in person, I realised the real story isn’t just their special colour.

If you’ve ever searched for the best stand mixer, you'll have been inundated with compilations of the best KitchenAids of all time and their lookalikes. Each year, the brand selects the same model for showcasing a limited edition design. And that stand mixer is the best of the best: the 4.7L Artisan Tilt Head Stand Mixer. It's stationed in my kitchen as we speak, so I'm more than familiar with the model's unrivalled power, consistent performance, and iconic silhouette. However, this time, what makes the Colour of the Year stand out isn't its familiar elegance, nor is it the cheerful spearmint colourway, it's the unusual texture.

Instead of the usual glossy enamel, this edition has a soft, sand-textured finish. It’s subtle, almost understated in photos, but in person it completely changes the feel of the mixer. There’s a matte depth to it, a tactile quality that makes it feel more design object than appliance. You can buy a KitchenAid in over 30 colours, but a texture shift like this is rare. And that’s what makes this one extraordinary.

KitchenAid Colour of the Year Spearmint Stand Mixer

Let's start with what sets the KitchenAid Colour of the Year Stand Mixer apart from all the other models in their collection. The Colour of the Year is a limited-edition stand mixer, which means that it is special for two reasons. The first is, rather obviously, the colour. And the second is the accessories.

Having seen this in person, I love the spearmint colour even more than the pictures. KitchenAid spent three years tracking trends and refined the blue-green colour into this bright, fresh hue that works as well with other fun, pops of colour in your kitchen as it would with neutrals. Having this on the counter, it would constantly catch my eye, without being a focal point of attention. It’s been a universal favourite amongst the family, but what takes things up one more level is the unique finish - something KitchenAid has added into the mix for this year only.

KitchenAid’s usual glossy enamel is beautiful, but it’s polished, almost pristine. This soft, sand-matte finish diffuses light rather than reflecting it, which gives the spearmint a chalkier, more nuanced tone. It feels warmer and more contemporary: less retro diner and more curated kitchen. There’s also a tactile element that you don’t get with the classic finish. It has a gentle, velvety resistance under your hand, which makes lifting the tilt-head or steadying the bowl feel subtly more secure. And in practical terms, it disguises fingerprints and micro-scratches better than gloss, so it maintains a fresh, “just unboxed” look for longer. More than anything though, it turns the mixer into a design piece. It softens the silhouette, adds depth to the colour, and makes the whole appliance feel considered, not just colourful, and really, truly elevated.

It's also important to note the special extras that come with this KitchenAid Colour of the Year Stand Mixer, because, aside from the spearmint shade and sandy texture, they’re what sets it apart from the other KitchenAids.

The expanded accessory kit comes with a flex-edge beater (like the standard k-beater, but with a silicone edge), dough hook, and wire whisk. Those are the three accessories that come with any KitchenAid stand mixer, so the bonus, extra accessories that you get are a second 2.8L stainless steel bowl, a scraper, and the pastry blender. Let's talk about what these are like in practice in a little more detail.

What’s the KitchenAid like to use?

When it comes to all the classic tests - cake batters, brownies, bread dough, whipped cream - this performs identically to every other KitchenAid Artisan 4.7L Tilt-Head Mixer, which is to say: extremely well. It creams butter and sugar into a pale, aerated base in minutes; it combines wet and dry brownie ingredients into a glossy, cohesive batter without overmixing; it whips cream to stable soft and stiff peaks with excellent volume; and it kneads enriched and lean doughs with steady, consistent torque.

The planetary action reaches the sides and base of the bowl efficiently, and the motor handles heavier bread dough without whining or wobbling. If you’ve used an Artisan before, you know what you’re getting here: reliable, powerful, and reassuringly consistent performance. The difference this year isn’t about capability, it’s all about the character of their limited edition style, as well as all the extra accessories.

In testing, the flex-edge attachment made a measurable difference to mixing efficiency: it continuously wiped the bowl’s interior wall, reducing the need to stop and manually scrape down the sides. I found it delivered a silky batter in fewer rotations too. When creaming butter and sugar, I noticed finer aeration and a more consistent emulsion, with no dense streaks clinging to the base, which is always a winner for me in my busy kitchen.

What are the bowl and scraper like to use?

The spare 2.8L bowl also proved more useful than I expected. allowing me to whip cream to stiff peaks while resting enriched dough in the other, without interrupting workflow. And the scraper accessory is one that I recently discovered on a bakery course at The River Cottage (Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall’s place). It’s brilliant for scraping the bowl, lifting sticky bread, shaping it, and cutting it with ease. These are relatively inexpensive - I bought mine for £7 at the end of my bread making day - and it was one of the best little investments I’ve ever made.

What is the pastry blender attachment like?

The pastry blender attachment is where this edition really feels special. Unlike the standard flat beater, the pastry blender is designed to cut cold butter into flour without overworking it and that distinction matters.

When I made shortcrust pastry, it evenly distributed small, pea-sized butter pieces through the flour, creating a mixture that was sandy (very apt for the unique finish of this KitchenAid), loose, and beautifully aerated. Crucially, it prevented the butter from smearing, which protects those little pockets of fat that create flake and tenderness once baked. The result was a pastry that was crisp at the edges and delicately crumbly through the centre.

I also used it for shortbread biscuit dough, because it’s a particularly a butter-forward recipe where I wanted that buttery, crumbly texture rather than chew. It kept the dough slightly coarse, limiting gluten development and giving me biscuits that baked with crisp edges and a buttery, crumbly middle. It’s the special attachment you don’t realise you need until you use it, especially if you hate getting your hands into cold butter.

How does the Salter British Bakes Stand Mixer compare?

If you've felt inspired by KitchenAid's Colour of the Year Stand Mixer and you want to bring some spearmint into your home, you have options. Or, an option, singular. As soon as I saw KitchenAid launch their 2026 stand mixer, I was reminded of Salter's £79.99 stand mixer, which is a very similar colour, but one tenth of the price.

You can see the Salter Bakes British Stand Mixer in green on the left in the image above next to the KitchenAid Spearmint on the right. And the similarities are striking. Both offer a retro-inspired silhouette and a pastel green finish, which is perfect if you want the pop of colour, but not the price tag. Having used them side by side, however, I'd say that the experience is different. Even the KitchenAid’s sand-textured coating gives it a depth and tactility that the glossy Salter simply doesn’t replicate.

In baking practicalities, the KitchenAid’s bowl is slightly smaller (by 300ml), but the bowl has a useful handle and you gain superior motor power, smoother planetary action, and more comprehensive attachments, including the pastry blender and flex-edge beater. In testing, I found the KitchenAid mixed faster, incorporated ingredients more evenly, and reached the base of the bowl more effectively, leaving fewer unmixed pockets.

The Salter held its own, whipping up a mean lemon cake and well-risen country loaf of bread, but it was slower, a little louder, and it needed a touch more interference. Where the Salter is perfect is if you are looking for a budget-friendly style lookalike. The KitchenAid is a long-term investment in performance.

Should you buy the Salter British Bakes Stand Mixer?

You’ll already have an idea of whether this is the stand mixer for you: it’s an exciting model for anyone who is bananas about baking. It’s the stand mixer that suits a confident home baker who already knows they love a KitchenAid and wants something that feels collectible and extra special.

If you bake regularly (layer cakes, celebration bakes, enriched breads, pastry) the additional attachments expand what you can do without buying extras later. The pastry blender is a real star, but even the subtle silicone edge on the flex-edge beater makes a big difference for scraping every last scrap from the sides. There’s also the spare 2.8L bowl and scraper too: these little pieces are more than just the cherry on top of your baking accessories, they’re little luxuries that make baking feel like a treat.

This KitchenAid is also perfect for anyone who sees their kitchen as a design space. The spearmint shade is joyful, but the sandy matte texture is what makes it feel elevated rather than novelty. It’s subtle, tactile, and far more sophisticated in person than photographs suggest. You’re buying it because it performs beautifully, but also because every time you walk into your kitchen, it’ll catch your eye and make you want to bake a cake or whip up some meringues. Bon appetite.

How we test stand mixer

At woman&home, we have a series of standardised tests that we put every stand mixer through. I work from creaming butter and sugar together to form a base for cake mixes and cookie doughs, as well as brownie batters and buttercream icings. Then, I whip cream to check the speed and aeration of a mixer, as well as kneading dough to check the power. By the end of these tests, I should have a good idea of how versatile and powerful each stand mixer is. I'll also compare the stand mixer to give you a good idea of value for money, so you know whether you're getting the right model for you. If you still have questions, don't hesitate to email me, or you can read more on our dedicated page for how we test stand mixers.