For anyone that might be using a Vitamix for their kava... I thought I'd killed mine today. I've been using the vitamix with a little kneading for 2nd washes, running it on low. Today, it just shut down on me while mixing my batch, I guess the motor got too hot (to give credit to the machine, I did get somewhat distracted while it was running, probably let it go for about 15 minutes). It has seen some very heavy usage, especially in these last several years, and the thing is at least 12 years old; this is the first time it has ever shut down. A quick call to customer service reassured me that my model does indeed have an automatic shut-off mechanism. The information that was interesting for me to find out is that the vitamix runs best on high speed, running it on low or any of the variable speeds causes the motor to generate the most heat (makes sense to me now). So from here on out, I'll be running it on high in intervals for blending my kava.