Rock & Rye

Have you ever walked into a liquor store and been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options? Wanted to try out a new spirit but were unsure of which brand to get? Well, thanks to the fine folks over at Proof66.com, there is an app for that. Liquor Hub aims to help you out with an app that delivers consumer and professional ratings for over 3,500 spirits. I’ve been playing with it for a couple of weeks, so lets take a look at some of the ups and downs of this app.

Liquor Hub has five main areas of interest, and we will take a look at them all. One thing to note is that since the app is tied to the database at proof66.com, an internet connection is required for the app, which is a bit of a bummer, but completely understandable.

Guru: The Guru helps you pick out a new spirit based upon regularly updated categories such as: Best of 2010, US Region, Awesome Marketing, Family Gifts, etc… Personally, this is my least favorite part of the app. Some of the categories are alright, but others seem very random in the spirits they suggest. The ‘For Your Health’ category is especially ridiculous. Bakon Vodka and Chipotle Liqueur are not going to make me more healthy, although perhaps the Smoked Salmon Vodka paired with the Eucalyptus Gum Leaf Vodak might. Some may find this section a novelty, but it doesn’t really do anything for me. If it wasn’t present, I do not think that I would find the app lacking. Also, hopefully I am enough of a Guru myself that I can find something new to try on my own.

Top 20: This is an extremely useful category as it displays the current list of top spirits in multiple categories. Proof66.com works on a rating system that takes into account scores from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Beverage Tasting Institute, Wine Enthusiast, as well as reviews by consumers on their website. As such, this list is constantly changing, and is an excellent place to start when looking for something new. The only complaint I have in this particular area, is that because the pro reviews are rated so high, spirits that have no scores post 2004 are not very highly ranked. While I understand the challenges of keeping this massive database updated, one of my favorite rums is no longer entered in many competitions after winning top honors for years, and therefore does not appear in the top 20, even though it should be at the top. I guess I’ll just have to get a bunch of people to like it and give it a positive review.

Search: Here we have some pretty cool functionality. Besides the standard search box, which allows you to search by name, distillery, flavor, or location, there is a barcode scanner which can be used to scan any bottle. Successfully scanning a barcode brings up the product page where you can get info on the product as well as it’s ratings and reviews. My two minor complaints about this section are, the scanner only works in landscape mode, which is a little bit of a pain when holding a bottle in your opposite hand. The other is that while this is a great feature, there are not barcodes for all the products in the proof66.com database. However, when no barcode is found, the option is provided for you to send an email to proof66 with the barcode number and product info. In time, I think this will be a valuable feature. I will probably end up scanning all my bottles to make sure they are added to the database.

Spirits: As you might have guessed, this is where you can find the entire database listed by category: Vodka, Liqueur, Rum, Whiskey, Tequila, Gin, Exotics. Under each category are sub-categories such as Flavored and Classic for base spirits, and descriptors for Liqueurs and Exotics. While I would maybe have split the exotics into their own categories or put them under some of the base spirits, it is still very well laid out and organized with one exception. Brandy. There is no brandy on this list. While I am not a super big brandy consumer, this is probably an area that I would benefit from having, as it is the area that I am the least knowledgeable of. Hennessy, Courvoisier, and Remy Martin are nowhere to be found in this app, which I find very surprising and a little disappointing.

Your Favorites: This is where the personalization happens. Products you like can be saved for the future, and are automatically linked to your account on Proof66.com where they can be added to a dream list, bar list, or shopping list. As this is an area that I will use a lot, I wish it had its own navigation icon at the bottom of the screen. I would choose the ability to easily navigate to my favorites over the Guru any day.

The app also features a decent list of interesting articles which range from informational to comedic to educational. All in all, this is an app that I highly recommend. At $0.99 it won’t break the bank, and you might just be rewarded by purchasing a bottle that becomes your favorite.

You can purchase this app HERE. Cheers!

Currently on iTunes you can download what I feel is one of the best cocktail apps for your iPhone or iPod touch. The app is only free until the 12th of April, so be sure to check it out pronto.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=284419213

Coctails+ was created by the minds over at cocktaildb.com. It is by far my favorite cocktail app, and features the contemporary masters collection, showcasing recipes by Jamie Boudreau, Dale DeGroff, and Gonçalo De Souza Monteiro.

Other features:

* No “noise”. All recipes were vetted by experts and nearly all have been published.
* Contemporary Masters program presents cutting-edge recipes from esteemed mixologists.
* Recipes of the same name are grouped for side-by-side comparison—a unique feature that enables the user to see how some drinks have changed over time.
* Imperial (ounces or gills) and metric (centiliters or milliliters) units.
* Mark favorites for future reference.
* Share recipes with friends through Facebook (New!), Twitter, and email.

Dry Fly Distilling School

Starting In January 2009, Dry Fly Distilling will begin offering Hand Crafted, grain to bottle, distilling classes. Two options exist, a two day or a six day course. Details are included in the above file.

When I happen to have some spare change around, I would definitely love to go to distilling school. Not really because I want to open my own distillery, but more to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the craft of distilling.

There seem to be a plethora of posting on the interwebs lately about the iPhone and drink database integration, so I thought that I would give a quick rundown on the apps, as well as some of the pros and cons for each one. I have 5 apps that we will look at. iBartender, PLBartender, Drinks, Cocktails, and PocketCocktails.

First up, lets look at the rather boring iBartender. This drink app is rather plain. It features recipes for many of the (most popular) mixed drinks, the ability to email drink recipes, search by name, or ingredient. You can also shake for a random drink.

Pros: Searching and emailing recipes.
Cons: Lackluster interface, poor measurements, no bookmarking or editing features.
Result: Probably would not recommend this particular app.

Next we have the PLBartender app. Like iBartender, I would probably look elsewhere for a good drink app. It does feature editing, but the overall recipe content is fairly small, and it lacks email capabilities.

Pros: Favorites and Editing
Cons: Mostly everything else
Result: Not worth the effort of installing on my phone.

The third app we will look at is the Drinks app. With this well put together app, you have access to more than 4500 high quality cocktail recipes. It includes a variety of old classics, as well as modern creations. It features favorites, and editing capabilities to edit any recipe in every possible way, as well as inputting your own. You can also add notes to recipies, search drinks by combinations of ingredients, and has email capabilities.

Pros: Large database, Editing, Emailing, Favorites, Notes, Search by single or multiple ingredients
Cons: Interface design is basic
Result: Definitely a winner. One of my go-to apps for cocktails, and other drinks since I can add my own recipes.

Next is the Cocktails App. Cocktails is the brainchild of the fine folks at Cocktaildb. With over 1400 recipes, Cocktails focus is mostly on classic or classically styled cocktails. You won’t find many college drinks in this baby. That can be a plus or minus depending who you are. Drinks are sorted by ingredients, flavors, base ingredient, more. A nice feature is multiple recipes. Cocktails features some cocktails evolution through time, including the date of the recipe as well as the book in which it was published. It also has a really nice look to it. One of my favorite features of this app, is the contemporary masters category of drinks. This feature includes recipes from todays preeminent mixologists, the first being 78 recipes from Jamie Boudreau.

Pros: Great interface, multiple recipes, email or twitter, contemporary masters, multiple searches.
Cons: No Editing, lack of some modern recipes.
Result: I like this app for sure. If editing or a super large database are important to you, it could be a deal breaker, but the contemporary masters program is a huge plus.

Last up is PocketCocktails. Unlike all the other apps, this one focuses on pictures. The database is relatively small (300+), but every recipe includes a full size, beautiful picture. You can scroll through the drinks alphabetically with thumbnail images, or search by name or ingredient. One beef I have is that even though it includes ingredients and instructions, they aren’t on the same page, so if I have never made the drink before (which is presumably why I need this app), I have to keep switching between pages.

Pros: Great pictures, good instructions
Cons: No email, editing, or favorites, small database
Result: Pictures are really great, and it probably took a lot of time, but there are too few recipes to make this a serious cocktail app. Also, having the ingredients and instructions on the same page would be a huge plus.

So there you have it. 5 Cocktail apps that may or may not be worth picking up. For myself I use the Cocktails and the Drinks. When and or if PocketCocktails gets a larger database and editing features I may consider adding it to the phone as well.