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Four reasons to pull out your phone at the bar to do something other than drunk dial
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Mixology is an under-appreciated skill. Anyone who has ever dropped a lime wedge into a gin and tonic thinks they can create their own cocktail. This misconception was the genesis of the McLovin, a yellow concoction I made for a family cocktail-making contest. It had mint-infused vodka— made from scratch—white wine, gin, pineapple juice and lime cordial. And it tasted like someone had soaked a bitter gourd and some stale aniseed in a can of pineapples. The rest of my family prepared similarly undrinkable tipples, barring my father, who, with his years of experience, did not quite know how to make cocktails but did know when to cheat. He ignored the stipulation that the drink had to be an original and pulled a recipe off the internet.
When preparing a cocktail, even if it’s just a big bowl of punch for reliably determined drinkers, you would be well-advised to use a tested recipe. You could just search for one online; Google launched a new tool in March that tells you how to prepare cocktails when you search for them on Google Chrome on your smartphones. But if you want a more interactive experience, there are several apps. Acclaimed mixologist Jim Meehan has launched one called PDT—after the New York bar Please Don’t Tell, where Meehan used to work—that has more than 400 recipes that can be searched by the base spirit, the type of cocktail and date of creation. It costs $9.99 ( ₹ 620) and is for professional bartenders or serious mixology enthusiasts. But there are some free apps out there that are sufficient for amateurs looking to experiment. This list reviews two easy-to-use cocktail apps and a couple of other apps that will help you make decisions on what to drink.
Mixology
iOS, Android
This app has over 7500 cocktail and mocktail recipes that you can search by category or ingredient. The easiest way to use the app is through the Liquor Cabinet feature. From a list of ingredients pick the ones you currently have in your bar, and Mixology will tell you exactly what cocktails you can make with them. You will be surprised how many drinks you can make with just a bottle of rum, some juice and common items such as sauces, tea, coffee and milk in your cupboards. Mixology is specific with instructions, telling you exactly which glass to use with each cocktail, how many ice cubes are ideal and what to garnish the drink with. The only difficulty with the app is that there are so many ingredients and cocktails listed that you often get lost figuring out what Galliano is or where you can buy Fresca. There is an ad free paid version.
My Cocktail Bar
iOS, Android
This app has just under 300 select cocktails. The smaller number makes it easier to use. On downloading the app, set up your Bar Shelf by picking which ingredients you have. The app then tells you, like Mixology does, which cocktails you can make. It adds value by listing cocktails you could make if you bought just one more ingredient. The cocktails are always displayed with reference to what you have in your bar. So, even when you browse through the entire list, you can see exactly how many more ingredients you’d need to buy to make each cocktail.
This is also a great app if you are at the wine shop. It tells you how many cocktails individual ingredients can be a part of. When I learned Angostura bitters could be used in 14 different cocktails, a bottle went straight in my cart.
Vivino
iOS, Android
Over nine million people have downloaded Vivino, which is important as with this app you depend on other users’ ratings and reviews to judge wines. Its ease of use makes the app attractive. You take a picture of any wine label, and Vivino recognizes it and provides you with a description, reviews and an average user rating. Once you’re done, you can rate the wine and review it, to add data to the community. Vivino has quite a few Indian users, so many Indian wines have been rated by more than 200 people. One drawback is that a lot of the average ratings hover between three and four out of five stars, perhaps because extreme opinions tend to even out. Also, I found that several award-winning Indian wines received a relatively low rating. To use it more effectively, follow people whose opinions you respect, like on Twitter, and read their reviews and recommendations.
The app also has a feature that allows you to scan the area around your location for wines available at restaurants and bars, but this does not work that well in India as not many establishments have shared their wine lists on the app. You can upgrade to a premium version of Vivino for ₹ 300 a month, or ₹ 3100 a year, which will provide you with a personal buying guide that tracks your tastes and recommends rare wines based on them.
mLiquorSaleCheck
iOS, Android
Developed by the Delhi government, this app serves a far more basic function. It tells you whether the alcohol bottle you are buying has come through an excise-approved system. This will help you avoid buying any bottle that could contain spurious liquor. The app, which only works for alcohol sold within Delhi, scans barcodes of bottles and provides details on the brand and size of the bottle. Most importantly, it informs you whether the bottle is authentic or may contain illicit liquor.
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