iPhone Cocktail Apps Contest!

March 17th,
2009

Posted by Doug
under iPhone

iphonecocktailapps
Over the last few months, I’ve been reviewing a lot of iPhone cocktail apps, and will hit more as time goes by and I need some easy traffic have the opportunity to do so. The app market has evolved from the first, web-based apps that are usually just iPhone formatted front-ends, to some sophisticated onboard apps. Some local apps access the web for their database, while others keep it on the phone. Some focus on huge databases, while others, like Jimmy Patrick’s 101 Cocktails that I reviewed yesterday, focus on doing just one (hundred and one) things really well.
And there are a variety of little features in these apps: Random cocktail selection, shaker noises, favorite lists, and others.
Three things generally set apart iPhone apps from one another:

  • Recipe numbers and quality.
  • Photography or illustrations.
  • Those little funky features.

There’s a fourth quality determinant, whether the app includes a Pegu recipe, but we’ll pretend I’m suppressing my obsession for the moment….
My focus in this post is on those extra features. As I said, there are a bunch of them out there, but I’m sure that there is bunch more to be considered.
Let’s have a contest, shall we? In the comments, make your best suggestion for a new feature you haven’t seen in an iPhone cocktail app, but would like to. The winner will receive a package of fabulous prizes. What prizes? Three bottles of my homemade cocktail ingredients: falernum, orgeat, and Blueberry syrup. And also a free copy of Jimmy Patrick’s 101 Cocktails app for your iPhone! (iPhone not included.)
Here are the rules:
Make as many suggestions as you like, but one per comment, please.
If you see a suggestion from someone else that has already been used by a current app, please let us know which app has that feature!
If more than one person submits generally the same idea, I’ll go with the first submitter, unless another makes a significant improvement.
In other words, I am the sole judge, and if I get arbitrary, then that’s just the way it’s going to be.
21 or older please!
Deadline for submissions will be April 1, 2009.

Let me hear from you!

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21 Responses to “iPhone Cocktail Apps Contest!”

  1. 1
    jimmy Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    I think every app should feature a Pegu Club Cocktail.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  2. 2
    Jac Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    Very subtle, Jimmy… Well done, really.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  3. 3
    Rick Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    Jimmy, that totally wasn’t fair. What if an app came with a sock puppet protector case in the shape of The Broad for your iPhone?

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  4. 4
    Blair, aka Trader Tiki Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    Food pairing suggestions.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  5. 5
    Doug Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    Blair,
    Excellent. A real suggestion!

    As for you, Rick…
    You mean like this?

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  6. 6
    Chris S. Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    Checkboxes for major ingredients and then a list of drinks you can make using only those ingredients (and some assumed ingredients, like ice and water.)

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  7. 7
    jimmy Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    Chris,

    I think this is a feature of Simon Difford’s Cocktails Made Easy. You can click on the bottles of stuff you have, and it will show you what to make with those items. Also, one of the concepts of Simon’s app is that you only need 14 bottles to make all 500 drinks in his database. Try his app.

    Jimmy

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  8. 8
    jimmy Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

    Oh, yeah, maybe Simon will comment, since this will show up in his google alerts tomorrow?

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  9. 9
    Doug Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    Yeah, Cocktails Made Easy is a good app (must review) as well.
    It uses Chris’s exact concept, in elegant form.
    It could use a Pegu recipe, however….

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  10. 10
    megan Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 10:55 am

    Looking for an app that will let you input whatever you have on hand and it’ll give a recipe! anything like that out there? …has it already been discussed and i totally missed it?

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  11. 11
    vitalis Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    I’d love to see a substitution app – “don’t use triple sec, use Creole Shrubb”…that kind of thing.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  12. 12
    Doug Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Megan,

    I think what you are looking for is Cocktails Made Easy. But it won’t help with your more exotic ingredients.

    Vitalis,
    Please expand what you mean. An app that just gives suggested substitutions for recipes found elsewhere, or one with recipes using non-standard ingredients?

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  13. 13
    vitalis Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Sure. I was thinking of something that would give the standard recipes but then also include suggestions on how vary the drink without straying too far from the original.
    So for something like the margarita, the app would suggest maybe St. Germain instead of triple sec.
    The goal would be to spur creativity and experimentation without forgetting the standard recipe as a point of reference.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  14. 14
    sylvan Says:
    March 18th, 2009 at 3:58 pm

    The ability to enter in your own recipes, so as to have them handy when ‘mobile’, or edit existing recipes to your preferences.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  15. 15
    gary regan Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 5:43 am

    Keep me posted about the job at nsa, wudja? Sound right up my alley. I wanna be paid in metric Euros, though . . .

    And while I’m here, wanna check out yet another iPhone cocktail app? http://ardentspirits.com/blogs/oddsandends/archive/2009/03/15/ardent-spirits-iphone-opod-touch-app.aspx

    Cheers, Gaz Regan

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  16. 16
    Doug Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 10:05 am

    No problem, Mission Specialist Regan! Are metric Euros 10% bigger than regular ones? I’m sure we can work it out regardless, though you should expect a bunch of tips to be in Rubles….
    And Flip n’ Drink is on my list of drinks to review real soon now. (If you look at the graphic I made atop this post, you’ll see its icon.)

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  17. 17
    gary regan Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 10:09 am

    Thanks Doug! Metric Euros are 3/8 bigger, I think . . .

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  18. 18
    Martin Says:
    March 31st, 2009 at 2:09 pm

    How about a drink app that ties into location somehow, and tells you where to get a particular drink closest to you. You could rate bars/resturants based on EACH DRINK in that location. Sounds like a nightmare of data, but it could be done with user-generated content.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  19. 19
    Russ Cobbe Says:
    April 7th, 2009 at 10:41 am

    We will be releasing an iphone app for our very popular drink site iDRINK.com. This has the ability to find all the recipes you can make with your ingredients. We have 32000 recipes and about 160 ingredients to selection from

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  20. 20
    Dean Says:
    July 20th, 2009 at 10:58 am

    These are all cool apps, check out iShot Machine though, it’s not just a bartending recipe app it’s like a drinking game also.

      (Quote)  (Reply)

  21. 21
    Chuck Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 8:56 am

    I second Sylvan’s suggestions – the ability to customize recipes, and to add our own recipes. A mire specific database of drinks and the option to make substitutions. One can dream…

      (Quote)  (Reply)

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