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Uber is buying alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion
Uber is buying the alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion to expand Eats' reach.
AI bar system ignores jerks who cut in line for drinks
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that queue patiently at the bar for their drinks because they recognize their place in the great order of things, and those that elbow their way to the front and jump the queue because they're massive jerks. If you're the latter, I see you, pal. And now, thanks to AI, so does the bartender.
The best gear for your backyard party
Ah yes, sweet summertime. The few months of the year when your time is best spent outside, and that means time in the backyard, if you're blessed with one. Here's all the gear you need to turn your backyard into an outdoor summertime haven.
Cannabis infusions are the latest evolution in beer's 10,000 year history
Archaeologists suspect that humans have been brewing beer for more than 10,000 years, which would indicate that we developed fermentation technology prior to the agricultural revolution. The oldest known beer sample dates from more than 8,000 years ago, made in China using a mix of rice, grapes, hawthorn tree fruit and honey. In the millennia that have followed, brewed beverages have spread and diversified across the globe. That trend continues to this day as brewmasters in the US and Canada experiment with a new strain of 21st century beer infusions: cannabis. It's not been easy, but our good friend science has come to the rescue.
Pepsi buys SodaStream for a future beyond cola
Traditional soda brands are facing tough times right now, as consumers move away from sugary soft drinks to healthier, low-cal options. Pepsi has already tried to diversify away from its fizzy cola roots with Aquafina water, and more recently, sparkling water brand Bubly -- now it's planning on reaching customers in their homes with the acquisition of at-home carbonated drink-maker SodaStream.
Coravin's smart wine opener doesn't remove the cork
If you're not familiar with Coravin, the company makes wine openers that allow you to pour a glass without removing the cork. The devices pierce the cork with a thin needle that doesn't remove any material, so you can have some and then continue to cellar the bottle. So-called Coravin Capsules (similar to CO2 cartridges) filled with Argon gas push the wine out of the bottle and into your glass. At CES 2018, though, the company took its wares to a whole other level with the Model 11.
Postmates' speedy booze delivery begins drop-offs in NYC and Texas
Postmates' on-demand alcohol service is now available well beyond California's borders. On top of an expansion to Miami in May, the internet delivery mainstay is now making its Drinks feature available in New York City (in Brooklyn and Manhattan) as well as Austin, Dallas and Houston. As before, the aim is to bring neighborhood stores' booze to your door in 25 minutes or less. You'll have to be in the mood for certain drinks depending on where you live, though. The NYC service focuses on wine and spirits, while the Texas offerings revolve around beers.
Untappd puts Foursquare-like beer recommendations front and center
The beer-focused app Untappd is a handy way to keep track of what you've tasted, what you liked and what your friends are drinking. This week, the suds social network completely redesigned its mobile software to add a bunch of new features. On top of a revamped UI, the app's directory of Foursquare-like events, venues and beer recommendations is now a central focus. Each time you fire up the app or go to check in a beer, you're greeted with those options in addition to trending beers, top rated brews, a global feed and trending locations.
Postmates' latest service brings you alcohol in 25 minutes or less
Let's be honest: It sucks to run out of alcohol at times you really need a drink. And heading to the closest liquor store or beer shop can be a headache when you have friends over. Thanks to a new option from Postmates, that frustration could be a thing of the past. The restaurant and store delivery service will now bring you alcohol in 25 minutes or less.
Alchema can make homebrew cider your next DIY habit
We've seen devices for brewing beer with ease at home, but what if you're more of a hard cider drinker? Well, you may soon have a countertop option that turns fresh fruit into the adult beverages as well. This is Alchema: A $299 device that takes your favorite fruits, sugar, water and yeast and transforms them into your very own craft cider. The company, which goes by the same name, calls the gadget a "smart homebrewer," a connected setup that uses an iOS app to help you select recipes and keep tabs on the fermentation process. What's more, Alchema can make cider in 1-2 weeks, mead in less than a week and wine in about 4 months.
Make better cocktails with this LED-covered Bluetooth stick
The idea of using technology to make a better cocktail is hardly new -- companies as big as Google on down to the smallest startups are trying to enable those of us with no mixing skills to make a passible Martini or Manhattan. The latest is the MixStik, an LED-covered stick you connect to your phone with Bluetooth. Once the MixStik is paired with your phone, you simply pick a cocktail recipe with the corresponding app -- the stick then lights up with colors that correspond with your selected drink's ingredients. Just drop the stick into the glass, fill it up according to the directions,and you should theoretically have your desired cocktail mixed to the correct proportions.
Here come the K-Cup drunks
My desire for a mechanized mixologist is as strong as an overproof rum. Much to my chagrin, and despite a long history of inventors toiling to perfect the drink-mixing machine, the practice is still largely the domain of human beings. That said, two Kickstarter projects are offering a new, more consumer-focused take on the "robot bartender." Ladies and gentlemen, 2015 is the year of the "Keurig for cocktails."
Sorry 007, Somabar's $430 robotic bartender won't shake your martini
"I have drunk cognac in Cognac, port in Oporto, raki in Turkey, tequila in Mexico City, moonshine in Kentucky, not to mention poteen in Fleet Street, bitter and industrial alcohol in Oxford, Yugoslav whisky in Yugoslavia, Japanese whisky in Glasgow and sweet Spanish wine and lemonade in Swansea. Also gin in England." -- Kingsley Amis, Everyday Drinking While I can't boast a list quite as long or accomplished, I've swilled my fair share of liquids over the past 32 years. Up until two weeks ago, however, I'd never met a bartender who wasn't at least mostly human.
The Big Picture: Mix precision drinks with this delightful CAD drawing
Being the bartender sounds fun, until you realize you have to crack a cocktail recipe book. Engineering to the rescue! This drawing -- originally used to test plotters -- was converted into an AutoCAD file by Florian Römhild, who later colorized it. You can see it contains all the info needed to mix classic drinks -- the volume of each ingredient (with a handy key), type of glass, garnish and whether to shake or stir. It also lets wannabe drink-slingers visualize each libation at a glance. The best part? You can stick it up on your bar for reference and a touch of geek chic. For a PDF version, hit the source. [Image credit: Florian Römhild]
Ozz takes the guesswork out of mixing cocktails
It takes time to hone your cocktail craft. Thanks to Ozz, the learning curve isn't quite so steep. The device visually guides pouring and mixing so that you don't have to worry about eyeballing the notches on a shot glass. A companion app for iPhone and Android sorts recipes and ingredients lists, allowing you to fine-tune proportions to fit your taste. Once you've settled on a beverage, the geometric Ozz base lights LEDs around the rim of a glass to let you know when you've added enough of that particular ingredient. Load sensors and lights are guided by that smartphone via Bluetooth, and after a marathon martini session, a built-in micro-USB jack handles charging. Ready to opt in? Early Kickstarter backers can secure one for €69 ($87), but those who hold out will have to fork over €99 ($125). Of course, if you choose to make that Old Fashioned with Old Crow and cheap bitters, you'll still end up with a shitty drink.
Build your own robotic bartender with Arduino and a 3D printer
You can certainly buy a ready-made drink mixing robot if you're flush with cash, but wouldn't you rather spend that money on the drinks themselves? Yu Jiang Tham thinks so -- he recently designed Bar Mixvah, a robotic bartender you can build yourself with $180 in parts. The key ingredient is an Arduino Nano microcontroller that takes your requests through a web-based interface. After that, it's mostly a matter of 3D printing the frame and wiring up the pumps that will make your beverage a reality.
Forget shots, Palcohol turns vodka into a powdered condiment
Why sip on a nice glass of scotch when you can get tipsy on salad instead? A new product called Palcohol takes the pesky liquid out of your favorite drinks; turning them into a potent powder you can just sprinkle on your hamburger for an extra "kick." The company doesn't recommend snorting it (be honest, we know that's what you were thinking), but says it can be used most anywhere else. Powders are available in straight liquor form as well as premixes like Lemon Drop and Margarita, and if you'd rather drink your booze (as if!), Palcohol can be liquefied with water and consumed just like a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Monsieur robotic bartender pours libations at home for $1,499 (hands-on)
A night out at the local watering hole can be a pain sometimes, having to elbow your way through crowds and struggle to catch the bartender's eye, all for a tasty beverage. If only we could leave all the hard work to a machine. Fortunately, Monsieur, the "robotic bartender" that we first met at TechCrunch Distrupt a few weeks ago, is back to deliver a Jetsonian experience to those who thirst for more than tech. It's certainly not the first of its kind, but the delivery method employed here is of a subtler sort, downplaying the anthropomorphic angle and hiding away the mechanism inside a streamlined casing. The home-bound version is significantly more compact (and less expensive) than the enterprise edition seen above, and it should be making its way to consumers soon. Grab a glass and join us after the break to see what's in store.
MIT makes a smartphone-controlled bartender
We've seen beer-pouring robots before, but MIT has recently put together a smartphone-controlled robot bartender, with three robot arms that can pour and mix up to 100 different alcoholic and non-alcoholic flavors. The Makr Shakr lets you order up a drink directly from your iPhone, and then it will make the drink and deliver it to you as requested. The robot will be officially unveiled later this week at Google's I/O conference, and for now it's just an interesting robotics project, so it's unlikely you'll see your own robot bartender in a local watering hole any time soon (plus, who would you flirt with if there was a robot pouring you drinks?). But this is a fascinating idea -- it would save bars time and money to have a robot behind the counter, and the fact that nearly everyone has a iPhone in their pocket these days means there's an easily accessible interface ready to go. You can order your drink at Starbucks from your iPhone, so why not order up a drink at a bar, from a robot or anyone else?
Bartendro cocktail mixing robot lands on Kickstarter, wields Raspberry Pi (video)
If you prefer robot bartenders to lack limbs that could be used against you in the impending robopocalypse, Bartendro might be your kind of bot. After two years of building and tweaking, the folks at Party Robotics have finally polished their Raspberry Pi-powered cocktail-making rig and have posted it to Kickstarter. Born from a need to re-create mixed drinks in perfect proportion, Bartendro uses food-grade tubing, pumps and custom-built electronics to pipe liquids out with a measurement accuracy of a milliliter. According to the projects' site, however, it can't quite handle carbonated beverages in its current state. By using a device connected to the contraption's own WiFi network, thirsty folks will be able to select drinks from a web-based interface. Mixologists, on the other hand, can leverage the control panel to customize cocktail recipes, manage dispensers and even read reports of what drinks were made and how much of which ingredients were used. Both the hardware and the software that make up Bartendro are open source, and the team behind it even wants to create an online drink compendium that's free as in freedom and beer. The hope is that intrepid enthusiasts can hack together mods ranging from breathalyzers to a stirring or shaking mechanism. Early supporters can snatch a ShotBot with one dispenser for $249, a Bartendro with three for $375, a model toting seven for $1,199 and a fourth version carrying a whopping 15 for $2,499. However, crafty DIYers can roll their own system by pledging coin for individual dispensers and the Linux boxes that power them. The group has currently raised over $20,000, but it's aiming for $135,000 to push the bot into production. Click the bordering source link if you're inclined to chip in or hit the jump for Party Robotic's pitch video.
