I’m a sucker for beautiful menus with interesting flavor profiles presented in a dimly lit space but I often want to replicate at home what I’ve ordered out on the town or create something even more interesting than what I’ve tried in the past.
So I decided to find a tool to help me learn about drink mixtures beyond a mezcal espresso martini, an extra dry martini or any non-alcoholic mixture poured into my favorite martini glass. (Sense a theme here?) I wanted to try something new but my creativity falls short in the kitchen. I needed a digital mixologist available to me without leaving the house — this is how I learned about Bartender AI.
What is Bartender AI, and how does it use AI?
Not to be confused with AI-Bartender or the gamified AI Bartender, Bartender AI is an app developed by SDP Innovations designed to assist you with crafting different types of cocktail recipes, in the form of tailored drink suggestions.
The platform uses AI liberally in ingredient matching, flavor profile suggestions and recipe generation. That’ll not only get you personalized suggestions but also pour out possibilities for future drink mashups.
Subscription models include $3 per month with no free trial or an annual $20 fee with a free three-day trial. Bartender AI is currently only available on iOS devices.
What makes AI chatbots fascinating is their ability to craft novel responses so it makes sense that generative AI would find itself at home in creating libations, given that similar apps also exist for food recipes. I was curious to see what AI could conjure up for me — both from a slew of ingredients that came to mind and the not-as-interesting ingredients I actually had in my kitchen.
How to use Bartender AI for crafting drinks
This is how to set up and use Bartender AI on your device.
- First, visit the Apple App store and download Bartender AI. Once you’re done creating your profile, you’ll meet the subscription page where you can choose a free three-day trial as part of the $20 annual fee or pay the $3 monthly fee for no free trial.
- Now you can input ingredients to create your drink. There are six categories to choose from. With Mix, share the alcohol, mixers and garnishes you have. With Classics, plug in which cocktail classic you’d like to make and the app will share a recipe. Theme will generate drinks based on an event or type of party, and Surprise will generate a cocktail for you, created by AI. The Search function lets you craft a recipe with details including number of people and popularity and History provides educational background about drink types and alcohol.
- I used Mix to create drink variations. First, enter the type of alcohol you have available. Then, note the mixers and garnishes you’d like to use and add any other details to help create a drink. Finally, decide the level of stiffness you prefer and click submit. You’ll receive a recipe complete with drink name, alcohol, mixers, garnishes and drink strength.
- Once you find a recipe you like, you can either save it for easy future access or Resubmit and create something new.
Should you use Bartender AI?
For home bartenders, event hosts or someone looking to up their mixology game, Bartender AI can be a fun add-on to help create recipes and get suggestions.
I was pleasantly surprised at the pairings it whipped up at record speed: I played around with some dark liquor variations, using my newest coffee pairing — orange and maple — to conjure up concoctions. Then I turned to the Surprise Me function, which came up with the «Midnight Blossom,» a sweet gin pairing containing gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, simple syrup and edible flowers. I would definitely put that in my favorite martini glass.
Bartender AI is straightforward in its approach and setup, easy to use even if you’re a tech novice. It’s also a pretty basic design —a simple black-and-white design without any real personality. Maybe that was left to the drink concoctions. But I found that appealing, along with the educational element, compared with more elaborate competitors. Even with its paid model that had me fill out a lengthy questionnaire, only to bring me to a page for a three-day trial. «Couldn’t you just lead with that,» I wanted to know.
Like the drinks it creates, Bartender AI comes down to personal taste and approach. Some of you may prefer the gamified digital mixologists that other apps boast. Meanwhile, Elixirate is crafted for an Android-specific audience.
At the very least, Bartender AI can get you started imagining new possibilities. Mix it up, friends.