Tag: alcohol

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Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Eazyshot dispenser keeps the good times simply flowing

Large and sophisticated robot bartenders have been featured on commercials for cruise ships, but simpler and less expensive models are making a pitch to be the next countertop appliance. Many of them seek to make a wide variety of drinks, even employing Keurig-like pods for cocktails.

Eazyshot, though, keeps it simple with a limited range of shots in its egg-like form. Liquors are filled up in its refillable tube-like reservoirs to make variations of “Mexicans” and “Bombers” from the tap of a companion app. The device can even function as a Bluetooth speaker to kep the party tunes accompanying the party. The Eazyshot is expected to retail for about  $495 but early bird rewards have started at about $345. The campaign is seeking $65,000 CAD (about $49,137) by September 24th.

The best part of Eazyshot is its portability, including the ability to run on battery power. Its smaller size means it can’t make the variety of drinks of other bartender bots, but — let’s face it — these are something of a novelty right now anyway.

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Food and Beverage

Bartesian cocktail mixer is a Keurig that swears it doesn’t have a drinking problem

Mixing cocktails can be fun but it can also be time-consuming and expensive if you need to hire a bartender. And at a party, the host can get bogged down making drinks.

Bartesian hopes to solve the cocktail crisis. The idea piggybacks off of the popular single-serve coffee maker by Keurig. If that device is designed to wake one up, this one is here to help one party down. Essentially, the drinker provides the alcohol and the Bartesian uses recyclable pods to mix the drink with aplomb. Right now, Bartesian offers three well-known drinks and three signature drinks that include a margarita, cosmopolitan, and sex on the beach. Each Bartesian costs $299, and the campaign hopes to raise $100,000 by July 26th. The robot bartenders would be delivered by April 2016.

Bartesian’s main challenges will be whether its pod-enclosed drinks live up to freshly made ones as well as trying to develop a wide range of pods for the endless varieties of cocktails. As we learned in the coffee pod wars, only one or two can really survive. Bartesian is not only a far cry from those industrial bartenders promoted on luxury cruises, but comes on the heels of another crowdfunded cocktail maker in Somabar, which is $150 more.

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Food and Beverage

Brewski lets you create signature beer, wine or cider at home

Creating one’s own drinks can make for a great conversation starter at a party or when entertaining at home. And Brewski allows those who enjoy exercising their creative muscles in this area the opportunity to make beer, wine or cider and flavor it to personal tastes.

The drink creation station makes about 2.5 gallons at a time (or 30 standard beer bottles) and stores easily on a shelf or convenient counter space. Brewski offers video tutorials that explain how to create beer using the product and included brewing kit, or it is compatible with other brewing kits. Beer bottles with non-twist tops can be washed, refilled and recapped with the bottle capper.

Interested backers might also want to check out Brewie, a similar home-brewing product, but one that doesn’t offer wine and cider like the Brewski does. This campaign seeks to raise $150,000 NZD (~$112,000 USD) on Kickstarter. Early bird backers get one product for $369 (~$275 USD) with an expected delivery of July 2015.

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Food and Beverage Technology

Somabar intelligent bartender packs mixology into a box

A cocktail is one of those things that is easy to enjoy, but a challenge to create well. Precisely mixing the right ingredients is of utmost importance, but without practice the experience can quickly become a mess or result in less than stellar flavor. For many people, this ultimately relegates the cocktail to a luxury that can only be enjoyed at a bar, and never at home.

Somabar is a Wi-Fi enabled, intelligent bartender capable of creating perfectly mixed cocktails in under five seconds, finally bringing the mixologist home. Dishwasher-safe Soma Pods can be easily connected to it and filled with a user’s favorite ingredients, even boasting the ability to infuse bitters. Somabar thoroughly measures and mixes all ingredients, and the creations that result can be altered to a user’s preference using the companion iOS and Android app. In addition, users can create their favorite cocktails and share them to the Somabar community. The $399 Somabar is slated for a July 2015 delivery provided the campaign reaches its $50,000 goal.

The world of cocktails and mixed drinks can be overwhelming. Products like the Somabar are trying to make delicious beverages much more accessible by offering platforms that pretty much do it for you. Others like the B4RM4N and Connected Ozz also help users make cocktails but do so while teaching how to create them as well. Although Somabar won’t be teaching users anything, it makes up for it with its ease of use and dead simple operation.

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Organization

Bartender’s bag brings the booze

B-bagWhether it’s a private poker game with friends, a business-style cocktail party, or an on-the-go bartender into tradeshows and competitions, B-bag (Bartender’s Bag) can help keep an event spirited. The bag holds up to eight bottles comfortably, or a combo of bottles, mixing glass and shaking tin, plus has plenty of pockets for other drink mixing essentials. It’s made of high-quality canvas with leather handles and is hand washable. Perhaps the most convenient aspect is the adjustable insert that allows for a great deal of toting flexibility. While an eight-bottle limitation will require knowing guest drink preferences, the apparent versatility of the bag seems like it would make for a worthwhile investment for pros. For $325 backers get one bag with an expected delivery of December 2014.

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Food and Beverage Safety

Slip Me Not keeps spikers, creepers away

Slip Me NotThis item may be the dream of every father and mother of a teenage or college-age daughter. Slip Me Not is an interesting device that makes drink spikers keep their naughty little deeds to themselves. The product is made of a clear, adhesive film that fits over the top of various sized glasses, keeping anything nefarious away from the beverage. A straw can be inserted if preferred, or simply poke a hole in the same area. Seems like clear plastic wrap could function in much the same way as this product if one always pours their own drink, but attending a party with plastic wrap tucked under one’s arm might look a bit strange. For $10 AUD backers get two packs of products and an expected delivery of February 2015.

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Food and Beverage

The Shot Timer makes for spirited drinking games

Shot TimerIt’s amazing what idle minds can dream up. And the creators of The Shot Timer aren’t wasting any time capitalizing on a new way to encourage party memories that might be warm if they weren’t so fuzzy. The hourglass shaped imbibing tool can be used with any drinking game and beverage of attendees’ delight, whether alcoholic or not. A participant’s game activity must be completed before the “libation” drains from the top shot glass to the bottom one. Once it hits bottom, so does the player, who must then gulp one down and pass it around to the next player. For $5, backers receive the glass festoon with an expected delivery of July 2014.

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Food and Beverage

Muddle Buddy makes mixing muddled drinks less yucky

Muddle BuddyA muddled cocktail may be one of the more messy things that a person can order from the bar. Either the juice splashes out of the glass as the bartender pounds away, or the bartender puts their hand over the glass during the pounding process, which means that any germs or bacteria that happen to be on the bartender’s hand are dripping into the drink (that is, if the bartender’s blender happens to be broken). Though alcohol kills germs and bacteria (which may mean the mixed drink is better sanitized than the burgers assembled by a teen at a favorite burger joint) Muddle Buddy may be appreciated by bartenders because of its splash shield mess reducing design. For $15, backers get their very own buddy to muddle, with an anticipated delivery of September 2014.