When I started a home bar one of the most frustrating aspects was finding a drink I could mix. I'd spend a half hour thumbing through my bartender guide before I found a recipe that I had all the ingredients for. What a time waster. Another challenge was when a guest would ask, "What can you make me?" or "What's good?" Again, it would be back to the bartender guide for another time-consuming browse.
What I needed was a professional bartender that I could say, "Here's a list of all my ingredients. What can I mix?" Hiring a bartender was well out of my price range, so I looked for such a shareware program that would do the job. I couldn't find anything so I started up my Mac and began to program. Four months later Bartender's Friend is the result.
After you tell Bartender's Friend what ingredients you have, it gives you an instant answer to the question, "What can I mix?" You can also start a list of your favorite drinks, add a comment to each recipe, sort your lists alphabetically or randomly, and browse all the drinks in the program.
If you're a home bartender, this program is your new best friend.
Bartender's Friend is not free; it's distributed as shareware. Shareware means that you are able to try the software before buying it. You may use Bartender's Friend free for two weeks. If you decide you want to keep it, send $10 (U.S. funds, if possible) along with your name, address, and e-mail address to Anthony Zimmerman; PO Box 5441; Bellingham, WA 98227. If you decide you don't want to keep it, you must remove it from your computer system.
Check, money order, or cash are all acceptable methods of payment. Buying the program once entitles you to all future updates and versions. I will attempt to contact all registered owners whenever a new version becomes available.
When you register your copy of Bartender's Friend, you may submit your favorite drink recipe (that's not already in the program) and I'll include it in the next version. In the comment section of the drink I'll put, "Submitted by Your Name from YourCity, YourState."
Requirements for drink submission: (1) All ingredients must be in the program. (Click the "View Ingredients" button). (2) The recipe can have no more than 8 ingredients. (3) Tell me the drink name, its type (mixed drink or shooter), each ingredient and its measurement, and simple mixing directions. (4) Write legibly. If any of these requirements are not met, I won't be able to add your drink to the program.
You get the first drink recipe entered into the program for free. If you'd like to add any other recipes to the program send $10 for each additional recipe.
Every trade has its tools and bartending is no different. Here's a list of things to get your bar started:
Liquors - The liquors found in most drinks are essential. I recommend Vodka, Tequila, Light Rum, Gin, Amaretto, Sloe Gin, Kahlua, Southern Comfort, Irish Creme, Triple Sec, Galliano, and light Creme de Cacao.
Non Alcoholics - Once you've acquired the booze, it's good to have something to mix it with. I recommend Orange Juice, Grenadine, Vanilla Ice Cream, Coke, and Milk.
Tools - Every bartender requires a few tools. The ones I use the most are: a Shaker, Corkscrew, a measuring shot glass or a Jigger & Pony, measuring spoons, blender, straws/swizzle sticks, and coasters/napkins.
When you start Bartender's Friend you can immediately begin browsing the program's 100 recipes by clicking the "Browse All Beverages", "Browse All Mixed Drinks", or "Browse All Shooters" buttons or you can search for a drink by typing its name in the search box and pressing the "Show Me" button.
While those features are interesting, the program really shines once you tell it the ingredients you have. Press the "View Ingredients" button to enter the listing of alcoholic ingredients the program supports. Just check the boxes for the ingredients you have. Click the "View Non-Alcoholic Ingredients" button and repeat the process for non-alcoholic ingredients.
Once you have told Bartender's Friend what ingredients you have, it can tell you what drinks you can mix. Click on the "Browse Mixable Beverages", "Browse Mixable Mixed Drinks" or the "Browse Mixable Shooters" buttons for a listing.
When drinks are displayed in the window, press the up and down arrows to move through the list. You can also sort the list Alphabetically or Randomly. You can randomize a list over and over by pressing the "Random" button repeatedly.
Comments for drinks appear in the white bar below the drink display area. To add a comment to the drink that's currently displayed, press the "Change Comment" button.
When you find a favorite recipe add it to your list of favorites by pressing the "Add to Favorites" button. The recipe text will change to blue and you can see all your favorites by pressing the "View Favorites" button. To remove a drink from your favorites list, press the "View Favorites" button, the "Add to Favorites" button becomes "Remove from Favorites"
You can also display drinks by their ingredients. The line that reads:
View all beverages that have [Any Ingredient] & [Any Ingredient] & [Any Ingredient].
will find all the beverages that have the ingredient(s) you specify.
The line just below it is similar except it finds the drinks that you can make. In other words, you have to have all the recipe's ingredients and the recipe has to contain the ingredient(s) you specify. The line reads:
View all beverages that have [My Ingredient] & [My Ingredient] & [My Ingredient].
This is particularly useful if you are in the mood for a certain liquor. You'll notice two things when you click on a [My Ingredient] pop-up menu. First, some of the items are dimmed, you can't select them. That's because Bartender's Friend is under the impression that you don't have that ingredient - which is obviously something you need to mix the drink. Second, there's only about 30 ingredients to choose from. A limit on the Mac (that I hope I can find a work around for a later version) is to limit menu items that can be dimmed to 31 items. I picked the ingredients I figured most people would want to have in their drinks.
Pressing the "Show Tip" button will display a bartending-related tip.
This is the first public release of Bartender's Friend. I'm intending on updating the program frequently with new releases every 3-4 months. New versions will have more drinks, more tips, drinks submitted by you, non-alcoholic recipes, and interface tweaks. The amount of time I spend on bettering the program is proportional to the response I receive from you. If a lot of people are registering, sending in their comments, suggestions, and drink recipes, I'll be very motivated to continue to improve this product. The future of the Friend is in your hands.
Comments, suggestions, bug reports, complaints, and general hellos can be sent to bartenderfriend@yahoo.com. I can't promise a response to every letter, but I can guarantee that I'll read them.
This software is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind. By using this software you agree to assume all costs for any damage, real or imagined. Anthony Zimmerman nor anyone else associated with Bartender's Friend will be liable for the use or misuse of this software or any damages caused by that use.
