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 version 1.0 of Bartender's Friend was the result.
This is the thrid public release of Bartender's Friend and some things do get better with age. 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 along with your name, address, and e-mail address to Anthony Zimmerman; 6246 Old Guide Rd. #4; Bellingham, WA 98226. Registering will give you an additional 100 drink recipes and will remove the annoying registration windows and the delay that increases one second each time you run the program. If you decide you don't want to keep the program, you should remove it from your computer system.
Check, money order, or cash are all acceptable methods of payment (U.S. funds, if possible. If not, just send me some of your local currency). 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 $5 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 - Most drinks can be made from these liquors: Vodka, Tequila, Light Rum, Gin, Amaretto, Sloe Gin, Kahlua, Southern Comfort, Irish Cream, 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 (also called a Jigger & Pony), measuring spoons, blender, straws/swizzle sticks, coasters/napkins, and a variety of glasses.
When you start Bartender's Friend you can immediately begin browsing the program's 200 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.
*Only 100 recipes are available in the unregistered version.
While those features are useful, the program really shines once you tell it the ingredients you have in stock. 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, and 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 and 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. (Well, most of the time.)
A major upgrade to this program is currently under development. Planned features include:
• The ability to add, delete, and modify recipes
• More ingredients
• Interface overhaul
• Starting base of 500 or more recipes
These significant improvements will require a large effort on my part and so I've been considering raising the price of the program. Remember though, you only buy Bartender's Friend once; then you are entitled to all future releases. The prudent person would purchase the program now while the price is a mere $10. For this major update I've set a vague release date for summer/fall of 1999.
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 not be liable for the use or misuse of this software or any damages caused by that use.
On a personal note, please remember liquor is a drug. It can kill you or people you are serving. Always drink responsibly and enjoy in moderation.
