MIXOLOGY MADE TOO EASY? High-tech home machines like the Bartesian (right, $350, bartesian.com) can effortlessly craft you a drink. But they may rob cocktail-making of its romance.
Photo: Serge BlochYES
I MISS THE PERFECT daiquiri: the pre-pandemic one made at Neat in Los Angeles, mixed with overproof Smith & Cross rum and topped with a crunchy dehydrated lime slice.
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Even though I could mix up a decent daiquiri at home, I’ve lately been more inclined to pour a heavy glug of whiskey over ice. But a new class of devices aims to change that: home cocktail machines designed to turn Keurig-like plastic pods into bartender-level sips.
The liquid-filled pods for the Bartesian (left, $350, bartesian.com) combine mixers and “natural flavors,” while you supply the spirits, pouring the alcohol into attached glass bottles. Meanwhile, the sleek Drinkworks machine ($299, drinkworks.com), with its barely-there touch screen, uses CO2 canisters to transform its alcohol-fueled pods into drinks like a bubbly Moscow Mule. And while the pod’s unidentified “Kentucky straight bourbon” is of nebulous origin, it will certainly get you buzzed.
“Not bad. It’s a dive bar cocktail,” said Neat’s Isaac Hernandez as he sipped a Bartesian whiskey sour. Given that it came out a bit syrupy, he recommends lightening the pod’s creation by vigorously shaking it with ice. While perhaps not on par with craft cocktails, for some, machine-made facsimiles could be an easy substitute for the real thing.
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PUSH-BUTTON machines might approximate the taste of a hastily thrown-together bartender’s drink—much the way their cousins effortlessly supply a morning jolt of caffeine. But I wonder if the technology rips the romance and intrigue out of crafting your own cocktail.
Imagine inviting someone special over for a drink. You turn the lights down as Prince oozes through your speakers and, with a wink, drop a bulky Cosmopolitan pod into the Bartesian...waiting for it to noisily squirt its precision-made vodka-and-fructose concoction.
Gone is the delightful, frivolous ritual of mixing a cocktail when the day’s obligations are fulfilled. A DIY Manhattan might fall short of Mr. Hernandez’s, but, even though I’ve been too lazy lately, it takes little skill to craft—pour a shot of rye whiskey over ice, toss in an equal amount of quality sweet vermouth and a dash of bitters, then stir. The added effort results in a tasty, homemade tipple that will make you feel infinitely cooler.
On top of that, I question the proposition of diminishing the spirits with Drinkworks’s somewhat mysterious formulations, including “certified colors.” Freshness—in your boozey ingredients, your mixers and that final garnish—is a large part of what makes a great cocktail just that.
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