While we love a classic cocktail just as much as the next person, we wouldn’t exactly call ourselves mixologists.
If it’s not comprised of staple spirits, has more than three ingredients, or requires specialty equipment and obscure garnishes (basically anything but an Aperol spritz or gin and tonic), then we’re leaving it to the experts at our favourite bars.
Now though, the opportunity to enjoy delicious cocktails has arrived, in the form of this capsule cocktail machine called the Bartesian.
An invention out of the US, the Bartesian is a smart, benchtop bartender that’s able to create an extensive suite of classic cocktails at the touch of a button. It uses capsules —not dissimilar to those used by coffee machines — which contain all the flavour elements like bitters, extracts and juice, that are drawn out by the machine and mixed with the on-board spirits to create the perfect ready-made cocktail.
The Bartesian must be stocked with four base spirits: vodka, tequila, whisky, gin or rum, plus some water. Then, all you need to do is pop in the capsule of your chosen drink, follow the on-screen prompts, and the unit will mix your drink to perfection and pour it into your awaiting glass. Via the screen, you can even switch up the strength of your cocktail — from mocktail to strong.
As for the drink selection… well it’s extensive. The Bartesian has just about everything you could ask your local mixologist to make, from an Old Fashioned and a Margarita to a ‘Sex on the Beach’ and a Long Island Iced Tea. A six-pack of capsules starts at US $14.99, and the capsules are recyclable.
The capsule cocktail maker costs US $349.99 (AU $448). On the official site, the appliance ships only within the US, however, it appears to be available on Amazon… but then again the shipping cost to Australia alone seems to be US $156, bringing the unit’s total to US $505, or AU $646.18.
Not exactly cheap, but perhaps more cost-effective than hiring a bartender for a party, with the added bonus being that you get to keep the machine and use it indefinitely.