The Best Smart Cocktail Devices

There are two types of smart cocktail devices on the market. Some are automatic machines that work similarly to Keurig or Nespresso coffee makers. They use prepackaged capsules that contain concentrated juices, bitters, and other flavorings necessary to make specific cocktails. Barcodes on the lids of the capsules direct the machines to mix with corresponding spirits and water drawn from separate bottles through a system of pumps and tubes. These machines allow you to customize the strength of your drink, from nonalcoholic to “strong.” 

There are also smart scales or “coasters,” which work in conjunction with their respective cocktail recipe apps on a phone or tablet via Bluetooth. These devices walk you through cocktail recipes step by step by indicating how much of each ingredient to pour and lighting up when you’ve added the right amount. One model includes a Bluetooth-enabled mixing tumbler that wirelessly mixes the cocktail using a motorized paddle.

We were interested in whether either type of device could simplify the process of making excellent cocktails. For the most part we weren’t impressed, but we did find one model to recommend. 

• Fully Customizable Ingredients: The best cocktails are made with fresh ingredients, so we think you should only pay for devices that will help you use and mix those ingredients properly. If you want your drinks to be delicious, avoid packaged capsules (more on this in a minute). Our favorite smart scale worked with whatever ingredients we had on hand and didn’t limit us with expensive capsules. The scale also allowed us to use more liquors than the small handful installed on the automated machines. If we wanted to use a higher-quality spirit for a special occasion, we could just reach for it instead of having to remove and replace the bottles on the automatic machines. 

• Simple Controls and Displays: We preferred uncluttered displays that only listed a few words or symbols at a time and buttons with simple markings. Both of these features made instructions easy to interpret. We also liked apps that were simple to navigate and interact with.  

• Reliable, Well-Designed Technology: “Smart” devices are supposed to make things easier, so we prized devices that worked intuitively and consistently without too much fuss or glitching. Quick and easy app installations and setup processes impressed us most.

• Sturdy Materials: Cocktail-making can be both repetitive and surprisingly strenuous; cocktail tools need to be just as durable as cookware. Devices made from sturdy metal or hard, durable plastic held up better than flimsier materials when faced with stainless-steel shakers, heavy glassware, hard ice cubes, and lots of liquid.

Nice to Have 

• Apps That Teach: We liked the winning scale’s app, which allowed us to load our own spirits and mixers into a virtual bar cabinet in the app to help us choose recipes. We also liked that it taught us how to make a wide variety of cocktails with its step-by-step guidance, helping us build knowledge over time.

• Packaged Capsules: We don’t think you should buy a machine that uses premixed, concentrated capsules. Nearly every capsule-based drink we tasted was unappealing, whether it was sickly-sweet, flat, watery, or otherwise unbalanced. We even adjusted our expectations and compared the drinks made from capsules to cocktails we made with bottled mixers commonly found in supermarkets and liquor stores; the drinks made with capsules were still worse.

• Machine-Specific Bottles: Machines that required us to decant our liquor into glass bottles took more time to set up and clean and ruined the fun of displaying our collections of spirits. The bottles were also difficult and messy to install and remove. They limited us to a small handful of liquors. 

• Confusing Controls: Displays that were too cluttered or busy made cocktail-crafting needlessly complicated. A few machines had complicated touch screens or dials that were occasionally glitchy or unresponsive, which made using them difficult. 

• Unreliable Programming: One device had trouble connecting via Bluetooth and interacting with its accompanying app, often glitching out or crashing in the middle of a cocktail recipe. Since the cocktail components are all added directly to the cocktail shaker as you go, any break in the process ruined whatever drinks we were trying to make. If we were making a margarita and the app crashed in the middle of pouring orange liqueur into tequila, for example, we were sunk.