Available on: iOS, Android
Reviewed on: iPad
Price: Free
Introduction:
Have you ever been fascinated by the way the bartenders prepare your favorite cocktail, starting from choosing the alcohol, to shaking the two glasses together to pouring that amazing liquid into that pretty cocktail glass? Now you can do this all by yourself with the help of an app -- Drinkspiration by Absolut which brings you more that 300 cocktails based on categories like colour, temperature of the day, weather, mood, and many other. Absolut, the world's third most famous alcohol brand (Bacardi, the first and Smirnoff, the second) has more than 37 types of vodkas and has been around us since 1897. The cocktails featured in this app are mainly vodka based but also includes other spirits such as rum, whisky, brandy and gin. Read on to find out the magic of making that perfect cocktail.
Usability:
This app is meant for users only above the age of 17 (does not say 25 since it is a global app).
The app opens with the picture of a Martini with 'Drinkspiration by Absolut' written on top and then it asks you to enter your birthdate in a slot wheel which has the month, day and year. Then it asks you to allow it to use your current location.
It has 18 home screens, which gives you the different parameters of drinks to choose from. This includes Color, Background Music, Time of Day, Classic Drink, Chic Drink, Drink with an Edge, Non-alcoholic, Quick Drink, Weather, Glass Type, Bar Vibe, Absolut Flavor, Spirit type, Surprise Me, Based on Interest, Hottest drink right now, Location, Popular drink, Taste and Recommend a drink to friends through social networking sites.
All these 18 windows come with the recipe and an image of the particular drink. At the bottom of each recipe it has the option of 'I'll have one' which enables you to share your drink as a post on any of the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and you can also share it with your friends directly by sending it on their e-mail id's. the User Interface is designed in a card like pattern through which we can swipe through. The information given is very clear and its very user friendly.
At the bottom, we see six panes, which include Home, History, World, Search and Settings. When you tap on Home, you are directly navigated back to the main home screen, which has 18 different categories from which you can choose your drink.
The 'History' pane keeps track of which drink you have tested and it is marked as 'Ordered' and makes a list of it making it very useful to find the drink easily without going through the whole searching anymore.
The next is 'World' and this is very interesting as it gives you information of which drink is being reviewed in which part of the world and at what time and also the day. World has 3 panes, Live gives you live updates from around the world as to which drink is being tested, time and also the days. The second is Top List, which lists the 20 most popular according to the number they have been tested. And the last is Friends, which enables you to connect directly to Facebook and Twitter and share it as a real time status on your walls. This keeps on updating whenever someone in this app is testing a drink.
The 'Search' pane helps you find drinks based on the glass type. The next time you serve drinks, you will not embarrass yourself by using the wrong glass for the wrong cocktail.
The last pane 'Settings' gives you options to sync the app with your social network site accounts and also your e-mail id. It also gives you information about the trademark and license of the app.
Each cocktail in this app comes with the recipe and also a picture of it, which helps you have a clear idea as to what it looks like and also how it should be presented. Since It's an iPhone app, it gets pixelated when used on a tablets larger display. Another disappointment is the lack of videos. Including videos would have been of great help as it visually shows you how the cocktail is prepared.
The interface is very neat which makes it very user friendly. This app has a lot of options that it gives in terms of choosing the cocktails, but the best part is that it does not confuse the user since it is not complicated to navigate.
Verdict:
Drinkspiration by Absolut is an absolute visual delight. Beautiful images along with easy to understand text makes it an irresistible app. Another feature that makes this app all the better is that it is free. With so many options to choose from, call all your friends and become the bartender and stir up the most delicious drinks with the help of Drinkspiration by Absolut
Rating: 3.5
Usability: 4
Price: 5
Wow Factor: 5