Pintley’s Rich DiTieri, left, and Tim Noetzel. Photo: Erin Baldassari/Metro
We’re all basically resigned to the fact that the secret ingredient to any alcoholic beverage at this point is a camera, so we can then post a picture of that beverage on the Internet, right? Since we’ve all got a drink in one hand and a smart phone in the other, we might as well make better use of our tech-double-fisting to improve our drinking options. A new wine-focused app called Drync Direct got us thinking about some of the other locally-based options. Here are a few worth checking out.
Drync Direct
Wine is confusing. That’s the basic premise behind this new app, just launched at the Boston Wine Expo in mid-February. While there are lots of options for keeping track of what you drink and taking notes on different wines, Drync Direct aims to further streamline the process by then enabling users to purchase those wines. Let’s say you’re at a bar or a party and you really like the bottle you’re tasting, you scan the label, and you can purchase it then and there to be shipped to your home. www.drync.com
Pintley
Wading through the sudsy deluge of beer is about as confusing as the thousands of wines available now as well. Pintley tries to narrow things down for you using a RIYL model that we’re all familiar with from Amazon and Netflix and so on. When you sign up you rate beers you’ve already tried, and it learns from what you’ve liked or disliked, then spits back recommendations for other brews you haven’t tried yet. You can also add tasting notes, or interact with friends on the network whose taste you trust for those confusing beer-soaked times when you can’t even trust your own. www.pintley.com
On the Bar
Unlike a beer or a wine, which will largely stay consistent no matter where you order it, a cocktail requires a little extra human care on the service end. With On the Bar you can track your favorite bartenders to see when and where they’re on the stick that night. You can also use the app to see what others drinkers are recommending at the moment, and, more importantly, keep track of that amazing cocktail that you had one or four of the night before that’s making it a little difficult to remember details at the moment. It’s also a good platform for bartenders themselves to branch out and network among peers and build a following. www.getonthebar.com
