COR.KZ iPhone, Android $1.99
Cor.kz’s database of 875,000 wines and 2m reviews makes it one of the most comprehensive apps of its kind. Type in the name of a wine (or scan its barcode) and it will serve up reviews and tasting notes from experts and the vast CellarTracker community of wine enthusiasts. There are also options to manage your own virtual cellar, add tasting notes and browse recommendations based on your preferences.
CELLAR iPhone $2.99
Cellar is the place to record and keep your tasting notes. Pull a bottle from the rack, start the app, then use its design tools to create a virtual bottle on screen, using the phone’s camera to take a photo of the label and wrap it round your design. Now you’re ready to sample the wine and add tasting notes, plus details of where you bought it, how much you paid and — for the oenophile with a large cellar — where your remaining bottles are stored.
OLLY SMITH’S WINE APPiPhone $1.99
The Saturday Kitchen presenter’s app is geared towards casual wine enthusiasts who want to broaden their horizons. Videos cover buying, storage and drinking, and there’s a map of wine-sellers in your neighbourhood. It’s good on specific recommendations, with a searchable database of Smith’s newspaper columns. Usefully, you can filter by retailer, price and style of wine to find the bottle you’re looking for.
BERRY’S WINE LIST iPhone FREE
There’s a cellar-full of information in this guide to more than 2,000 wines listed by London vintner Berry Bros & Rudd. The focus is on classic European and particularly French wines, with tasting notes and advice on whether to drink them now or lay them down — and, of course, a buy button. The app’s simple vintage guide identifies the best and worst years in each region and links to the company’s six-part series of video tasting guides.
SPEAKEASY COCKTAILS iPad $6.99
With great recipes and sharp how-to videos by Jim Meehan and Joseph Schwartz, owners of the cult New York neo-speakeasy Please Don’t Tell, this app is a cut above its rivals. There are 200 cocktails by 58 of the world’s most renowned mixologists, each with links to techniques, tools and ingredients, plus a list of the 44 most exclusive prohibition-style bars around the globe.
CAMRA GOOD BEER GUIDE MOBILE iPhone, iPad $4.99
The 2012 edition contains essential information on the 4,500 British pubs that have passed muster with Camra members, along with updates reflecting any changes reported since the last print edition. There is an interactive map to show you how near you are to that next pint of, say, Bishop’s Finger.
ISWIG iPhone FREE
Whether you’re enjoying a Carlsberg in Croydon or an apres-ski amaretto, this humorous alcohol-fuelled travel journal will log your boozy odyssey. Pick from a database of drinks, then use GPS or Foursquare venue data to pinpoint your location. As well as sharing your tipsy comments over social media, you can trawl through user data to find the world’s most popular drink.
TEA iPhone $1.49
This charming app provides fans of a good cuppa with 200 brew suggestions, plus their recommended water temperatures and a brew timer. You can take tasting notes and there’s even a shake-to-shuffle function for a random tea choice.
BARISTA iPhone $1.99
Do you know your macchiato from your mocha? This coffee-making companion offers step-by-step basics on how to make most espresso-based drinks. It comes with a glossary, how-to videos and tips to have you pouring like a pro.
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