Drinking? There's more than a few apps for that. As one of those people who (annoyingly) waxes poetic about the aesthetic experience of using actual books, I admit that even this Luddite has begun embracing the magic that a smartphone drink Rolodex can offer. Here are two examples sure to make your next cocktail night at home a little more fun.
Mixology, for Android and iPhone, is currently the most downloaded cocktail-recipe app out there; It's also free (you can upgrade to the ad-free Mixologist for 99 cents). Mixology is easy to navigate and offers features like interactive maps to the nearest bars and liquor stores, bartending tips and "Liquor Cabinet." Liquor Cabinet is exactly what you need when you have a house full of people and a finite number of ingredients in your real liquor cabinet. The interface allows you to select all of the liquors and mixers you have lying around, and then spits back recipes of all possible and bar-vetted combinations. Its database boasts thousands of recipes, also searchable by categories covering everything from classic cocktails to serve your in-laws to Jell-O shots for your friends. If something strikes your fancy, add it to your "Favorites" folder for repeat drinking at a later date.
Now that you're ready to play bartender, you'll want a drink to fit the mood. Created in 2011 and a bit of a dinosaur, Drinkify is a web app with simple interface based on a silly idea. Type in a music artist and Drinkify gives you a drink recipe, which is often half-joke, half-truth, to go with your jams. The program uses last.fm and The Echo Nest to pull artists' data and stream a song from their repertoires. It's an insane amount of data for such a simple purpose, and it can be a little glitch-y, but its utter frivolity makes it good for a few laughs. An updated version would have my vote.
