A precision scale it’s a critical tool to have in the kitchen, so why not the bar too?
It turns out that many reasons. On paper, the Barsys Smart Coaster system is not a bad idea. Imagine a digital scale (like the Drop) that is connected via Bluetooth to an app on your phone that tells it what ingredients to pour into a glass sitting on top. And this is exactly how Barsys works. Do you want to make a margarita? Pour in tequila until the bottom of the light-up coaster turns green. Then triple seconds until you get another green light. Then lime juice. Then simple syrup. For the novice mixologist, all you need to do is wait until the coaster says “when” each time, and the drink is ready.
Kind of. There are many problems with Barsys, both in concept and execution, to the point that it doesn’t really work well, even as a novelty item.
First, the Barsys may be a scale, but it doesn’t carry any type of reading other than colored lights. The scale starts out white, then gradually turns bluer and bluer as you add an ingredient specified by your selected recipe. Finally, it flashes and turns green, moving on to the next ingredient and starting the process all over again. The problem is that if you don’t know how much ingredient you need to pour in (and the app doesn’t tell you during mixing), you may find yourself adding ingredients one drop at a time, which takes forever, or sloshing around. in alcohol and blowing just past the “stop” notice. If you’re the kind of home bartender who isn’t too concerned with doing things like this, this may not be a big problem. But in that case, it’s much easier to estimate everything as you pour the ingredients into a shaker anyway and consider it close enough.
Photography: Barsys
Another big problem is the mix. Although Barsys is available with a optional mixing unit— a plastic cup with an electromagnetic stirring unit at the bottom — isn’t the most powerful way to blend a drink. It’s fine for stirring a martini, but if you really want to shake up that margarita, you’ll need to put some of your own muscle into it (via a separate cocktail shaker). Barsys is vague about when and if to put ice in the blender during recipe creation. The motor can handle some ice, but you can’t fill the mixer to the brim and get traction. Any ice you use will need to be added at the beginning (when initially weighing the empty mixer) or at the end, never in the middle, as that will throw off the liquid weight measurements. For recipes that call for dry shaking, such as citrus made with egg white, and then a second shake with ice, the Barsys is particularly unsuitable. It’s also worth noting that the system is really designed to only produce one drink at a time.