If you’re someone who loves to drink cocktails, but doesn’t know the first thing about making them at home, this one’s for you. The Bartesian Duet(opens in a new tab) is a sleek machine designed to make bartending at home easier than ever. It’s like having a Keurig that pours cosmopolitans instead of coffee. A “Party Keurig”, if you will. You can choose from more than 50 different capsules, including a spectrum of cocktails from an old fashioned to an amaretto sour. It retails for $279.99 and is on the market in November, but we got our hands on one early.
I have had the pleasure of using this machine for about a week or so, and let me tell ya, I’m a big fan. I had seen TikToks of people using the first Bartesian model(opens in a new tab) and had always wanted to try it. I’ve never used a machine like this before, but I have been bartending for the past couple of years, so this was a really exciting venture for me.
The Bartesian Duet makes cocktails that taste amazing. The setup is super self-explanatory and you will have the drinks coming in just a few minutes. It provides information about alcohol content so your experience can be fun, but also safe. The Bartesian app makes it easy to browse cocktail capsules and order them right to your door. All in all, this product was a winner for me.
Easy setup
The instructions recommend washing the spirit bottles and removable parts before use. The little rubber casing inside the capsule holder, the bar mat which sits underneath the pouring area, and the water reservoir are removable — and they’re fairly easy to take out and clean. After cleaning, drying, and pouring in the correct liquids, I clicked the button called “first use,” which just runs water through the lines to make sure there’s no residue left over from manufacturing. After that, the machine was ready to go.
The navigation system is super sleek and uses a rotary dial to flip through the menu. I won’t lie though… I thought that it was a touchscreen for a solid few minutes before I realized it was a dial. The first Bartesian model has a touchscreen, but I find the dial to be an easy way to scroll through options, plus a touchscreen could get really sticky if you’re trying to cut up limes and select a pour at the same time.
The home screen has a menu button, which includes the options for first use, rinse, or transport. The rinse feature is supposed to be used if you’re not going to be using the machine for a while. The transport option just flushes all of the lines so that you can take it on the go without having to remove any of the bottles.
How it works
Once it’s set up, all you have to do is pour your spirits of choice into the machine, add water to the water reservoir, put in a capsule, and boom! You have a premium cocktail that can be light, regular, strong, or even non-alcoholic. It even comes with a book that has a page for each cocktail, telling you which glass is recommended, what garnishes to use, and the top (and wittiest) pairings. For example, the espresso martini comes with a float of espresso beans and pairs with “dressing up” and “a classy playlist”. So true, Bartesian.
The machine is truly so simple to use. I came home from work the other day and wanted a rum breeze, so I picked out that capsule and popped it in the machine. Then, the home screen lit up and showed me that I had vodka and tequila in the spirit bottles. I was out of rum, so I wanted to substitute tequila. However, the machine only lets you use rum with this capsule, so I had to kind of “lie” to the machine and use the dial to change the tequila to rum, even though it was actually tequila. This is pretty easy to do. After changing the spirit, the machine prompted me to place a highball glass with ice underneath the pour area. Then, I was prompted to choose my spirit strength and click “mix”. A few seconds later the drink was poured.
When you want to change one of the liquors in the spirit bottles, you can use the navigation to click on whichever bottle you are switching and choose the liquor you are replacing it with. The machine will prompt you to remove the bottle and then place an empty cup underneath the pour area. It will rinse the well that the bottle sat in and the line that runs through the machine with water. Then, it will prompt you to place the spirit bottle back in with the new spirit. Removing the bottles can be a bit tricky and flings a bit of water/liquor around.
The Bartesian doesn’t chill any of the drinks itself, so most of the capsules will tell you to put a glass with ice underneath the pour area. For some recipes, like a martini or cosmopolitan, the machine will prompt you to let the drink pour into a shaker with ice, so that you can shake it before pouring it into a glass. I also got the Bartesian shaker(opens in a new tab), which is $20 on the website, but if you already have a shaker at home, that works too. The lemon drop martini is damn good, so I definitely recommend trying it.
The yum factor
It’s safe to say I was wary about the quality of the cocktails and was honestly expecting their margarita to taste like that godawful Jose Cuervo pre-made stuff. I’m happy to report that it tasted just like a margarita I would make myself. Not too sour, not too sweet, and with the taste of tequila on the back burner (or right in the forefront if you choose the strong option). Some of the capsules I have used so far include blackberry margarita, rum breeze, and my personal favorite, amaretto sour.
Why the Duet?
The main difference between the Bartesian Duet and the first model, Bartesian Cocktail Maker, is that the Duet only holds two spirit bottles, while the original holds four, meaning it takes up less counter space. In a phone conversation with Bartesian CEO Ryan Close, he said that he prefers only a few spirits, so it works great for people like him who probably won’t use the spirits that they don’t prefer. For the most part, I don’t drink whiskey or gin, so I think the two-spirit option is better for me, too. If you’re someone who could drink a different liquor each day of the week, the first Bartesian is your best bet. One thing to note is that the Long Island iced tea capsule will not work in this machine. I was a little disappointed because that was one of the capsules included in the classic variety pack I had.
There are also some differences in technology, such as the dial to make navigating the system more user friendly. The style of the spirit bottle nozzles also changed to help prevent leakage, but I found that there are still some leakage issues when removing the bottles. The cost of the Duet is also cheaper: $279.99 compared to the older model’s $369.95.
Yes, there’s an app
Bartesian has even created an app where you can order the capsules and look at some recipes. This is great for situations where you wouldn’t have the book on hand, but want to know what flavors are in the cocktail. You can browse all of the capsules and choose how many you want to order. There’s a “build your own subscription” option that I was really excited about. I thought it was going to be more of a mix-and-match thing, but in reality, it’s just picking a certain number of capsule packs for a few dollars off. You can get two packs for $38 instead of $40. Not the best deal in my opinion. The deals get better when you add more packs to the subscription, but that also means you’re spending more money.
It’s easy to know just how much you’ve had to drink
One thing that really impressed me from a bartender’s perspective is the spirit strength chart in the back of the recipe book. It shows how many ounces of liquor go into each drink depending on the cocktail and strength of the pour. At first, I was confused because the chart said that a strong amaretto sour was only 1.7 ounces of liquor, while a strong margarita is 3.4 ounces of liquor. Wouldn’t all strong drinks contain the same amount of liquor? But it makes sense because an amaretto sour uses amaretto, which is a liqueur that is usually around 30 percent alcohol. The spirits that the Bartesian uses are all around 70 to 80 percent. The amaretto sour would taste disgusting if you added 3 ounces of a 70 percent liquor to it. Bartesian has calculated the perfect amount of spirit to add so that the strength of each cocktail reflects the strength it would be if you ordered it in a bar. Maybe I’m nerding out a little here with my alcohol conversions, but I thought it was pretty smart.
Is the Bartesian worth it?
The short answer is: absolutely. The machine itself is awesome. I can’t tell you how great it was to come home after my 9 to 5 knowing I could have a cocktail in seconds. The Bartesian Duet(opens in a new tab) is very user friendly and easy to clean. The recipes are extremely diverse, ranging from classics to creative holiday twists. An issue I foresee is that I won’t have the motivation to keep buying capsules, and will end up buying a pack of White Claws instead. It’s super convenient when the capsules and liquor are already sitting there, but when you have to remember to keep buying the capsules, it may end up not being used.
If you don’t have a problem with stocking up on capsules and liquor along with the $279.99 cost of the machine, it’s an absolute yes. If you already have a liquor cabinet going, this is an easy way to put it to use. This machine will cater to you, whether you’re a party planner or an introvert who just wants to drink at home. As the Bartesian says, “no need to tip.”
