Rating app for tasting event

[Ravensfire]

I'm heading to the Whiskey in the Winter whiskey tasting event in St. Louis this weekend. Before, my wife and I kinda wandered around and tried to use the event's program to keep track of notes. I'm trying to be a bit more focused this year through. Being And sinan IT geek, I'm hoping to use my tablet to help with that focus and remember what I did and did not like. Sadly, I'm not finding exactly what I'm looking for and I'm hoping someone here might point me in the right way.

Ideally, I'm looking for something where I can enter a list of whiskeys ahead of time then put at least a minimal rating as I try them. Let's be honest, I might get tasting notes off the first few, but after that it's more along the lines of "yup, tasted good!" and "dear god, why did I try this!". And since I'm a cheapskate (other than my drinking habits ...), this ideal app would be free.

At this point, I'm planning on putting my tasting list in a note app and putting a 1-5 rating after each one. What I'd love is the ability to put a list together with 5 stars next to each one where I could quickly tap the rating and move on. The uberapp would also have the ability to add more detailed notes.

So, does something like this exist? Or do I need to write "RateAnything for Android/Apple"?

Thanks!

[ramblinman]

I've played with a few things, and still half way keep a long-term list in Trello, https://trello.com/b/tqAI8xEy/whiskey, but I've found that in pen and paper tends to work best. You'll invariably have a weak signal or low battery, etc. If you're set on the app though, check out Trello, its more free-form, and I think it works well for a lot of tasks especially something as subjective as whiskey. I just can't put a hard score on something, but loose rankings and different "bad, good, meh, really good" categories and such work well.

Edited November 20, 2014 by ramblinman

[GaryT]

I tried a couple apps in the past and was disappointed. Hate to say it, but pen and index cards is what I use (several index cards so they provide enough backbone to write on without needing a table). I'll use my phone to take pics of the labels so I can abbreviate as I go (and get more details, like batch #s, etc). I also don't even try to capture elaborate notes. You're exactly right about how it changes as the night progresses, so I shoot to be consistently high-level with my impressions (like a 1-10 scale with 2-3 words after).

Another idea that I've done is just using the voice memo app; I'll record my impressions (along with pictures, so I can decipher my drunk-ass notes a bit more clearly) and can capture more details. Sometimes if I'm tasting with someone, I'll have them throw their impressions down as well for another perspective. This is less intrusive - but takes more time the next day to sort through.

[Enoch]

The Wine and Jazz Festival at Keystone does it right. You can download their app which reads QR codes that are posted in front of each of the 300+ wines. A pic of the wine comes up with a place to rate and add notes. I wish more festivals would do this.

[KyleCBreese]

I use the app Barreled to rate and put tasting notes. It's very simple and easy to use.

[tanstaafl2]

The Wine and Jazz Festival at Keystone does it right. You can download their app which reads QR codes that are posted in front of each of the 300+ wines. A pic of the wine comes up with a place to rate and add notes. I wish more festivals would do this.

The recent Whiskies of the World event in Atlanta apparently had some sort of app for notes. I didn't learn about it until the last minute so I didn't try it. Did anybody else use it?

[kjbeggs]

The recent Whiskies of the World event in Atlanta apparently had some sort of app for notes. I didn't learn about it until the last minute so I didn't try it. Did anybody else use it?

i think they used "Distilld", which I was just about to recommend.

[cowdery]

Yes, they used distilld. I know them because they're here in my neighborhood in Chicago. Nice folks. WhiskeyFest is using it too. So is WhiskyLIVE.

[kamera]

I use Distilld, I switched from Barreled a while back because Distilld is much slicker and has a lot more listings. My only gripe with Distilld is that the community isn't all that big yet so there doesn't seem to be a lot going on in the way of reviews from other people but I imagine that will grow in time. I'm always looking for more people to follow on Distilld, if you use it let me know your name on there so that I can follow you. You can find me under Adam Knight.

[cazolman]

Distiller is another app you may want to try. You can add bottles to your collection, rate on 5 star scale and add tasting notes.

[cowdery]

It sounds like a lot of apps with the same basic idea.

[B.B. Babington]

...I'll use my phone to take pics of the labels .. .

This works well, especially if sampling a lot and things get lost, like the entire evening. And can post on facebook "drinking the best, yo"