Share your night out with Shindig

MIXOLOGY tests out Shindig, a new instagram style drinking app created to help users navigate through the world of alcoholic beverages. The young app is already attracting the participation of cocktail personalities from all around the world.

In Shindig’s promo video, fresh-faced founder Harry Raymond explains his app’s concept while walking through the streets of NYC, “We’ve tried hundreds of beers, wines, spirits, but every time we get a wine list we don’t know what to order and we end up ordering the second cheapest bottle.” While this unabashed expression of lack of expertise could be a turn-off for many of the more educated in the cocktail community, the app’s ease of use partnered with its genuine earnestness separate it from its more pretentious peers and make it more enjoyable.
User-friendly Community Drinking
After creating a login users simply add a straightforward taste profile by checking wine, beer, spirits, cocktails, or all of the above and then search for people to follow. Uploading a drink is as painless as uploading a pic to instagram; there is no need to fill out a fussy chart or to know all of the details. The point of the app is “to make drink exploration fun and easy” and to be able to follow other people’s “drink journeys.” After seeing a photo of a cocktail or beer posted by a friend or favorite bartender, users can search for the same drink in their neighborhood.

Mixologist Luminaries Join In
Joerg Meyer of Le Lion bar in Hamburg reports that he recently found out about the app through internationally famed mixologist Nico de Soto. After discovering Shindig, Joerg was a fast convert. He tells readers of his blog, “So I signed up and will start to upload my drinking safaris on Shindig. Why? Because thats one of the only things  I love to share with people from all over the world.”
There is no doubt that the app embraces you in the international drink community. A moment after I join I am able to see Joerg M. posting about his hatred for Vestfyen Pilsner, a beer he recently tried at the Danish North Sea. Scroll up a bit, and I see another user enjoying a delicious looking Mojito in New York’s East Village.
Fun and friendly, the app focuses not only on the drinks themselves but prioritizes the social component of imbibing, allowing people to get-together, celebrate, and share drinks even when they are apart. The iOS app is free to download and users must be at least 17 years of age.  An Android version seems to be in the works. According to Shindig co-founder Harry Raymond it will be launched in September.