Cocktail machines are nothing new. However, the one presented at CES 2022 in Las Vegas still has a great asset up its sleeve: it will be distributed by a big name in the industry.
The CES sometimes has the allure of a gigantic Lépine competition during which Géo Trouvetou offer all kinds of “goofs”, each more wacky than the next. So we discovered the connected potato or the bionic shower. In general, these devices, perhaps too ahead of their time or more likely completely useless, do not pass the test of industrial production and are relegated to the oblivion of tech, hence the editors teasing them. stand out to illustrate the emptiness of certain technological “advances”. You would have thought that the Bev cocktail machine would fall into this category, but that was without counting on a big name in the household appliance and tooling: Black + Decker. Indeed, the American manufacturer says it is ready to market the device in the spring of 2022 at a price of $ 300.
To make delicious beverages, Bev needs raw materials in the form of bottled spirits; whiskey, gin, tequila, vodka, rum, Grand Marnier, Suze, chartreuse … Good point, it is not necessary to buy proprietary containers, filled with ingredients supplied by brands with which the manufacturer has spent commercial agreements. Completely classic bottles (with a volume of 75 cl) can be used. Metal pipes pierce the corks and suck the alcohol before mixing them.
However, since it is always profitable to sell consumables to users to use the machines and thus prolong the act of purchase, Bev also needs capsules, similar in approach to Nespresso coffee capsules. These pods (the price of which we do not yet know) contain the other ingredients of the cocktails that are the softs, in concentrated form to save space. Indeed, Bev also embeds a tank that contains water to dilute these syrups. As with the Tassimo range from Bosch, the capsules are decorated with a barcode that the machine will read in order to select the right alcohols and the exact quantities. The maker promises that a cocktail is ready in 30 seconds. It should also be noted that after distribution, the various pipes leading the alcohol and the final drink are cleaned with air and water, as on an automatic coffee maker with a grinder.
The Bev cocktail machine does not seem to be connected: all you have to do is place the pod, then let it go. Supreme refinement, LEDs illuminate the bottles of alcohol to bring a little festive side to the whole.
If the release of Bev is scheduled in the United States during the spring at a price of $ 300, it is not yet known whether Europe and France will have the joy of welcoming him to their soil. Still, many members of the editorial staff Digital have already volunteered to test it.