Cocktails just a text away

Aug 8 2008

It is almost 20 years since Tom Cruise made a blockbuster out of bar tending with the release of Cocktail.

Now a young Scots entrepreneur is hoping for another shake up of the drinks industry by launching a new text message cocktail service.

Ryan Coutts founded the Text4Cocktails service, which sends recipes direct to a mobile phone.

The 23-year-old, based in Aberdeen, has created a comprehensive database from Bloody Marys and Cosmopolitans to White Russians and Woo Woos.

Coutts hopes the service will be of use to bar staff and people looking to recreate drinks at home.

He said: "I was working as a bar manager and I noticed a gap in the market. People would ask for cocktails and staff sometimes didn't know how to make them.

"Cocktail recipe books aren't always on hand but nine out of 10 people these days have a mobile so that's where the idea came from."

The service is currently being tested across Scotland but Coutts is aiming to roll it out to a wider audience. Users send a text message to 82055 with the word cocktail followed by their choice then the recipe is sent back to the phone.

More information is available at www.text4cocktails.co.uk.