# Bar Necessities — Sourced cocktails, your bar

> AI cocktail companion for discovering drinks based on your bar inventory. (iPhone/iPad app by Jeffrey Surette.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bar-necessities/id6762225118 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Jeffrey Surette](https://appshunter.io/developer/1892505102)
- Category: Food & Drink, Lifestyle
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 17.6 · 5 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2026-04-28
- Data updated: 2026-08-11
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bar-necessities/id6762225118/reviews.md

## What is Bar Necessities?

Bar Necessities is a cocktail reference for people who care about what they're drinking.

255 recipes, every one traced to a source you can check — no AI-invented drinks, no approximations. The IBA's official canon. The modern craft classics: Bensonhurst, Greenpoint, Single Village Fix, Paper Plane. The lost classics worth reviving. Including two dozen standout non-alcoholic drinks.

Tell Bar Necessities what's on your shelf and it shows you every drink you can make — what you actually have, not what you wish you had. Mark bottles in and out as you open them and finish them, and what it shows you stays accurate. Then Bar Builder walks you to the ingredients that unlock the most new cocktails, whether you're starting from scratch or growing the bar you already have.

OPEN BAR: Send your guests a live link showing what you can make right now. Mark out the limes mid-party and the link updates on its own. Guests pick from cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, so anyone who isn't drinking can find something without having to ask.

COCKTAIL MENU: Curate a short lineup for the night and share it as a clean, printed-style menu.

Jig is the AI bartender. He knows what's in your bar, so what he suggests is always something you can actually make — and he'll talk you through a recipe or argue for a substitution. Remembers what you liked. Has opinions. (Free each month; sign up for Jig Pro to get more.)

Sourced, not invented. Built around the bar you actually have.

Jig Pro is an auto-renewing subscription, available monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel in your Apple ID settings.

Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://barnecessities.app/privacy

## Key features

- AI bartender for personalized drink suggestions
- Inventory management to see makeable cocktails
- Browse 240+ curated recipes
- Build and share custom cocktail menus
- Track drink ratings and progress
- Daily cocktail suggestions via widget

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Yearly | $19.99 | per year |


## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bar-necessities/id6762225118/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Easy explore

*2026-05-28*

Bar Necessities both simplifies and expands my cocktail library - and most importantly, it’s easy!  I love how the app allows me to create new experiences with what’s on hand.  Also love the ingredient recommendations and seeing how adding one new component unlocks specific possibilities.  Try it out!

## Frequently asked questions about Bar Necessities

### What is Bar Necessities?

Bar Necessities is an AI-powered cocktail companion that helps you discover drinks you can make with the ingredients you have. It allows you to stock your virtual bar, browse recipes, and get personalized suggestions.

### Does Bar Necessities have ads?

No, Bar Necessities does not contain advertisements. The app is free to browse, rate, and manage your bar, with optional subscriptions for full access to its AI features.

### How much does Bar Necessities cost?

The core features of Bar Necessities, including browsing recipes and managing your bar, are free. Full access to the AI bartender, Jig, requires a subscription, with options for monthly ($1.99) or yearly ($19.99) plans.

### What devices does Bar Necessities support?

Bar Necessities is currently supported on iPhone devices. The app was last updated on June 2, 2026, with version 1.3.

### Can Bar Necessities suggest mocktails?

Yes, Bar Necessities includes over two dozen mocktail recipes within its catalog of 240+ curated drinks. You can filter and discover non-alcoholic options.

### How does the AI bartender work in Bar Necessities?

The AI bartender, Jig, suggests drinks based on the ingredients you have logged in your bar. It can also advise on ingredient substitutions and remembers your preferences.

### What is the age rating for Bar Necessities?

Bar Necessities has an age rating of 17+. This is based on its content and the nature of alcoholic beverage recipes.

### How often is Bar Necessities updated?

The app was last updated on June 2, 2026, indicating active development. Users can expect regular updates to enhance features and recipe content.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.3 — 2026-08-05

What's in Bar Necessities? There's now an answer for that in Settings: a rundown of everything the app does, with a tap straight through to each one. Ask Jig the same question and he'll answer it his own way.

Also in 2.3:

- You can now pinch to zoom on the Cocktail Menu preview, so you can read the card before you send it.
- Users who choose to hide non-alcoholic drinks now get them hidden in additional places, including Jig's suggestions.
- Bar Builder's starter bundles have been refined to remove ingredients you already stock.
- The "My Bar" page clearly tells you when a change didn't save and puts your bar back the way it was, so what's on screen is always what's actually stored.
- The ingredient list opens on the category you tapped, and each category tells you what's in it as you stock your bar.
- When free users' Jig messages run out for the month, Jig says so and names the day they reset (both on the chat screen and the sign-up screen).
- You can navigate to barnecessities.app from Settings to access the full searchable library and the articles on technique.

Sourced, not invented. Built around the bar you actually have.

### 2.2 — 2026-07-22

What's New in 2.2

Related drinks. Every recipe now ends with a short list of where to go next — a handful of drinks in the same "family," or that share a spirit and a flavor.

Plus a round of polish:
- Open Bar tells you when a bar change hasn't reached your guests yet, and clears once it succeeds.
- Jig handles busy moments gracefully, and a reply that gets cut off never costs you a message. 
- Cleaner rating controls, a sharper widget, and better VoiceOver support throughout.

### 2.1 — 2026-07-14

Jig knows even more about cocktail history and techniques.

Ask how cocktails actually work — how the classics relate, when to shake vs. stir, which glass to use, where to start a spirits collection — and Jig gives clearer, better-grounded answers, drawn from the same fundamentals behind the new "reading room" articles at barnecessities.app.

Plus a few small refinements: a pinch of salt now counts as an always-on staple, so a couple more drinks come within easy reach.

### 2.0 — 2026-06-30

2.0 — Open Bar, and a lot more.

OPEN BAR
Send your guests a live link to the cocktails your bar can pour right now. Start it from Discover and share by text or AirDrop — guests open it on any phone, no app, no account. They see cocktails AND non-alcoholic drinks, so anyone who isn't drinking can find something without having to ask. Mark ingredients in and out and the link updates on its own.

COCKTAIL MENU
Curate a short lineup for a party and share it as a clean, printed-style menu — a separate tool from Open Bar, for when you want to set the list yourself.

JIG HELPS YOU HOST
Tell Jig you've got people coming over and he points you to the right tool — Open Bar or a Cocktail Menu — and can even build the menu for you.

13 NEW COCKTAILS
The modern Brooklyn family — Bensonhurst, Greenpoint, Red Hook, and the Diamondback. Lost classics worth remembering — Stork Club, Coronation, Income Tax, Pink Gin. And a handful of curios — Picon Punch, Picon Bière, Single Village Fix, Snakebite, Suze Tonic. Three additional ingredients come with them: applejack, Punt e Mes, and hard cider.

ORIGIN & SOURCES
Every recipe now carries an "Origin & sources" note — open it to see where a drink comes from and the references behind it. The whole catalog was re-grounded against its original sources.

ALSO
A searchable cocktail library at barnecessities.app, free to read on any device. A "Hide non-alcoholic drinks" preference for Discover and Bar Builder — Open Bar always shows both, because that's a guest setting, not a host one. Plus refinements throughout.

### 1.3 — 2026-06-02

This update introduces Bar Builder — and a smarter Jig.

• Bar Builder. See exactly which drinks each new bottle can unlock, and pick a path that fits your taste. If you’re starting from empty, you can tap a “bundle” (Old Fashioned, Margarita, Negroni, and more) to get a full mini-bar in one go.
• Jig now handles substitutions with more nuance. Ask about substituting maple syrup for simple syrup in an Old Fashioned, or making a Daiquiri without limes — you'll get a thoughtful answer about what changes.
• 30+ cocktails added: modern classics, beer drinks, and a fresh batch of mocktails. Plus additional content and referencing across the existing 200+ cocktail library.
• 17 additional ingredients — including Cynar, Suze, Amer Picon, Frangelico, and Tawny Port — plus polish across garnishes, glassware, and onboarding.

Bar Necessities is still curated, not exhaustive. Every drink is one you'd recognize, makeable from ingredients we actually track.

## More apps by Jeffrey Surette

- [Favorite Part](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/favorite-part/id6762156647)

All apps by Jeffrey Surette: https://appshunter.io/developer/1892505102

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-11.*
