How The Bar Book App is Changing the Way We Discover Spirits

Behind the Pour

Mike and Dolly built The Bar Book because the spirit discovery problem was not solved. There were rating apps, price apps, and inventory apps — but no app that asked what you actually liked and worked backward from there. Their pitch to Crystal is that spirits discovery should work the way music discovery works: you tell it your preferences, it finds what you have not tried yet. Dolly's own origin story starts at Doc's Bourbon Bar with a cocktail that changed her mind about bourbon entirely. It is the kind of conversion story that suggests the product works.

What You'll Discover

• Spirits discovery by flavor profile, not by reputation: The Bar Book works by asking users to describe what they like — sweetness, spice, smoke, fruit, ABV — and matching them to spirits they have not tried yet. It is a recommendation engine built for drinkers rather than collectors.
• How it differs from Vivino and Distiller: Vivino is primarily a wine app; Distiller is a spirits rating database. The Bar Book is trying to be a discovery tool — less 'here are the scores' and more 'here is what you will love next based on what you already love.'
• Bartenders and brands are both users: Crystal notes that the app has been adopted by bartenders as a reference tool for recommending spirits to guests. The brand side lets producers list their spirits, add cocktail builds, and connect their product to the flavor profiles it matches.
• Brands can join for free: At time of recording, The Bar Book offered free listings for brands — a meaningful access point for small craft producers that cannot afford traditional placement programs.
• Doc's Bourbon Bar and Dolly's conversion: Dolly was not a bourbon drinker until a specific cocktail at Doc's Bourbon Bar in Oklahoma City changed that. Crystal notes she knows Doc's well. The moment is both genuine and a good illustration of what the app is trying to create — guided discovery that changes how someone drinks.

A Moment of Pourspective

Every serious drinker has a Doc's Bourbon Bar moment — a single pour that reorganized their understanding of what spirits could be. The Bar Book is trying to create those moments on demand, for everyone, not just the ones who wander into the right bar at the right time.

Explore the Conversation

The Bar Book episode is one of TLC's technology-in-spirits conversations — not about a bottle, but about the infrastructure of how people find bottles. Mike and Dolly are genuine in their frustration with the existing apps: the problem they are solving is real, and they have clearly used (and been disappointed by) what existed before. The bartender adoption story is the episode's most practically interesting turn. When a bartender uses an app to recommend a spirit to a guest, it is because the app makes them look knowledgeable and helpful — which is exactly the same reason a drinker would use it. The alignment between consumer and professional use case is a structural advantage. Crystal's connection to Doc's Bourbon Bar is a TLC moment — the show is rooted in Oklahoma City and the people who have built its spirits culture, and Doc's is one of those places. Dolly's conversion story lands because Crystal knows the room it happened in.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is The Bar Book? The Bar Book is a spirits discovery app that uses flavor preferences to recommend spirits users have not yet tried. It is available for iOS and Android. Founders are Mike and Dolly.
• How is it different from rating apps? Rating apps tell you how experts scored a spirit; The Bar Book tells you which spirit you personally are most likely to enjoy based on what you already like. The recommendation is personalized rather than consensus-based.
• Can brands get listed? Yes — at time of recording, The Bar Book offered free brand listings, allowing craft producers to add their spirit's flavor profile, cocktail builds, and brand story to the discovery engine.
• What is Doc's Bourbon Bar? Doc's Bourbon Bar is a bourbon-focused bar in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, known for its extensive whiskey selection and expertise. It appears in Dolly's origin story as the place where she first experienced a bourbon cocktail that changed her relationship with the category.

Episode at a Glance

• Guests: Mike and Dolly (co-founders, The Bar Book)
• Host: Crystal
• Runtime: 40 minutes, 19 seconds
• Category: Industry
• Topic: Spirits discovery app, flavor-profile matching, bartender and brand tools