First Test Guinea Pig Sessions a Success!
almost 11 years ago – Fri, May 08, 2015 at 11:02:23 AM

Last weekend we did the first two of our "test guinea pig" sessions, where contributors at that level join us to make cocktails from the book and test out our instructions.  Many thanks to Krishna, Mohar, Doug, and Kirsten for participating!  We got a lot of great feedback which we are working to incorporate into the book.  Here are a few pictures of the sessions.

We're really looking forward to our next set of sessions to get even more feedback!

Also, we've fallen a little behind on the voting for the two stretch goal cocktails.  We have the complete list of cocktails to vote on, and we'll be posting a backers only update soon with the details on what those cocktails are and how to vote.  Stay tuned!

Nominations for the Stretch Goal Cocktails
almost 11 years ago – Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 09:27:45 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Campaign Successful!
almost 11 years ago – Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 03:46:30 AM

Earlier this evening our campaign reached its deadline.  Thanks to a great last minute push, we came within a hair of hitting the $3000 mark, which would have been 150% of our funding goal! We are so excited that 57 people saw promise in our book and we look forward to getting a copy into each of your hands as soon as possible.

First, an update on our stretch goals.  We blew past the $2500 mark, so we will be including 4 more cocktails in the book featuring some additional techniques and ingredients as mentioned in a previous update.  For every $250 above $2500 we were offering to add another cocktail to the book to be nominated and voted on by our contributors. We easily hit the first of these goals and came so close to the second that we'll count it anyway, so that's two more cocktails to add to the book!  Details on how the nomination and voting will work will be posted soon. 

Finally, although not really a stretch goal, the perk of choosing a cocktail to add to the book was chosen by two contributors.  We'll be working with them to choose and add these recipes.  

In total, that's 8 more cocktails that will be added to the final version of the book!  We'll announce these additions over the course of the next couple months as we finalize the content and wait for the books to get to us from the printer.

Second, we'd like to give you an idea of our next steps.  We will be spending the next two to three weeks preparing the final print content.  This includes conducting the six "test guinea pig" studies with contributors, producing the eight new cocktail pages, and one last thorough editing pass for good measure.  Once we have finalized the print content, we will send the book for printing, which we've already arranged for at an overseas printer.  We are told to expect to receive the books within 12 weeks from sending off the order, though of course that is an estimate that can be affected by customs, dock worker strikes, and any number of other issues.  We'll keep you updated as this progresses and cross our fingers that everything goes smoothly.  

Once we send the book for printing, we will then finalize the e-book version, which we expect to take one to two weeks.  Thus, backers that elected to receive an e-book should get their hands on their copy somewhere between late May and mid June.

For those backers that chose a custom cocktail recipe, I will begin working on these recipes once the e-book is finalized.

All backers should expect to receive a survey soon to collect shipping information, the name to include on the Thanks page, and any other details that are relevant to the perks you chose.  Right now we are investigating whether to use Kickstarter's built-in survey mechanism or a third-party service.  Test guinea pig contributors will receive a Kickstarter survey later tonight after I finish writing this post, as we need to coordinate the times for these tests in the near future.

We will continue to post updates about the project here on Kickstarter to keep you informed as we make progress towards getting the books in your hands.  We will also be updating our blog with information related to this project, as well as our other cocktail adventures at http://blog.whatdididrink.com/.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

Thanks!

Stretch goals for the final week!
almost 11 years ago – Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 06:05:36 PM

We have just one week left to go in our campaign, and while we've reached our goal, there is still time left to build awareness for our book and grow our contributor base.  To keep everyone motivated, we're pleased to announce a set of stretch goals if we can raise our even more funds! Here's a handy to figure to explain:

• $2500 - If we can raise a mere $250 more than our current funding level (as I write this), then we will add 4 more cocktails to the book featuring several cocktail making techniques and ingredients that are currently not covered. Topics that I plan to cover include shrubs, tinctures, "throwing a cocktail" (a mixing technique different than shaking or stirring), and carbonation. At least two of these recipes will come from my personal collection. 
• Every $250 above $2500 - I'll add 1 more cocktail to the book, which will be selected via suggestions and a vote from our contributors. If you have a favorite recipe from one of your local bars, feel free to suggest it and I'll reach out to that bar to see if the recipe can be used in the book. 
• $5000 - Over the years, we've had a number of great ideas for an amazing cocktail app, featuring a lot of content in the book, but with much more interactivity. We've also thought about how to design the book with use in the kitchen in mind. If we reach this level of funding, then we'll invest funds in the production of this app and make it available to all of our contributors completely free. More details will be forthcoming as we approach this stretch goal. 

If you'd like to see a specific cocktail added to the book and don't want to worry about whether it will be voted in by the rest of the contributors, we have also added a new perk at the $150 level. At this level, you get two books, an e-book, and the opportunity to choose a cocktail to be added to the book. If you live nearby one of the launch party locations, you will also receive an invite to the launch party.

If you've already contributed and want to change your contribution level to this new one, you should be able to do so through the Kickstarter web page. Please feel free to reach out if you can't figure out how to do so.

If you've already contributed, we certainly appreciate anything you do to spread the word about the book!  Please, tell your friends, your enemies, people you don't know very well, and anyone else that has an interest in cocktails.

Thanks!