CES 2016: How You'll Get Drunk at Home in the Future

Three smart devices shown at CES 2016 are making it easier for you to make stupid decisions. PicoBrew, Somabar, and 10-Vins demonstrated their systems for beer, mixed cocktails, and wine, respectively, and each one is attempting to change the way we enjoy our favorite potent potables at home.

Craft Your Own Beer

PicoBrew's new Pico is a smaller version of its Zymatic automated beer-brewing machine. The Pico is about half the size of the Zymatic, and is intended for home use. You just need to add a PicoPak—prepackaged ingredients, similar to a K-Cup—and then adjust dials for bitterness and body. Two hours later, you'll have your own ready-to-drink home brew.

PicoBrew is also launching its Brewery Developers Program, which gives you the opportunity to make some money on a recipe you've created at home. So, say you brew up a nice IPA. You could submit the recipe, and if it's selected, other Pico users can buy a PicoPak to make your IPA, earning you a royalty in the process. Recipes are approved by two Beer Judge Certification Program-approved judges, and anyone who buys your recipe can rate it on the Brew Marketplace.

Membership regularly costs $99 a year, and you'll also get a 15% discount on Pico products as a member. You can currently preorder the Pico for $599, and it's expected to ship around May this year.

Your Personal Mechanic Bartender

The Somabar is here to help those of us who are tired of mixing up an Old Fashioned the old-fashioned way. Or, those of us who never even bother to make any cocktail more complicated than "liquor + mixer" because, hey, that's a lot of work.

The machine features six containers, called Soma Pods, to hold whichever ingredients you'd like. The Somabar is controlled with an app on your phone, and suggests recipes depending on which ingredients you've got loaded up. Just like the Pico, there's also going to be a way to post your own concoctions, or try something that someone else created. You can preorder a Somabar right now for $429, but there's no solid release date.

Perfect Wine Without the Wait

Finally, 10-Vins's D-Vine is a lot like the Somabar, but for wine. You load up the mechanism with different vials of prepackaged wine, each with an RFID chip. The machine will scan the vial and pour your selection at the perfect temperature, and with the perfect aeration.

The D-Vine is only available in France, Belgium, and the UK at the moment, but 10-Vins is working to bring it to the United States. The company's website states a starting price of $599.

If this is how easy it is to drink in the future, let's hope there's someone out there hard at work on a smart liver, too.

Cover image via Shutterstock