Mixing the perfect drink may be a digital swizzle stick away

BERLIN -- I don't drink, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the subtle brilliance of MixStik, a mostly waterproof, digital swizzle stick that actually guides you through mixing complicated cocktails.

The $39 Kickstarter project is about 10 inches long, is covered in rubber and emits a series of colored lights. In other words, it looks like a toy, but it's anything but. On display here at an IFA sideshow called DigitalFocus Global, the MixStik connects via Bluetooth to a drink-mixing app.

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You select the drink you want to mix in the app -- think Tom Collins, Manhattan, Long Island Iced Tea -- and then the app walks you through each ingredient as the stick, which you place in your glass, shows you exactly how much you should pour of each into the glass. Each drink ingredient gets its own color. Whatever you pour increases the volume and you pour until your reach the top of the next color.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Since MixStik works with a wide variety of glass sizes and even shakers, it needs to know how much liquid each glass can hold. MixStik has thought of this, too. A portion of the app is designed to help you measure the height and circumference of your glass using the MixStik and its built-in lights. You put the MixStik under the glass and move a slider in the app until the width of the light matches the width of the glass. You do the same for the top of the glass. Then you do it again for the height. It's kind of genius.

Since the MixStik is still a prototype, they weren’t missing real drinks, so there was no way for anyone to test how well MixStik actually mixes drinks. Still, the execution is impressive.

While the MixStik is basically water (or alcohol) proof, you have to be sure not to insert it into the liquid the wrong way, One end has a removable top that covers the USB plug, which you'll use to charge the device.

For now, MixStik is an iOS-only device. It's expected to ship in March.

I promise to bring back a prototype from Europe and test it in Mashable's office, where I'm sure I can find someone who drinks.