August 2026
Aug 16, 2026
Become a Regular at any bar
Bars have followers now. Tap "Pull up a stool" on a friend's bar and you're a Regular: you see the recipes they share with their people, and they get a ping that you sat down. Every recipe you create stays private until you share it, with just yourself, with your Regulars, or with the whole community. Invite links survive install and signup, and a bar can go full Speakeasy (invite-only) whenever it wants.
Why: Your best recipes were all-or-nothing: screenshot them to the group chat or publish them to the whole internet. Now your circle gets a seat.
Aug 16, 2026
Multiple menus for Party Host
Menus are real, named things now: Tiki Night, Holiday 2026, the block party list. Add any drink (catalog or your own), reorder it, and pick which menu your Party Host QR code shows. Guests scan and see a clean drinks list with no login; your Regulars, signed in, see the full recipes behind the same menu. Edits go live the moment you save. Free accounts run one menu; Top Shelf keeps unlimited.
Why: One QR code should be able to host every occasion without rebuilding the list each time.
Aug 12, 2026
AI credits reset every day now
Free accounts get 20 AI credits a day, resetting at midnight Central, instead of 20 a week. And Top Shelf supporters stock their bar for free: scans and bottle identification never touch their credits.
Why: A week is a long time to wait when you burned your credits stocking the bar on Saturday.
creditstop shelf
Aug 10, 2026
Ask AI is free for everyone
Talking to the AI bartender no longer costs credits, on any account. It also got a serious rebuild: answers stream in live, it remembers your conversation, you can send it photos of bottles and drinks, and every suggestion comes back as a tappable recipe card with a one-line taste description.
Why: The bartender who knows your bar shouldn't have a meter running while you decide what to pour.
Aug 10, 2026
Ready, with a sub
Recipe matching now understands substitutions. Out of ginger syrup but holding ginger liqueur? The drink shows up anyway, tagged "Ready, with a sub", with a chip explaining the swap. The calculators and Ask AI honor subs too.
Why: A near-miss you can actually pour tonight was being counted as a miss.
Aug 9, 2026
Arrange your shelf, stack your bottles
Long-press the shelf to enter arrange mode: bottles jiggle, you drag them wherever you want, and Save Config locks in the layout. Own two of the same bottle? It stacks as one with a quantity count and a stepper.
Why: It's your bar. It should sit the way your real shelf sits.
shelf
Aug 7, 2026
Pitcher Perfect: drinks by the pitcher
A new pack built for crowds, with recipes measured in cups, liters, and whole bottles instead of ounces. Big-batch units are now part of the recipe system.
Why: Nobody makes fifteen individual margaritas at a pool party.
packsrecipes
Aug 5, 2026
Founder Chat
A realtime chat room with the founder in it, included with Top Shelf Annual and Lifetime. Upgrade and an invite from Brett lands in your inbox with a link to your seat. Members see what's being built next and steer it.
Why: The people funding the app should have the loudest voice in where it goes.
communitytop shelf
July 2026
Jul 27, 2026
The spotlight tour
New signups get a five-stop tour that highlights the real interface, not screenshots: add bottles, see your matches, visit Flavor Lab, share your bar, find the community. Replayable anytime from Home settings.
Why: The fastest way to a first cocktail is being shown, not told.
onboarding
Jul 27, 2026
A bottle catalog that heals itself
Scan a bottle the catalog has never seen and the AI enrolls the new bottle type on the fly, so it lands on your shelf correctly instead of coming back unknown. Packs also picked up story-first cards and a better card-by-card builder the same day.
Why: Your obscure amaro shouldn't be the app's problem to not understand.
scanningshelfpacks
Jul 20, 2026
Kitchen & Mixers
Juices, syrups, mixers, bitters, and garnishes moved into their own Kitchen & Mixers section with a full staples catalog, so the shelf stays pure bottles. Need something the catalog doesn't have? Add Other enrolls it with AI help.
Why: Lime juice is essential, but it doesn't belong next to the bourbon.
shelfingredients
Jul 8, 2026
Build your own recipe packs
The Pack Builder opened to everyone: craft a themed pack card by card with AI help, then publish it to the community (moderated) or keep it private behind a code you share. Five dollars a pack, or included credits for supporters. Packs became searchable, and public pack recipes got shareable pages.
Why: The best themed collections were always going to come from you, not us.
Jul 8, 2026
Flavor Lab
Dial in a taste with sliders (sweet, sour, bitter, boozy, and more) and the AI invents a complete, balanced cocktail: name, story, and full recipe. Flip on "only my bar" and it builds with just the bottles you own.
Why: Sometimes you don't want to find a drink. You want the drink that doesn't exist yet.
Jul 7, 2026
Recipe Packs arrive
Themed, flip-through collections of cocktails you save or skip one card at a time, starting with Summer Pack 2026. New drops go live without an app update.
Why: A good pack is a night planned for you: theme, stories, and ten drinks that belong together.
packsrecipes
June 2026
Jun 29, 2026
Top Shelf: the supporter upgrade
One optional upgrade, priced like a bottle instead of a cable bill: monthly, annual, or $49.99 once for lifetime. Supporters get a much bigger daily AI allowance, their whole bar rendered as AI shelf art, and Party Host Mode. Everything essential stays on the free tier, with no ads anywhere.
Why: The app should be funded by the people who love it, not by ads or a paywall in front of the recipes.
top shelf
Jun 19, 2026
3.0: your bar, rendered
The bar became a real place: every bottle rendered as shelf art on a realistic shelf. Shared Bars let couples and roommates pool bottles into one inventory, and every recipe can display in oz, ml, or cl.
Why: An inventory list tells you what you own. A shelf makes it feel like yours.
shelfshared bars