Every question,
answered like we build.

Not a support page. An owner's guide — every frequently asked question explained down to the mechanism, so you know why the answer is the answer.

Q. How does it know when to stop pouring?

The base is a scale with opinions. It senses the weight of the vessel on it in real time, and because every liquid has a known density, weight is volume. When the app hands the Shaker Pro a recipe, the base watches each pour live and drives the light ring through three behaviors: start (pour), slow (approaching the line), stop (you're there). The design target is finer than a milliliter — about a thirtieth of an ounce — which is a smaller error than the width of the stream you're pouring. The full measured tolerance table publishes on the spec sheet with certification.

There is no camera, no timer guessing at your pour speed. It weighs. That's why it works with any bottle, any speed, any hand.

Q. Do I need the app? What needs what?

For guided pours, yes. The free Barsys AI app (iOS and Android) holds the recipes, your taste profile, and Barbot — and it choreographs the light in real time over Bluetooth 5.1. You pair once; it takes a few minutes. Every night after, the connection is automatic — pick a drink and pour.

Without the phone, the Shaker Pro is still a real stainless-steel shaker — no app, no account, no battery required to shake a drink. The intelligence is additive, never load-bearing. If Bluetooth misbehaves, the fix is almost always at the phone end: confirm Bluetooth is on in your phone's settings (not just the app), keep the phone within a few meters, and if the device was recently renamed, power-cycle the base — unplug, plug back in — so it re-announces itself.

Q. How do I charge it — and does the adapter matter?

USB-C fast charging; the cable is in the box. The adapter matters more than people expect: use one rated at least 3A / 5V. A weak adapter — the old 1A phone brick in your drawer — will charge slowly or unreliably and is the single most common cause of "my base won't turn on."

Q. Why isn't my pour registering?

Because the base senses weight, the vessel needs to have some. A thin plastic cup or a styrofoam party cup can sit under the sensing threshold — the base literally can't feel it. Two fixes, both instant: use the steel tin or a real glass, or add ice first — the ice gives the vessel weight and the sensing locks on. Also check the fundamentals: the base wants a hard, flat surface, nothing leaning on it, no towel underneath, no hand resting on the rim while it measures.

Q. Is it dishwasher safe?

No — and this is a hill we'll die on, because it's how you keep the instrument for years. The tin and lid hand-wash in seconds with regular dish soap, like every shaker behind every bar on earth. The base — where the electronics live, sealed — wipes clean with a damp cloth and never meets the sink, the tap, or the dishwasher. Heat and detergent cycles are how electronics die; a rinse and a wipe is how they last.

Q. How should I set up my bottles in the app?

Name them generically. Enter "gin," not the specific label — the recipe engine matches on ingredient type, so a generic name unlocks the most recipes (the specific bottle still tastes like itself). Two housekeeping rules from the bar world: don't let perishables — juice, dairy, syrups — sit in the tin between sessions; and rinse promptly after every pour session so yesterday's margarita never haunts today's martini.

Q. What does it cost, and when does mine arrive?

The Shaker Pro is $45, free US shipping. Sign up on any page and a one-time $10 code appears instantly — it applies automatically at checkout, so $45 becomes $35. Batch one sold out; batch two is shipping now, 5–7 business days to your door. Your confirmation email carries a BAR-SP order number — that's your handle for anything: tracking, questions, returns.

Q. Something's wrong and it's not listed here.

Open the app and ask Barbot — plainly, like you'd tell a friend: "it won't connect," "the light won't stop," "my pour isn't registering." Barbot walks you through the fix step by step, and it knows every workflow on this page. If you'd rather talk to a human, contact@barsys.com reaches one — include your BAR-SP order number and we'll take it from there.