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by William Hungerford, Cigar and Fine Spirits Aficionado
One of the absolute pure pleasures in life is to sit back with a nice cigar and a drink and watch the sun go down. The big question is: "Which cigar and what type of drink?" Obviously, the choices are many. Did you know your handheld can help you make an informed decision? That's right; there are numerous software titles for your handheld for all of you cigar and liquor aficionados. Being a software developer and the Palmtops/PDA Guide at About.com (http://www.palmtops.about.com), I see a lot of great software for cigar and liquor connoisseurs alike.
Why did we put these two categories together? If you asked that question, you're missing out on one of life's great experiences! Fine spirits are to cigars what wine is to cheese; the melding of flavors brings out a complexity that truly needs to be experienced. Another thing to note, cigars aren't strictly a pleasure meant for men. Many women are starting to explore and enjoy the pleasure of a fine cigar and drink.
We broke the software choices into both cigar and liquor categories. You'll find most of the software consists of databases where you can record your own cigar experiences and drink recipes. Be sure to try as much software as possible, as we're sure you'll find the right program for your PDA. If you're new to cigars or fine liquor, no need to worry. A lot of the software on this page will educate you and expand your knowledge of some of the finer things in life.
Well, I think it's time to go watch the sunset with an Opus X and a Johnny Walker Black and water. Go find your favorites and enjoy the sunset too!
Software
Cigars
Liquor
E-Books
User Stories
Web Resources
Software
Cigars
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Cigar Master
How wrong can you go with software created by a person known as "The Grand Poobah"? Cigar Master helps you keep track of those great (and not-so-great) cigars. Put it all in Cigar Master: brand, wrapper, size, and shape. Add your own notes and customize the terms to match your own personal style.
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Humidor
Humidor let's you keep track of all of your cigars in your humidor. It even has features like keeping track of which drink goes with which cigar.
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TealInfo DB: Cigar Sizes
Requires TealInfo. Have you ever wondered exactly what the measurements are for a Churchill? This piece of freeware will give you ring gauge and length of any cigar shape. This is an extremely handy program to have on your handheld.
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MyCigarBook
MyCigarBook is a Palm OS application designed to track and rate your cigar tastes, pricing and any notes associated with each cigar enjoyed. MyCigarBook will have you logging your favorite cigars thoroughly and in style! Very easy to use.
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Herfer Buddy
Herfer Buddy enhances the experience of cigar smoking by giving smokers a convenient way to jot down and organize their thoughts on their smoking experiences. Not only a database to jot notes but also lets you log details of the moment with friends at a picnic or local Herf.
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The Finer Life Cigar Database
This cigar database already has over 900 cigars listed. A great database for those who need to decide what type of cigar to try.
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Cigars
Requires HanDBase: A simple HanDBase cigar database filled with reviews. Did I mention it's freeware?
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Liquor
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Bartender's Drink Encyclopedia Handheld Edition 1.0
Requires Town Compass DataViewer. Look up nearly 25,000 drink recipes; use the search feature on your handheld to search by ingredients, liquor, or even type of glass to pour in! Warning: Contains graphic language for some drink names. This product is for adults only!
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BarBack Drink Guide
Requires Town Compass DataViewer. From the makers of Bartender's Drink Encyclopedia, this is a little racier version that contains X-rated drink versions. Warning: Contains graphic language for some drink names. This product is for adults only!
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AW Cocktail Recipes
Requires RoadLingua. Cocktail recipes reference. Comprehensive list of cocktail recipes. Prepare more than 790 cocktails with the help of this reference. Features include: extremely fast database browsing; expansion cards support; adjustable fonts; search within the offered definitions; and more. Easy to use, convenient RoadLingua dictionary shell. Has a very nice interface.
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Cocktail recipes
Access a database of nearly 7,000 cocktail recipes from your wireless handheld or mobile phone. Search by drink name, ingredients, and more. Results are accessed through the internet, with an average file size of only 500 bytes. A comprehensive software application for barmaids, bartenders, as well as all party hosts.
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Cocktails Wireless
Impress friends with cocktail and drink recipes with the click of a pen on your wireless Palm Powered device. From traditional to trendy, access over 6,000 recipes, wirelessly! Cocktails, punches, hot drinks, shooters and non-alcoholic beverages. From the Rovenet Wireless Internet Portal.
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Master Drinks
Drinks Recipes for Halloween Theme, Christmas, Cocktails, Liqueurs & Extracts , Hot Drinks, Non Alcoholic, Punches & Party Drinks, Shots, and Special Drinks.You will probably even find some recipes here that you have never heard about before.649 recipes with ingredients, directions, personal rating and comments. A nice piece of freeware.
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Drink Juggler
Drink Juggler will help you find and make more drinks than you ever thought you could. Impress your friends with your knowledge of beer, wine, coffee drinks and more. With Drink Juggler you can quickly search for drinks by name, ingredients, or even glass type. Looking for a certain recipe but forgot what it's called? All drinks are categorized by type.
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9.95 Drinks
9.95 DRINKS is your ultimate guide to mixed drinks for Palm Powered handhelds. Choose from hundreds of drinks, 9.95 DRINKS will give you the required ingredients and show you how to prepare the drinks.
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Bartender!
L3's Bartender puts over 900 drink recipes in the palm of your hand! Fun, fast and easy to use! Neatly organized with nice interface.
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OPEN BAR
Requires iSilo. This program shows you step by step how to mix the perfect drink. More than 2,500 recipes of the most interesting and popular beverages.
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Whisky Master
Another great piece of software from the "Grand Poobah." Has an extensive list of whiskeys for all you whiskey lovers out there.
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E-Books
Cigars
Cigars- A conversation with Fidel
by Marvin R. Shanken
This is an interview that first ran in Cigar Aficionado a few years ago. A very interesting read about Cuba and its cigars.
Cigar Aficionado Top Rated Cigars
A database of top cigars pulled from Cigar Aficionado. In HandBase format.
Liquor
myPalmPilot BarMaster
by Amin Pirani
Keep track of recipes, ingredients, etc. with this document in iSilo format
Palm Bar Mini-Database of Mixed Drinks
by Various
A basic list of mixed drinks for your PDA
Cocktail Recipes
by EKO
Over 500 mixed drinks and cocktail recipes in German.
Cocktail Dictionary - 1000 Cocktails Shaken or Stirred
Just like the title says, 1,000 cocktail recipes for your handheld.
User Stories
Mobile Bartender
Martin D
I'm a cocktail aficionado. I have maintained various databases of cocktail recipes on my computer and the Web. The quantity of information about different recipes and ingredients is overwhelming: far too much to commit to memory. So, I wanted a device that I could tote the data around on when I visited bars or friend's homes...
I still attract attention at bars when I flip the handheld open and start looking up recipes, which is good, because the attention helps me evangelize the cocktail craft. Often, I've just handed the entire unit over to the bartender to refer to while preparing my drink, and on several occasions, I've even beamed my entire database to another patron who has their own handheld.
Web Resources
Internet Cigar Group
This site is a great starting point for cigar smokers. Has links to many resources including Palm software.
Cigar Site at About.com
Updated reviews and Top Picks for your favorite cigars. A great starting point for the beginning cigar smoker. Has listings of Palm software for cigar smokers.
The Cigar Family.com
This is a forum thread at the Fuente/Newman official website. This thread discusses Palm OS software for cigar smokers.
Food and Wine Expert Guide
While the Cigars and Liquors Guide focuses on fine spirits, don't forget that wine can also add something special to that cigar experience.
AvantGo Web Service
AvantGo contains quite a few lifestyle channels to enhance your cigar and liquor explorations.
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Articles / Reviews 
