Help & Documentation
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Getting Started
What is Bourbonator?
Bourbonator is a social tasting journal for whisky enthusiasts. Log every pour, rate every bottle, and discover what people with similar taste are drinking. Think of it as Untappd, but for bourbon, Scotch, Japanese, Irish, rye, and everything in between.
How do I log a check-in?
Click the "Check In" button in the top navigation bar. Search for the whisky you're drinking, add a rating (1–5 stars), optional tasting notes, flavor notes, serving style, vintage year, and the venue where you're enjoying it. Hit submit and it appears in your feed and your followers' feeds.
How do I find a whisky that's not in the catalog?
Use the search in the check-in modal. If a whisky isn't found, type the full name and submit — it will be added. Our catalog has 700+ expressions across bourbon, Scotch, Japanese, Irish, rye, and more — and grows with every new check-in.
How do I search for whiskies, people, or distilleries?
Use the Search button in the top navigation bar (or press ⌘K on Mac / Ctrl+K on Windows). It searches whiskies, distilleries, and users simultaneously as you type, with instant results. Click any result to navigate directly to that page.
Social Features
How do I find people to follow?
Go to Explore → People. You'll see suggested users based on activity, plus shelves for "Similar Palates" (people who rate the same whiskies highly as you) and "Same Venues" (people who check in at bars you frequent). You can also search by username.
What are Toasts?
Toasts are emoji reactions to check-ins. Every check-in card shows six toast buttons labeled Cheers, Jealous, Tell Me More, Great Pick, That Bad?, and Dream Bottle. Click any to react — you can change your reaction anytime. You can also leave a comment using the Comment button on any check-in.
How do I comment on a check-in?
Click the Comment button (speech bubble icon) on any check-in card to expand the comments section. Type your message and press Enter or the send button. Comments are visible to everyone.
What's a Tasting Flight?
A flight is a side-by-side comparison of 2–8 whiskies. Create one via the Flights page, add bottles, rate each one, and optionally tag the venue where you're having the flight. Share it publicly. Great for documenting formal tastings or head-to-head comparisons.
What are Bottle Lists?
Lists are curated collections of whiskies — think "My Favorite Wheated Whiskies" or "To Try in 2025." Public lists are visible to everyone; Pro users can create private lists.
What are Venue pages?
Every bar, restaurant, or distillery where people check in gets its own venue page showing recent check-ins, the most popular whiskies ordered there, and a leaderboard of regulars. Tap any venue name on a check-in card to see its page.
What is the "I'm Tasting" feature?
Tap the "I'm tasting" button in your feed or profile to set a live status that lasts 2 hours. Your followers will see you in an amber "Drinking right now" shelf at the top of their feed. A 🍶 badge also appears on your profile. Tap again to turn it off early.
Your Collection
What's the difference between Wishlist, Cellar, and Check-ins?
Wishlist is bottles you want to try but haven't yet. Cellar is bottles you own and have at home but haven't opened. Check-ins are bottles you've actually tasted. Each serves a different stage of the whisky journey. Add bottles to your Cellar using the green 📦 button on any whisky page.
Is there a limit to my wishlist?
Free accounts can wishlist up to 25 whiskies. Pro accounts have unlimited wishlisting. There's no limit on cellar entries or check-ins.
Can I export my tasting journal?
Yes — Pro subscribers can export their full journal as a CSV spreadsheet or a styled PDF. The PDF includes a cover page with your stats summary, your cellar inventory, wishlist, and every check-in with tasting notes. Find the export buttons on your profile page.
Discovering Whiskies
How do recommendations work?
The Discover tab on the Explore page shows personalized whisky recommendations based on what you've rated highly. The more check-ins and ratings you log, the better the recommendations get.
What's the Explore page?
Explore has four tabs: Discover (personalized recommendations), Whiskies (search and filter the full catalog), Distilleries (browse by producer), People (find users to follow), and Events (upcoming tastings and releases).
How do I find tasting events?
Go to Explore → Events, or navigate to the Events page from the nav bar. It shows upcoming tastings, barrel picks, and distillery events. Events are added by the Bourbonator team — if you know of an event worth listing, use the feedback form to let us know.
Pro Subscription
What does Pro include?
Pro includes: unlimited wishlisting (vs 25 free), unlimited tasting flights (vs 5), private bottle lists, CSV and PDF journal export, a Pro badge on your profile, and deep analytics on your stats page — year-over-year trends, distillery loyalty scores, day-of-week drinking patterns, personal records, flavor evolution, and toasts received breakdown.
How much does Pro cost?
Pro is $4.99/month or $49.99/year (save 17%). You can cancel anytime from the billing portal — cancellations keep Pro active until the end of your paid period.
How do I cancel Pro?
Go to the Pro page and click "Manage Billing." This opens Stripe's billing portal where you can cancel, change plans, or update payment info. Your Pro access continues until the end of the period you've paid for.
Account & Privacy
How do I change my profile photo?
Go to your profile page and click on your avatar — a camera icon appears on hover. Click it to upload a photo from your device.
How do I complete my profile?
Visit your profile page. If you're missing a bio, profile photo, or first check-in, you'll see a "Complete your profile" section with quick-action buttons. Adding these helps other users find and follow you.
How do I delete my account?
Go to your profile page, scroll to the bottom, and find the Danger Zone section. Enter your password to confirm. Your account and all data are permanently deleted.
Who can see my check-ins?
Check-ins on the Global feed are visible to all logged-in users. The Friends feed shows only people you follow. Your profile page is public. Private profiles are on our roadmap.
When do I get notifications?
You get an in-app notification when: someone follows you, someone toasts one of your check-ins, or you are tagged in a check-in. Notifications appear in the bell icon in the nav. You do not get notified for every check-in from people you follow — use the Friends feed to see their activity.
How do I manage email notifications?
Go to Settings → Notifications from your profile page. You can enable or disable emails for follows, toasts, and promotional updates independently.
Where can I read the Privacy Policy?
The full privacy policy is at bourbonator.app/privacy, and our Terms of Service are at bourbonator.app/terms. The privacy policy covers what data we collect, how it's used, your deletion rights, and third-party services.
Getting Help
How do I report a bug or request a feature?
Use the Feedback form at bourbonator.app/feedback. Select "Bug report" or "Feature request" from the dropdown. You can also email [email protected] directly.
A whisky is missing from the catalog — how do I add it?
When you check in, just type the whisky name in the search field. If it's not found, type the full name and submit — it will be added to the catalog. You can also use the Feedback form with type "Missing whisky or catalog issue" and we'll add it with full details.