Travel and going out apps
Sip or TipLooking for testersI want to be a tester

For cellar door days, from the Hunter to the Barossa

Only two types of wine.
The ones you like, and the ones you don’t.

Tastings get busy. The pourer's onto the next bottle, the sheet's covered in ticks, and by the third winery it's a blur. Sip or Tip asks for two taps: snap the bottle, then Like, Meh or Don't. The names, years and notes can wait until you're home, when Tidy up reads the label for you. Every tasting day adds itself up, it learns what you keep liking, and in a bottle shop it tells you whether you've tried one. Everything stays on your phone: no account, no cloud.

Free for your first two tasting days, then A$9.99 once. Works offline. For adults 18 and over.

Sip or Tip's Home screen on a phone, partway through a made-up tasting day: Today in the Hunter Valley, with a ring for 2 cellar doors, 7 wines and 6 liked so far. A Shiraz-red card says you're at Lyrebird Lane Cellars, 3 wines here so far, Mount View, with On to the next winery below it, then Recent wines. Along the bottom are Home, My taste, a round Add a wine button, Rack and Plans.

A one-minute look around

A made-up couple, Jo and Sam, a day in the Hunter at made-up wineries, and a few days out from earlier in the year.

A one-minute tour with captions and no sound, so you can watch it anywhere. Every winery, wine and person in it is made up.

Made for the phone in your hand

At the counter it's one-handed: the camera button sits under your thumb. At home, the iPad or the laptop is fine for tidying up and looking back.

Have I tried this? on a laptop, filtered to Like: a search box, a Snap a bottle button, filter chips for Like, Meh, Don't, Bought, Jo and Sam, and the styles. Below, the wines liked by Jo or Sam as cards with their photos, years, wineries and days, each with two small glasses showing Jo's and Sam's verdicts.
My taste on an iPad for Jo: Turns out you're a Shiraz person. Liked 5 of 5 Shiraz, then 3 of 3 Semillon and 7 of 7 reds, and Chardonnay hasn't won Jo over: 0 liked of 4. Below, a ring of what Jo tastes most, then bars by variety split into Like, Meh and Don't.
One wine on a phone: a photo of a bottle of Mopoke Hill Reserve Shiraz, then Like, Meh and Don't as three round glasses for Jo and for Sam, both on Like, and a Next wine button at the bottom.

Made-up wines on a laptop, an iPad and a phone. Tap any screen to see it full size.

What it does

The tasting sheet you scribbled on, the bottle you meant to remember, and the one you liked at the third place.

A look inside

Real screens from Sip or Tip, with made-up wineries and wines.

Home partway through a tasting day: Today in the Hunter Valley, a ring for 2 cellar doors, 7 wines and 6 liked, where you're at with On to the next winery, recent wines, and the bar along the bottom with Add a wine in the middle
Home, mid-way through a day
Mopoke Hill Wines today: 4 wines, 3 liked, 3 bought for $141, a photo of the tasting sheet, and the wines numbered in the order poured, each with its photo and Jo's and Sam's glasses; Add a wine sits at the bottom
The wines, in the order poured
One wine: a photo of the Reserve Shiraz, Like, Meh and Don't as round glasses for Jo and for Sam, both on Like, the styles, and Next wine at the bottom
Like, Meh or Don't, one each
Tidy up: wine 1 of 2 from Lyrebird Lane Cellars, with its photo, Verdelho and 2024 filled in from the label, and the label read so a line can be tapped to make it the name
Tidy up reads the label
Day summary, Saturday in the Hunter Valley: cards for 2 cellar doors, 7 wines tasted, 6 liked and 3 bottles bought, $151 spent with $10 of it tasting fees, then Share the day and Tidy up 2
The day, added up
Share the day: the picture, framed in gold, with Saturday in the Hunter Valley and the date, 2 cellar doors, 7 wines, 6 liked and 3 bottles bought, and the ones we liked
The day as one picture
My taste for Jo: Turns out you're a Shiraz person, beside a bunch of grapes and a glass of red, then Liked 5 of 5 Shiraz with a full bar, and what else Jo keeps liking
What you keep liking
Have I tried this? searched for shiraz: Snap a bottle to check a label, the filters, and five Shiraz from four wineries with years, days and verdicts
Have I tried this?
The rack at home: 8 bottles, about $376, Add a bottle, then the bottles two to a row under Drink these first and On their way, each with its verdicts and drink-from and drink-by years
The rack at home
A plan called Girls' day in Broke, with its date and a note about who's driving, then the itinerary: Quoll Corner Vineyard at 10:30 am, booked, then Brushtail Creek Estate at 12:30 pm, not booked
Planning the next day out

How it works

  1. Start tasting

    Pick the cellar door: by region, by name, or Near me. There's nothing to set up first.

  2. Snap and tap

    A photo of each bottle, and Like, Meh or Don't. Next wine. Next winery.

  3. Tidy up at home

    Name the wines while the day's still fresh, with the label read for you.

  4. Look back

    Search before you buy, see what you keep liking, and plan the next day out.

Pricing

Try it on two real tasting days, then pay once. No subscription, and one price covers your household on up to three devices.

Free

Every feature 2 tasting days

No card and no sign-up. A tasting day is any day you log at least one cellar door, however many you get to. Afterwards, everything you've logged keeps working: tidying up, searching, your taste, the rack and backups. Only starting another tasting day waits.

Unlock

A$9.99 once

The whole price, paid once and never again — no GST on top, no renewals, nothing to cancel. Every update is included. Pay by card through Stripe; the key comes in your receipt email.

Where your notes live

  • Your tasting days, wines, verdicts and photos are stored in your browser on your phone
  • There is no account, no database and no sign-in
  • Labels are read on the phone; the photo never leaves it
  • Near me uses your location on the phone, and nowhere else
  • A backup is one file, saved to iCloud Drive or emailed to yourself
  • Keeping two phones in step sends a file from one of yours to the other, never to us
  • Unlocking sends only the key, to check it

What it isn't

  • A drinking-limit calculator. Its standard-drinks estimate (off unless you turn it on) can't tell you whether you're safe to drive. Plan a driver or a tour.
  • A wine review site. Your verdicts are yours; nothing is posted anywhere.
  • A shop. It doesn't sell wine or take a cut from wineries.

Put it on your phone

Sip or Tip is a web app that installs like a normal app. No app store needed, and it works out in the vines with no signal.

iPhone or iPad

  1. Open Sip or Tip in Safari.
  2. Tap the Share button.
  3. Choose Add to Home Screen, then Add.

Android

  1. Open Sip or Tip in Chrome.
  2. Tap the three-dot menu.
  3. Choose Add to Home screen or Install app.

Laptop or desktop

  1. Open Sip or Tip in Chrome or Edge.
  2. Click the install icon at the right of the address bar.
  3. It opens in its own window from then on.

Questions

Does it work with no signal?

Yes. Once it's on your home screen it runs fully offline, out among the vines. Reading labels needs about 7 MB the first time it's used; get it ready on wifi in Settings and it works offline after that. Only unlocking needs a connection, once.

Does reading the label use AI?

No. It's text recognition that runs on your phone, so the photo and the words never leave it. It's good with tasting sheets and plain labels, and can stumble on fancy ones, so check what it fills in. Typing the name works too.

What counts as a tasting day?

Any day you log at least one cellar door, however many you visit. Your first two are free. After that, everything you've logged keeps working, and a day you've already started carries on; only starting a new day waits for unlocking.

Is it only for the Hunter Valley?

No. Every Australian wine region is in the list, by state. The Hunter's cellar doors are built in so you can just pick one; anywhere else, add a winery the first time you visit and it's there from then on.

We taste as a couple. One phone or two?

Either. On one phone, turn on Two of us and every wine gets a verdict each. On two phones, send one's notes to the other (by AirDrop or iCloud Drive) and they're combined. One unlock covers up to three devices.

Can it tell me if I'm OK to drive?

No, and nothing on a phone can. Sip or Tip can show a rough standard-drinks estimate if you turn it on, but it's no measure of blood alcohol. Plan a driver, a tour or a bus for tasting days.

What happens if I lose my phone?

Your notes were only on that phone, so you'd restore from your last backup. Sip or Tip reminds you to make one, and it's a single file with your photos in it.

Sip or Tip is looking for testers.

It's being finished now, then tested on real cellar door days before it opens. If you do cellar door days and want to try it on your next one, email siportip@idleideas.com.au and say which wine regions you visit.

I want to be a tester