Automatic cocktail machines are silly, but also kind of fun. Here's how to choose between the Bartesian and Barsys devices. The machine on my kitchen table is a holy device, if your definition of "holy" is that it looks like a glowing halo and it's filled with spirits. The machine has taken up a task I consider sacred: making me a cocktail. In advance of holiday party season, I have been testing a pair of devices that promise an indulgent future, a life where machines can make you a passable Old Fashioned.

BONA FIDE holiday revelry is often linked to a good mixed drink. Parties where decadent cocktails flow befit the season, especially when those behind the bar know what they are doing. Result: Manhattans with too much whiskey, martinis made hastily with sweet vermouth and too much astringent lemon concentrate. So why not delegate the task to a computer? Over the past few years, cocktail machines have emerged that promise to do the difficult work of remembering recipes more capably than a designated bartender who's had a few tipples herself.