Durst is one of our favourite apps here at Silicon Allee. It’s a very simple idea: The name means ‘Thirst’, and indeed it shows thirsty Berliners where the nearest Späti (short for Spätkauf, literally ‘late buy’) is located. That makes it especially useful at this time of year, when you are on your way to a Christmas or New Year party and need to find more booze.
And so it is no surprise that the makers of Durst – which we first wrote about last December – have chosen this time of year to launch the free app on Android. Ape Unit, based in Charlottenburg, specialises in video production, web development and online film technology, and decided to create Durst merely as a bit of fun on the side.
The app takes a user’s location and shows all the nearby Spätis (late-night shops which generally cater to the booze-hungry) in the integrated map. There is also information on opening times where possible.
Users themselves help keep the app up to date, reporting on closed or newly-opened Spätis.
Ape Unit CEO Alex Peschel said: “The Späti culture in Berlin is unique. The app was created by Berliners for Berliners to nurture this culture and to prevent any drinkers from dying of thirst.”
To mark the launch, and to make this New Year’s Eve go by that little bit faster, Durst has come up with some special ‘Späti cocktails’ which you won’t find in any bar in Berlin. They include Bloody Streets (tomato juice, vodka and instant noodle flavourings), Ghetto Libre (brandy, cola and concentrated lemon juice) and, for those with a sweet tooth, there is the After Twelve – hot chocolate and peppermint liquor, with molten chewing gum to get the consistency right.
As you’re nursing your Späti hangover on New Year’s Day, raise a glass (of water; perhaps with some kind of painkiller added) to the eight ‘apes’ at Ape Unit who selflessly threw themselves into the task of researching and identifying the best Späti cocktails.