diff --git a/src/clasqa/QADB.groovy b/src/clasqa/QADB.groovy
index d89bfc1..8e16cef 100644
--- a/src/clasqa/QADB.groovy
+++ b/src/clasqa/QADB.groovy
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ class QADB {
     dbDirN += '/qadb'
     if(cook in ["latest", "pass1", "pass2"]) {
       dbDirN += "/${cook}"
-    else {
-      System.err << "cook '${cook}' is not available\n"
+    } else {
+      System.err << "\nERROR: cook '${cook}' is not available in the QADB\n\n"
       return
     }
     if(verbose) println("QADB dir = ${dbDirN}")
diff --git a/srcC/include/QADB.h b/srcC/include/QADB.h
index de16b3c..8688d8c 100644
--- a/srcC/include/QADB.h
+++ b/srcC/include/QADB.h
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ namespace QA {
     if(cooks_avail.find(cook) != cooks_avail.end())
       dbDirN += std::string("/") + cook;
     else
-      throw std::runtime_error("cook '" + cook + "' is not available");
+      throw std::runtime_error("cook '" + cook + "' is not available in the QADB");
     if(verbose) std::cout << "QADB at " << dbDirN << std::endl;
 
     // get list of json files