The Bartender's Bible: 1001 Mixed Drinks

This book all the basic information you'd expect from a bartending guide: glassware, tools, alcohol, mixers, and a few hundred pages of clear, no-nonsense recipes. So far, so good. Two factors, however, distinguish this book from others like it: its organization and its snappy, literate prose. The Bartender's Bible is intelligently organized by main ingredient. It has separate chapters for bourbon, gin, tequila, vodka, rum, brandy, and whiskey, as well as several chapters for other broad categories such as "Hot Drinks" and "Cordials." This makes a lot of sense for the way most of us use a book like this -- you have a bottle of Bacardi, for example, and want to discover a few novel drinks that use rum. It's then a simple matter of turning to Chapter 5 and stumbling upon the recipe for a Cuba Libre, or a Maestro, or a Rum Sour, or dozens of other rum drinks that might strike your fancy. Or if you can't quite remember the name of that tequila concoction you were served last summer in Cozumel, just flip to Chapter 7 and thumb through until you find it. (Of course, if you know the name of a particular drink, there's a handy alphabetized index in the back.) This guide is the best on the market, however, because of Regan's skill as a writer. "Drinking," he muses, "has to do with friendship, good times, warm and tender moments, camaraderie, celebration, commiseration, birth and death, sealing a deal, remembering a friend -- the very things that life itself is about." He is equally entertaining when describing how bourbon is made as he is when remembering the warmth and laughter of his own favorite pub back in Lancashire. You could, in other words, read the narrative sections of this book and be charmed without ever consulting the recipes even once. Do yourself a favor and get the hardback or spiral edition -- this one is bound to get dog-eared from constant use.

It is not really needed but I will chime in and say it is the first drinks book I got, and the only one of the many I now have that I use. The others are OK for specialty applications but the sheer number of drinks in this one makes it an amazing experience. stellar are the introductions to each base ingredient section; how is gin made; is whiskey and whisky the same thing? Etc etc. A great buy!

I have perused through my fair share of bartending guides, and have found two genres: those that concentrate on instructing you how to bartend, and those that simply provide material you should know to bartend. I prefer the latter due simply to the fact that every one needs to develop thier own style of doing things. One's style need not be radically different from common practice, but rather allow the bartender to serve in a manner he or she sees fit. I am here to tell you that The Bartender's Bible is a most indespensible REFERENCE guide. The one complaint I hear about it is that it is organized by main ingredient rather than alphabetically. This may present INSIGNIFIGANT difficulties in locating the recipe... but if the user has an IQ surpassing your average speed bump, the problem can be easily overcome. I think that the style is rather perfect for the average home bar, where one does not have access to an abundance of different liquors, and must make due with whatever is on hand. If you don't want step by step instructions on HOW to pour alcohol, this is your book. If you ARE looking for explicit directions on how to do menial task such as shaking the saker, or straining ice from a concoction... This 'aint 'fer 'yew.