The Official Harvard Student Agencies Bartending Course

All of the info in this book is good. But the best part about this book is the organization of the drink recipe section. It doesn't simply bombard you with a huge alphabetized list of drinks that you'll probably never have to pour. In this book, the drinks are categorized into Basic, Popular and Fun categories, and recommends you memorize the Basic and Popular drinks if you plan on working in a bar. FINALLY, a book that tells you what drinks are really important to know. Books like Mr. Boston, are quite handy on those rare occasions when someone asks for a very obscure drink. But this book really helps you figure out what drinks are essential to know. There's no point in driving yourself crazy trying to memorize 1,000+ drinks when you're probably only going to run into 50 of them with any frequency. I love this book.

I have been bartending professionally for about 7 years. I happened into a bartending job when a former roommate of mine was moving, and his employer needed a bartender immediately. I knew absolutely nothing about tending bar at the time, but this book gave me the knowledge I needed to get started. I developed my skill as a bartender at that job and have since moved on to much busier establishments. Forget bartending school--this book, along with a more expansive recipe book like Mr. Boston's for the occasional obscure drink request, is all you need.

this book is pretty cool. it has all the basic recipes, and complicated ones that are fun to make. there's also some good reading about how to set up your bar, how to get a job, and other good info. i didn't know anything before i picked up this book, but now i feel pretty good about bartending. i definitely recommend this.

This books gives the basics of bartending covering many aspects from ustensils to effects of alcohol. It is designed to let you be an efficient bartender as opposed to making up a drink with 3 random ingredients. Hence no list of 10,000 cocktails just the ones you MUST know plus a few fun ones. Despite this no-nonsense approach, the tone is humorous and makes this guide fun reading.