"Insert your favorite bar joke here." Bartending for the rest of us, made easy.

Bartending for Dummies
Ray Foley

Back in my college days and into my restaurant managing days, it dawned on me that I had to educate myself on alcohol and mixology - and NOT by just getting sloppy drunk every weekend! After scouring the bookshelves, I finally decided on Ray Foley's Bartending for Dummies. Despite it being a "how to" book, it is a actually a pleasure to read because of its lighthearted and humorous approach to bartending without the attitude and arrogance. The book is divided into 4 parts, with a total of 23 chapters. It is an excellent resource for novices and experts. Its recipe list of 1000 drinks will take quite a while for even the best of us to try them all. It makes a great reference to keep behind a bar but I feel its greater use is as a home reference and as an educational tool for us non-professional bartenders.

Part I entitled The Basics, is literally the basics, with a thorough discussion of the tools of mixing drinks. (Just in case you've ever wondered what a jigger is.) There's also a complete description of every kind of glass used to serve drinks. This is followed by an explanation of the procedures used in bartending, like cutting fruit, opening wine, and shaking drinks. This part ends with what I think is a very useful chapter which gives you a complete list of everything you need to set up a home bar, including the non-alcohol things you'll need like tonic water, grenadine, cranberry juice and so forth so you won't forget. This also comes with price estimates for various degrees of completeness so you can plan just how extensive and expensive you would like your home bar to be. There's even a chart which lets you estimate how much alcohol you'll need to buy depending on your guest count if you're throwing a party, as well as other home bar set up tips and strategies.

Part II consists of 13 chapters devoted to a short explanation and briefings on virtually every alcohol known to man; whiskey, aperitifs, beer, brandy, cognac, cordials, gin, Irish whiskey, rum, scotch, tequila, vodka, and wine. Each chapter is quite short but is filled with useful information, such as how the particular spirit is made, where it is made, its history, serving suggestions, and so forth. There's also a list of popular brands.

Part III contains all the recipes. They are listed in alphabetical order and are very organized, concise, and clear to read without a lot of clutter. There's a picture of what glass you should serve the drink in, a list of the drink's ingredients, and a very short method. There's also a chapter for Pousse-Café recipes, punch recipes, as well as non-alcoholic drinks.

The final part, Part IV contains an extensive list of web sites and other resources for bartending as well as information on various beers, wines, and spirits.

Also at the end of the book are two handy indexes, one by topic and one by drink to let you quickly find information on a specific topic.

Bartending for Dummies does an excellent job at explaining the world of bartending in regular English. It has more than enough information to act as a trusty behind-the-bar reference for work, but it is rather large and it is not spiral bound, making it quite accident prone around a busy bar. Or maybe it's just me. I feel it is a better home reference for the amateur bartender in all of us, especially in its explanations and lessons on what to buy for the home bar of your scope. This way, you won't end up buying something like Galliano or Ouzo and not know what to do with it!

As for me, I'll have a black orchid. Or maybe a vodka martini. Or do I want a tequila sunrise instead? So many choices.

Cheers and please drink responsibly.

The Premier
Epinions - April 2004