By grouping cocktails according to their natural families-based on how they are made rather than their base spirit--expert "cocktailian" Regan makes the recipes easier than ever to remember. Includes 400+ recipes and advice on concocting creative variations. 16-page full-color insert. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

As the author of The Bartender's Bible, The Book of Bourbon and New Classic Cocktails, Regan is no stranger to spirits, and in his newest work he sets out to explain "the histories behind various cocktails and perhaps come up with some new theories, if not conclusions, along the way." He accomplishes it all, offering a definitive and entertaining guide to the bartender' trade. Beginning with a solid history of mixed cocktails, Regan then provides an instruction manual for bartenders, asking, "do you have what it takes?" He instructs on everything from bartender etiquette (how to treat a customer who doesn't tip, how to tell someone he's had enough) to the brass tacks of tending bar (how to arrange liquor bottles, how to rim a glass and how to pour out precise measurements). Regan misses nothing, and everything he covers is simply explained; clear illustrations identify the "families" of cocktail glasses, while charts show the "families" of alcohol. It isn't until three-quarters through the book that Regan begins his cocktail recipes. And by that time, readers will finally have the knowledge to prepare each one. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Regan knows booze. He writes a column on the subject for the San Francisco Chronicle, and with his wife, Mardee Haidin Regan, has authored several books on liquors and bartending, including The Bartender's Bible. The duo also maintain the web site ardenspirits.com and publish a newsletter, The Cocktalian Gazette. Regan distinguishes cocktalian bartenders as those "who thoroughly understand the theory behind mixing ingredients to achieve balance in their drinks and marry flavors successfully." His book is a course of study toward this goal, covering history and theory and offering more practical chapters with lessons on professional behavior and ethics, tools and techniques, and, of course, lots of recipes. The charts for drink families are a particularly useful way to learn the ingredients of popular drinks, for instance, how a Mudslide relates to a White Russian. A glossary and bibliography are included. Recommended primarily for those studying the craft, secondarily for home use. For casual home bartenders and the public libraries that serve them, a better choice would be The Bartender's Bible.-Julie James, Forsyth Cty. P.L., Winston-Salem, NCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information