The Bartender's Best Friend, Updated and Revised: A Complete Guide to Cocktails, Martinis, and Mixed Drinks

If you want to learn recipes then you should buy this book

The Bartender's Best Friend is a precious little book; precious and a bit precocious too. Let me explain: to begin, this book, while qualified as a hardback is actually very soft. It was bound in the style of old sturdy crafts manuals from the Days of Yore. Its sturdy waterproof cover wraps around your hand in a supple and comfy way, bringing to mind another era. It's just plain fun to hold! Mainly a book of recipes, there too it feels like a classic barguide. Mardee's comments on her chosen drinks are wry and dry and bolster the comfort-level which the guide has already engendered. Before you slip on the slippers and nudge the fire with the poker, though, know that Mardee Regan has the devil in her! She has picked her recipes for both drinkability and, dare I say, for a bit of social commentary -if not satire. Her introduction hints at this, and the reader is regaled with cocktails as a LIVING art, and a joyous one. Regan is a very funny woman with a fearless streak as she blithely trips from shopworn classics to internet unspeakables. All are delivered with a devilish eye twinkle that, again, helps make this manual so precious. It is also precocious insofar as, for a first solo book, it is wise, urbane, witty, and GOOD. The goodness is in the writing, in the heft, and in the recipes - for no matter the shady sources from whence some of these bibulous instructions sprang, the results seem always to be a celebratory - & potable - potation! Though The Bartender's Best Friend is proffered, apparently, to bartenders, it would reside well between the bookends of home & castle bon vivants as well. It would do my heart good to see it anywhere a cocktail is dreamt of.

I have owned one of these books for a few years and my friends and I used to take it with us to our favorite bar and try all the different drinks. We had so much fun and the book was so convenient that I bought a second one as a gift for our favorite bartender so we didn't have to take mine all the time. It doesn't have every drink in it but I really like the way it's made and how easy it is to use. It has little stories about some of the drinks and some virgin drink recipes too, though that's not a reason to buy a mixology book, it's a nice touch and I'm sure it could be useful if you were throwing a party where not everyone would be drinking. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting an easy to use, inexpensive (especially for what I paid here on Amazon) little bartending guide-cheers!

"The Bartender's Best Friend" is a good book to get you started in Bar-tending. It's not the best, but it is good. I love the illustration on this book. I also like that is has a large font, so you don't have to squint your eyes to read the small font like on other books. Another plus is the A-Z drinks they have on this book. Makes things easy to find (in a way) since everything is in alphabetical as best as it can be.If you already know some drinks or have wonder behind the bar a few times before, I recommend to get the old faithful "Mr. Boston: Official Bartender's Guide" book. They have a bit more info and background on things. One thing they have a bit of a disadvantage is there is a "A-Z" base on the liquor of your choosing. Which can be a bit difficult to find drinks in.Either-way, "The Bartender's Best Friend", is a good way to start for those who want to start in this "mixology" business.

This book had a ton of drinks in it, which was awesome. However, I would have preferred pictures of the drinks, or at least pics of the more popular drinks so I could get an idea of what they looked like.The drinks are ordered purely alphabetically (for example, a strawberry dacquiri would be listed under "s" rather than "d" for dacquiri), so you have to sometimes search around for the drink you want.

Saw this at a friends house and jokingly I wanted to see if we had an old time drink in it. It did, so I ordered one. Will come in handy for those different types of drinks.

Great book with SOOOO many different drinks. Many that I had no idea were even out there. It also goes into detail about different kinds of glasses, types of mixers, methods of stiring and mixing and even garnishes. A small section in the back on how to plan a drinking party. All around a nice book to have for those not familiar with alcoholic beverages (mixed)

I really like the book. It has lots of information. Defines each type of ingredient and has lots of recipes. The problem I have with the book is that if you do not know the name of the drink you are wanting to make, then the book is hard to use. You have to read through it to find the recipe. If this book had a list of drinks by ingredient, then it would be awsome.

Es el mejor libro de mixologia. Fácil de entender. Me gusta que viene con un listado de los licores básicos para tu casa o restaurante. Excelente

Very large variety of drinks, the only drink book an amateur alcoholic would need.

Easy to find drink recipes and it will definitly be going in the trailer with me. I have already made my friends some of their favorite drinks and they loved them.

Pretty in-depth

Looks like a good book. Happy with it.