false 454346 0609608843 9780609608845 36 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174919685m/454346.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/454346.The_Joy_of_Mixology_The_Consummate_Guide_to_the_Bartender_s_Craft 225993 Gary Regan 82 13 4 0 false Fri Oct 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 22:00:37 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 08:02:48 -0700 2009
Probably the most useful section of the book is the chart of drink families, which gives a lot of room for ideas you may have on drinks that you can make that you/others might like. I also found the section on Prohibition to be evocative and very interesting. I knew about how booze made its way into the country and was made IN the country at the time, but not really how people drank it.

There is no attempt to index the drinks by primary or secondary ingredients. If you look at the charts, it's not really a big problem to find yourself a drink by spirit (gin, vodka, etc.) If you know one of the secondary ingredients but not the name of a drink or if you want to know how other people have combined a secondary ingredient? FORGET IT. You just have to flip through the book. You can use the internet to get around most of that, but really, there's no reason this couldn't have a better index.

On a related note, it would be nice to even have a secondary grouping of drinks by flavor (drinks that are fruity, drinks that are savory, drinks that are nutty, etc.) I could enjoy drinking 'international sours' for a long time, but sometimes I just want something LEMONY and I want to know what is out there that is already created that is what I want. You can't neccessarily do that quickly with the book. It depends on what you are looking for, sometimes the families of drinks will help you find a drink, and sometimes not.

The book also does not teach you how to think about how and why drinks go horribly wrong and how they can be fixed or adjusted (which could be taught, I think). That is not something that has to be in the book. But if you were looking for it, it is not here.

So to recap... the focus is how to MAKE your own drink, but not to neccessarily FIND it. I would recommend the book. But I hope it will be released someday in digital format or rereleased with a better index. ]]>