--Eric Felten, Wall Street Journal

As a senior at Yale, Brian Hoefling realized that his classmates were about to enter the real world with an imperfect knowledge of how to prepare and enjoy cocktails. To remedy this dangerous deficiency, he devised and taught The Cocktail Seminars.

In his subsequent career as a cocktail teacher and writer, Hoefling has developed and refined The Cocktail Seminars into the present book. Each of the five seminars herein (from beginner to advanced) covers thirty different drinks, which are arranged so as to progressively introduce the ingredients and techniques of mixology, as well as its eventful history. In each seminar, an exercise and examination challenges readers to apply what they've learned to the creation of new and variant drinks.

Hoefling's seminars are founded on the principle that all cocktails consist of a base spirit modified in certain fundamental ways, such as sweetening, souring, bittering, aromatizing, aerating, lengthening, and thickening. Each cocktail is illustrated by a color-coded wheel that shows how the base spirit is modified by the other ingredients.

Those who are less serious about their cocktail education may also consult The Cocktail Seminars for drink recipes as needed, or display this handsome volume, bound in faux leather, on their bar cart--but they are only robbing themselves of a brighter future through the gift of education. The Cocktail Seminars will make an excellent gift for all but teetotalers.