Title: The Bar Author: Olivier Said, James Mellgren Publisher: Ten Speed Press Publish Date: 2005 Pages: 191 Genres:: Non-Fiction, Compilation, How-To Guide Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

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Like with sex, people enjoy many aspects of alcohol. Some like to consume it. Some like to think about it. Others like to talk about it, and still others like to read and learn about it. For the latter, The Bar, written by Olivier Said and James Mellgren, is a mixture of information, usefulness and entertainment combined to create a well-written guide to alcohol, serving alcohol and drinking alcohol.

Said and Mellgren, two long-time bartenders that co-authored an award-winning cook book in 2004, collaborate to create a book on booze and cocktails containing information typical of its genre. The basic information included are: the history and timeline of different whiskeys from around the world; what makes light rum light and dark rum dark; and, identifying the proper glass to use for which drink and which straw to place in which glass.

However, they eliminate the over-saturation of information and recipes plaguing many books looking to appeal to the same target audience. As they state early on, “Why this book is not a definite study, we believe that the majority of what you need to know in order to mix drinks competently and enjoy the world of spirits can be found within these pages.”

In the chapter highlighting tequila, The Bar gives an easy-to-understand description of the spirit, its history, differences in varieties and an explanation of the laws that outline production of the product. The chapter is written with an amount of facts that interests and enlightens with knowledge about tequila while not burdening the reader with unnecessary details.

That is adhered to throughout the book. The chapters are short, succinct and filled with subject matter and information that is easy to swallow and able to be retained. Another example of this is the chapter titled: Liqueurs, Anises, Bitters and Vermouth. Said and Mellgren break down the ingredients and uses of 20 liquors, two anise and seven types of bitters that are essential to complete many favorite cocktails, but are relatively unknown to the novice drink maker, and provide knowledge of their purpose, uses and history--all in only 22 picture-laden pages.

With less than 100 drink recipes in the book, Said and Mellgren have included selections they believe “provide a broad range of drinks, both stylistically and in the assortments of spirits called for,” creating a list of “many of the most popular and delicious cocktails” the reader will most likely be serving or served. They wisely choose to leave out many complicated recipes, often found cluttering other books, that would have Julia Child reaching for a third glass of wine as she tires from trying to assemble them into anything remotely consumable.

The Bar leaves the mayhem and waste behind and instead creates a personality. The writing is crisp and clear; witty and fun. Drinking is fun and enjoyable--a theme never lost by the authors as they include facts about the history of booze consumption and studies that highlight the benefits of drinking alcohol. There are also witty quotes on drinking and getting drunk and simple, usable, toasts that turn up randomly throughout the book. And the light and easy style of writing is made all the more pleasant by being written on colorful matte-coated pages.

The title and introduction may mistakenly lead the reader to believe there will be information on the secrets of navigating the bar scene like a seasoned professional drinker. There isn’t. And, that is the one negative about the book. There are no inside tips on how to order multiple drinks in sequence that the bartender would appreciate or when to ask for a blended drink and when not to.

But, for those with a thirst for knowledge for what makes many thirsty, this is a book heavy on indigents to make the mind sharp with knowledge about alcohol while not polluting the brain with harmful filler that can eventually lead to trouble. It is written in the introduction that a good bar is hard to find. The same could be said about a good bar book, but The Bar is one of those rare entities.