Book Review – The Bar Cart Bible

By G-LO on February 14, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )

If you were a major player in the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising agency, then there’s a very good chance that your office had it’s very own Bar Cart. In addition to keeping your drinking supplies handy for a mid-workday, stress relieving libation, a Bar Cart allows you to be the quintessential host, because nothing says “Welcome to Sterling Cooper Draper Price!” better than a beautiful glass of booze or an expertly prepared cocktail! As they say in the Boy Scouts, “Be Prepared!”, and if ever there were a cocktail book that lived by the Boy Scouts motto, it would be The Bar Cart Bible by Adams Media…

The Bar Cart Bible is all about efficient entertaining. The following paragraph, which was taken directly from page 9 of the book, pretty much sums up what this book is all about:

The bartender can literally make or break a party. By keeping your bar cart well stocked and well organized, once everything is in place you can relax and just be the life of the party. You will not have to hassle with hunting down glasses, finding a place to stash bottles, and figuring out where to keep the garnishes. The home-party bartender’s main job is to smile, be happy, and set the tone for the party. The bar cart can help make this a reality.

There are no sexy cocktail photos or frou-frou words to describe the cocktail recipes in The Bar Cart Bible. If it were a style of furniture, it would be Mid-Century Modern.

If it were a car, it would be a Honda Element. Because you can hose out the interior for chris’sakes!

And if it were a cuisine, it would be Japanese, i.e. the book is chock full of cocktail recipes that require just a couple of high quality ingredients, melded together to create a well-balanced and expertly crafted drink. Here is further evidence that The Bar Cart Bible is the kind of cocktail recipe book that would put a smile on an Eagle Scout’s face:

the-bar-cart-bible-table-of-contents

As you can see in the image up above, after a brief introduction, you are thrown right into the cocktail making mix via three information packed chapters that break down the essentials of throwing a cocktail party. From The Five Drinking Families (No, not the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese familes. The book is referring to the Juicy, Creamy, Sour, Hot, and Carbonated drinking familes) listed on page 10 to a comprehensive list of bartender-centric weights and measures, this book covers all of the basics (and a few advanced topics) very quickly and with minimal fuss. After that, the book wastes no time in providing you with a plethora of cocktail recipes (for those keeping score, there are 350+ of them to choose from) organized by booze category (there are 12 in total). Each and every recipe is straighforward and easy to prepare which is in tune with the efficiency theme of this book. If all that weren’t enough, you even get some recipes to make your own syrups, mixes, infusions, bitters, barrel-aged spirits/cocktails, and liqueurs. And did I mention that this book sells for just $15 ($10 if you go the Kindle route)? There is no shortage of pretty, witty cocktail books with incredibly elaborate recipes out there, but if no-nonsense is your game, then this is the cocktail book for you. I plan on referring to it often.

But wait, there’s more! For your viewing pleasure, below is a YouTube video from Adams Media demonstrating how useful a Bar Cart can truly be. Cheers!