Can you mix up an Irish Headlock?

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Your idea of a “cocktail” is whiskey in a glass with 2 ice cubes. Mine too. Thats fine. We’re not all cocktail snobs. However. There will come a time when a friend brings a significant other, or your boss shows up or whatever and you may actually have to know how to mix a proper drink. Thats where Bartending for Dummies comes in.

I freaking love these books and own several…mostly on web development and programming languages. I’m not interested in being an absolute genius on the stuff but I do want to have a basic idea of what’s going on.

So let’s look at an example. Your buddy has his/her new significant other (aka S.O.) coming to your deck party. It’s a big deal because they’re “in love” or it’s the first meeting of the friends or whatever. Doesn’t matter. Either way this S.O. really loves a well made Irish Headlock. What the heck is in that? Can you fake it? (”Is it amaretto or brandy? Or both? Or neither? Do mix it?”) No. You can’t fake it. And if you try to fake it you’ll come up with an unholy mess that tastes like spit, your friends S.O. will be totally unimpressed with you and, most likely, break up with said friend ruining their lives for the next three to five months. And the worst part of the whole thing? You’ll have to listen to your friend whine and cry about it..over and over and over.

Do yourself, and your friends love life, a favor and get a copy of Bartending For Dummies. It’s less than ten bucks. Isn’t the happiness of your friends worth a measly ten bucks? You don’t have to be Tom Cruise in that movie, just have an idea on the basics to get the most common drinks down. And the nice thing is once you know the basics you can fake the rest. Last example, Some guy: “Can you make me a (insert drink here)?” You: “Hmm..is that like a (insert fancy sounding drink you actually know how to make here)?” Some Guy “Yeah…kinda…but with amaretto instead of brandy.” You: “No problem.” See?