It?s a system, a tool kit, a recipe book. Beginning with one irresistible idea--a complete home bar of just 12 key bottles--here?s how to make more than 200 classic and unique mixed drinks, including sours, slings, toddies, and highballs, plus the perfect Martini, the perfect Manhattan, and the perfect Mint Julep. It?s a surprising guide--tequila didn?t make the cut, and neither did bourbon, but genever did. And it?s a literate guide--describing with great liveliness everything from the importance of vermouth and bitters (the ?salt and pepper? of mixology) to the story of a punch bowl so big it was stirred by a boy in a rowboat.