Your average bartending class is a racket, charging $700 for a worthless diploma and a superficial understanding of the Purple Hooter. Learn the craft without the graft at Bourbon and Branch Beverage Academy.

Situated in B&B's semi-secret library, the Academy's a series of intimate, 16-student sessions, each focusing on a single spirit: gin, tequila, scotch, and whiskey (what, Midori's not a class of spirits?). At your own stocked workstation, you'll begin by learning the history of the liquor, how it's made, and relevant laws and rules, e.g., legit tequila must be 100% agave/illegit tequila must only be consumed in popper form. Then you'll go on to perfect/sample concoctions like the Manhattan, the Margarita, the Negroni, and the nigh impossible...scotch-rocks. You can also book the BA as a group, or have them bring the class to your home, where the Official Bartender Certificate on your mantle will impress them even less than your flat Lavender Hooters.

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