Are you sick of shot-gunning warm beer from the can? Are you looking to booze it up with some style and bust out some great old drinks? Perhaps there's some drink you've heard of many times but you've never tried (the specific drink to which we refer is the Harvey Wallbanger, which everyone has heard of but no one has ever actually ingested), and you want to satisfy your curiosity. Whatever your reason to introduce some variety into your long, slow descent into alcoholism, we can help you out.

We have selected a variety of classic drinks, not including shooters (e.g., Sex on the Beach, Orgasm, etc.) or highballs (e.g., vodka and orange juice, rum and coke, scotch and soda, etc.), and we provide you with everything you need to know to mix'em up. Happy drinking!

1. KNOW THESE TERMS

There's not a whole lot of terminology you'll need to know to start mixing drinks, but here are a few terms which might be unfamiliar or used in a particular sense in the mixing context:

Blend: When we say "blend" in a drink recipe, we mean with a blender.

Cocktail Shaker: This is a device which allows you to shake the hell out of drink ingredients without them getting all over the place. It is composed of a stainless steel vessel with either a glass which fits into it or a lid. You simply place the ingredients and ice (usually) into the shaker, connect the glass or lid to the shaker, and shake.

Dash: A small amount of an ingredient. This is somewhat vague, to allow room for individual tastes, but if you don't know the tastes of the individual for whom you're making the drink, a dash should be about 1/4 of a teaspoon.

Glassful: When we say to add a glassful of ice, we intend for you to measure the glassful in the glass in which the drink will be served.

Shake: This refers to the placing of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, usually with ice, and shaking five to ten times so that the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and chilled by the ice. The contents are then usually strained out into a glass.

Stir: Take a long, thin thing, place it into a container which holds drink ingredients, and move it around in a vigorous, circular motion. You're stirring! Many drinks require ingredients to be stirred with ice and then strained into another glass for drinking. You can stir the drink in anything large enough to contain the ingredients and ice, and then you strain it into the appropriate glass.

Strain: This requires the use of a strainer, a device which is usually made of thin metal formed into a circle, with stainless steel coils around one half of the circle and a handle projecting from the other side of the circle. The strainer is used to keep ice in a container in which ingredients have been shaken or stirred while the drink is being poured into a glass. The coiled side of the circle is placed against the edge of the container from which the liquid is being poured, and this keeps the ice cubes inside the container. You've seen your bartender do it a million times, so now you can give it a try.