Before bartending academies, apprentice barkeeps learned the arcane art by divining recipes from beer foam and employing a drowsing rod to find the purest liquors. Get schooled in the science of suds with today’s Groupon for classes at Royal Bartending School in Ontario. Choose between the following options:

• For $69, you get a 4-hour cocktail class, held on Saturdays from 3–7 p.m. (a $149 value).

• For $199, you get a 40-hour bartending course (a $495 value), which meets Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as Monday through Friday during the following session times:
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• 1 to 5 p.m.
• 6 to 10 p.m.<p>

Royal Bartending School’s convivial classes on mixology teach burgeoning barkeeps how to shake, stir, and blend drinks ranging from martinis to margaritas. In the four-hour crash course, aperitif apprentices learn to mix drinks and chic shots while mastering jargon for bar equipment and garnishes. Pupils seeking a master’s in mixology enter into the 40-hour program, where amiable teachers use hands-on instruction to instill the knowledge of more than 21 liquor-focused subjects into eager noggins. After a bar set-up practice, mixology-theory lessons analyze the science behind mixed drinks, the essence of proper customer service, and the history of the shaken-versus-stirred martini war of ‘77. Leaving the course with 30 hours of practical mixing knowledge and mastery of drinks and shooters, graduates can wow friends and coworkers at holiday parties or the office. Novice blenders perfect their soda-gun technique with quick-draw competitions, and after changing out of their wet shirts, master blending liquors and sodas in speed drills.

The school’s classroom simulates an authentic sports bar to prepare for interviews, and the staff dedicates itself to producing confident and employable barkeeps, with complimentary refresher courses in the future, and lifetime access to the job-placement program.