Like baking a cake, mixing a drink requires precise measurements and the restraint to not ingest so many ingredients that you ruin your own birthday party. Become a power mixer with today's Groupon: for $119, you get a bartending-certification course at Ace Bartending Academy (a $399 value).

At Ace Bartending Academy's 40-foot bar, ice sings merrily against glasses, and prospective mixologists chatter during hands-on courses. Instructors wax informational about the history and production of liquor before outlining state and municipal legal requirements for serving alcohol or distributing liquor to horses. At eight functional bartending stations with working carbon-dioxide lines, lessons toss brains tidbits of information on the use of glassware and garnishes to craft a beverage with fitting aesthetic appeal. The curriculum bounds across a bubbling, colorful rainbow of 200 different drinks and recipes. In addition to hands-on demonstrations and role-playing exercises, courses hand down lessons on how to land a job as a bartender and give tips for job interviews. The classroom's walls, like those of a real bar, are crowded with colorful bottles, lit by crackling neon beer signs, and held together by flyers for bassists.