You could buy a lot of cheap beer for $110--the full price of the course. But without Tocci's expertise you won't be able to impress your friends with your astounding grasp of mixology.

Students who are interested only in the composition of their favorite party-time drinks can economize by taking just the first three classes in the course, which cost $60 for Harvard students and $70 for non-students.

But those who want to master the profession in the hopes of someday working for such well-known establishments as the Crimson Sports Grille must go on to the second section, TIPS.

As if midterms and finals aren't hard enough, TIPS has an exam at the end of its grueling, two-day session to test your liquor savvy.

Bars can get a discount on their liability insurance if a certain percentage of their bartenders are TIPS-certified, Lau says, and so those who plan to tend bar professionally are advised to take the full course.

But wait--there's more. Special "discounted bartending kits are available on the last night of the course," according to an advertising brochure published by HSA.

For $29.95, graduates get a steel shaker, mixing glass and corkscrew.

So by the time you emerge from the eye-opening, mind-expanding and liver-destroying experience, you should be ready to tend the bar at Cheers--or right down the street at the Grille--where everybody knows your name.