Chris Gall

Jim Meehan

Reveals all of the cocktail recipes available at the famous PDT bar as well as behind-the-scenes secrets on bar design, food, and techniques.

The Complete Bartender's Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy

The PDT Cocktail Book

Meehan's Bartender Manual is acclaimed mixologist Jim Meehan's magnum opus-and the first book to explain the ins and outs of the modern bar industry. This groundbreaking work chronicles Meehan's storied career in the bar business through practical, enlightening chapters that mix history with professional insight. Meehan's deep dive covers the essential topics, including the history of cocktails and bartending, service, hospitality, menu development, bar design, spirits production, drink mixing technique, and the tools you'll need to create a well-stocked bar-all brought to life in over 150 black- and-white illustrations by artist Gianmarco Magnani. The book also includes recipes for 100 cocktail classics--including Meehan originals--plus insights as to why he makes them the way he does, offering unprecedented access to a top bartender's creative process. Organized by spirit base, the recipes contain detailed annotations and are accompanied by fine art photographer Doron Gild's breathtaking, full-color photos. Thoughtful contributions from more than 50 colleagues around the world who've greatly contributed to global cocktail culture further contextualize Meehan's philosophy. Timeless black-and-white portraits of these industry experts round out this comprehensive tome. This densely informative, yet approachable manual is presented in an iconic package--featuring a textured cover with debossed type, rounded corners, and nearly 500 pages--making it an instant classic to be enjoyed now, and for years to come. Whether you're a professional looking to take your career to the next level or an enthusiastic amateur interested in better understanding concepts like mise en place and the mechanics of drink making, Meehan's Bartender Manual is the definitive modern guide.

Meehan's Bartender Manual

Jim Meehan, British psychologist, poet and amateur philosopher, was asked by one of his mentors, eminent American psychologist Dr. William E. Hall, to consider what attitudes are essential to the establishment of trust, which Hall regarded as being at the heart of all good human relationships. Meehan came up with ten words in the form of two promises that provide the title for this book, I mean you no harm; I seek your greatest good. The book starts as Meehan attempts to answer the question he is often asked, Where do these words come from? Born in Liverpool in the same hospital and same year as Paul McCartney, Meehan uses McCartneys account of the composition of his bestselling song, Yesterday, to describe a similar experience that gave birth to his ten-word mantra, which captures the heart of trust. Meehan offers some possible biographical contributing factors. Beginning with a section aptly titled, My Yesterdays, he explores some early childhood relationships and experiences in Liverpool toward the end and shortly after the Second World War and investigates his adolescence, which was spent mainly in Birmingham, Englands second largest city. He then turns his attention to the influence of five mentors who definitely meant him no harm and sought his greatest good to examine how instrumental they could have been in the formulation of the words. Having exhausted his search for the origin of the expression, he then discusses the meaning of trust and how the two promises, when exchanged with other people, start a journey toward total mutual trust. Meehan defines different forms of trust, draws on the views of certain philosophers, psychologists and exemplars of trust and addresses the current global crisis of trust or, rather, lack of trust. He also includes a few anecdotes that describe the meaningfulness of the ten words to others. At the beginning of his account, Meehan explains how these two promises have developed legs of their own and have traveled widely since first being written in 1997. He finishes the book by posing the question, Where are the words going? Certainly, the book could be said to have given the ten words some wings or at least some more legs. In his epilogue, he provides attempts he has made to catch the essentials of total mutual trust and related concepts in verse.

Reflections on Trust

I Mean You No Harm; I Seek Your Greatest Good

“A knowledge-filled tome for true cocktail nerds or those aspiring to be” (Esquire), from one of the world’s most acclaimed bartenders WINNER OF THE JAMES BEARD AWARD • WINNER OF THE TALES OF THE COCKTAIL SPIRITED AWARD® FOR BEST NEW COCKTAIL OR BARTENDING BOOK • IACP AWARD FINALIST Meehan’s Bartender Manual is acclaimed mixologist Jim Meehan’s magnum opus—and the first book of the modern era to explain the bar industry from the inside out. With chapters that mix cocktail history with professional insights from experts all over the world, this deep dive covers it all: bar design, menu development, spirits production, drink mixing technique, the craft of service and art of hospitality, and more. The book also includes recipes for 100 cocktails culled from the classic canon and Meehan’s own storied career. Each recipe reveals why Meehan makes these drinks the way he does, offering unprecedented access to a top bartender’s creative process. Whether you’re a professional looking to take your career to the next level or an enthusiastic amateur interested in understanding the how and why of mixology, Meehan’s Bartender Manual is the definitive guide.

Drago’s Vendetta By: Jim Meehan Drago’s Vendetta is the story of a man seeking vengeance for the loss of his family in an early World War II bombing. A former fighter pilot, he sees the recovery of a lost fighter plane as the means to take the war to the bombers who have killed his wife and son. The story takes place around a small island near Sicily and intimately chronicles the man’s hatred of the war and the belligerents who have taken his loved ones and made his peaceful home a battleground. Repairing the fighter with the help of trusted local fishermen, he begins flying against both German and British bombers from a hidden strip of beach, keeping his secret from his remaining teenage daughter and the other islanders. A thriving black market supplies him with fuel and ammunition. The British on Malta and the Germans in Sicily soon notice the loss of aircraft to an unmarked fighter and plans are put in motion to find and eliminate it. His missions become more difficult as the Mediterranean air war intensifies. The grieving widower attracts the sympathy and interest of the local school teacher and also a recent widow who find themselves in competition for his attention. Characters in the story also include British, German and Italian air crews, a Sicilian bar girl involved with a German flyer, and the embattled islanders themselves.

Jim Meehan

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