Meehan's Bartender Manual: [A Cocktail Reference and Recipe Book] - Hardcover

Meehan, Jim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1607748622 ISBN 13: 9781607748625

Publisher: Ten Speed Press, 2017

Synopsis

Winner of the 2018 James Beard Foundation Cookbook Award in "Beverage" category

Finalist for the 2018 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Book Awards 

Winner of the 2018 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best New Cocktail or Bartending Book

A stunningly packaged, definitive guide to bar-building from one of the world’s most acclaimed bartenders.
 
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.

About this title

About the Author

JIM MEEHAN is a renowned bartender and author of The PDT Cocktail Book.He worked at some of New York City’s most revered restaurants and bars, includingGramercy Tavern and Pegu Club, before opening the James Beard Award–winningbar PDT in 2007. In addition to writing for Tasting Table, Lucky Peach, and SommelierJournal, Meehan served as an editor for Food & Wine magazine’s annual cocktailbook and Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide. He and his family reside in Portland,Oregon, where he runs the consulting firm Mixography, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

In the spirit of Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book, my first book, The PDT Cocktail Book, was a snapshot of what I hope many will fondly recall as a seminal moment in cocktail history. It’s a recipe book first and foremost, documenting the popular ingredients and proportions used to make classic and contemporary cocktails at the time of its publication. 

In this book, instead of focusing on a particular time and place, I’ve panned back to address a much more layered subject: bartending itself. I’ll begin with a chapter on the history of the American cocktail, from seventeenth-and eighteenth-century punch to the neoclassical cocktails we drink today. From there, I move onto chapters on bar design, tools and techniques, service, and hospitality. This book does include cocktail recipes—one hundred total, which include classics and my own signatures—plus spirits primers to help stock your bar. Each recipe includes information on the origin of the drink, the “logic” behind why it works, and “hacks” for the curious bartender. 

Throughout the book you’ll find insights from more than fifty friends, colleagues, and mentors who’ve shaped my views of the craft of bartending. I’ve included quotes from my former employers, Audrey Saunders and Jimmy Bradley, colleagues like Jeff Bell and Don Lee, icons like Dale DeGroff and David Wondrich, lifelong friends like Brian Bartels and my brother Peter, and spirits producers like Hans Reisetbauer and Beppe Musso. I hope that you’ll be as inspired by them as I have been. 

I didn’t learn how to tend bar from reading books. Tending bar is mastered through thousands of hours spent watching, listening, and learning from your colleagues and guests. That said, I hope this book will foster dialogue about how and why we tend bar. Some of my most respected colleagues and friends (even those featured in the book’s portraits) may disagree with the philosophy and practices I’ve outlined here—so I’m sincerely eager for them to weigh in on the conversation. There are many ways to succeed in the bar business; this is mine.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1607748622
• ISBN 13: 9781607748625
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 488