Alcademics

Last week New York bar PDT's Jim Meehan launched an app called PDT Cocktails, containing 400 recipes.

At the end of 2011, Jim Meehan published the beautiful PDT Cocktail Book, which contained 304 recipes.

So I asked Meehan, "Is this just the book's recipes plus 100 additional recipes?"

It turn out no, and the reasons are interesting. Meehan said in an email:

• "Because of copyright restrictions related to the PDT Book, I had to be creative.  I ended up pulling all the friends and family recipes (which I would have had to ask for additional permissions for)"
• "And a handful of recipes that we can no longer make because the ingredients aren't available anymore, such as the Golden Star Fizz [that contains the now-defunct Golden Star Tea]."
• "I added a handful of classics (like the Bloody Mary, Corn n Oil, Kir Royale) that aren't in the book,"
• "And over 100 PDT house cocktails that have been created since I stopped collecting them for the book in the Spring of 2009."
• "I also went back and updated a number of recipes with new PDT house staples (which we didn't use at the time the book was published) such as Ferrand Orange Curacao, Small Hand Orgeat, Jack Rudy Grenadine, LP Champange, etc. and new specs."
• "Everyone's palate shifts over time, and for that reason there are subtle proportion tweaks throughout the book.  I also clarified, tweaked and polished all the drink annotations."

A Book is a Snapshot In Time

Meehan says that although he has been offered by the publisher to update the book, he isn't planning on it at the moment, because the book is moment in time rather than a moving target. 

He says, "I no way was the idea to redo the PDT Book... The book was designed to be a snapshot in time.... a very important, fertile time in contemporary cocktail history in NYC.  The reasons books like The Savoy (Cocktail Book from 1930), which it was modeled after, have stayed around so long, is no one monkeyed with them."

"As much as I'd love to change things in the book to reflect major changes in the bar and industry since it was published, it's most valuable as a historical reference.  The app is a completely different animal. The app is designed to keep current: it's like security camera footage."

Get the app on iTunes here, or the book on Amazon here.

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