Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2013
After 19 years in the cocktail business, Jim Meehan finds inspiration in Japan’s veteran bartender icons.
“We just don’t have 50 or 60-year-old bartending masters in America who’ve devoted their lives to their craft. Especially as I get older myself, I really appreciate what guys like [Hidetsugu] Ueno of Bar High Five and [Kazuo] Ueda at Tender do.”
Meehan’s bar in New York, PDT (short for Please Don’t Tell—though by now, the secret’s out), won the 2012 inaugural Outstanding Bar Program Award granted by the James Beard Foundation. The PDT philosophy is one of serious playfulness; Meehan insists that while it is important for his team members to be serious about their work as mixologists, maintaining a sense of fun is paramount—an attitude that also helped him take home an American Bartender of the Year title.
“It’s the yin and the yang. We serve sophisticated $15 cocktails in a dark basement with tater tots and hip hop.”
Meehan recently made his second trip to Tokyo for an event called “The Tao of Cocktails” at the Park Hyatt’s New York Bar, when we had the chance to sit down and talk about whisky, Japan and all things cocktail. One of PDT’s signature drinks, served at the event, embodies his dual philosophy. The Tao of Pooh combines Manuka honey vodka, Galliano, lemon bitters and coconut water to make a sinfully refreshing beverage.
When it comes to whisky, Meehan says Japanese brands occupy a subcategory in the US. It’s often discovered by consumers and bartenders last, partially because they are highly allocated—but connoisseurs readily appreciate the quality of the discovery.
“What I see in America is that we’re creators, and Japanese and Germans perfect those creations.”
He relates how during a visit to the Bowmore facility in Scotland, he observed how the brewmasters there love their whisky and preserve everything about it. At Suntory, however, they are of a different mindset, constantly changing things in the continual pursuit of perfection. This, he says, is essentially, wonderfully Japanese.
Meehan will be back in Tokyo to appear at the Tokyo International Bar Show as part of the “Legends & Rising Stars” series of events, where he plans to talk about his thought process behind creating cocktails like those in the recent promotion.
“Japan has so much amazing produce, and many unique, high-quality ingredients, even mass-produced ones,” he says. “The focus here is more on perfecting classic cocktails, but I hope to encourage people to also create new drinks.”
He just may be the right man for the job.
Jim Meehan will be presenting at the Tokyo International Bar Show and Whisky Live 2013, Apr 20-21.
