Skip to main content

Become an At-Home Mixmaster With The PDT Cocktail Book

become home mixmaster pdt cocktail book
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Those of you who haven’t been to PDT — an acronym for Please Don’t Tell — in New York’s East Village, you are definitely missing out on one helluva experience. First of all, you have to get through to their reservation line, which is always busy. If you manage to get past that busy signal good for you! You’ve made it!

Now make a reservation, and show up on time, or else they might not let you in. Once you get to the address you might get a little confused, because it is clearly the famed hot dog joint Crif Dogs. but wait — look to the left, there’s a telephone booth. Now pick it up and a voice will answer. Tell them the name you put the reservation under, and in a little bit, a hostess, will take you to a dimly lit space where you can enjoy finely crafted cocktails by the most skilled mixologists and mouthwatering hot dogs concocted by some of the biggest chefs in the business. Reminiscent of the old speakeasies of yester yore, PDT certainly has a feel that’s different from most New York bars.

Recommended Videos

Now if you aren’t in the New York area or if you don’t have plans to travel to New York soon, there’s still a way for you to have the PDT experience. Simply pick up a copy of The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy by PDT’s mixmaster Jim Meehan. Meehan teamed up with illustrator Chris Gall to create a guide that tells you everything you need to have PDT cocktails in the comfort of your own home, from all the tools and alcohol you’ll need, down to the cocktail recipes and the techniques. Now all you have to do is make a secret door and attach a phone booth to it and you’ll have all the comforts of PDT at your disposal.

The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy, $17.37 at amazon.com.

Ann Binlot
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…
5 of the Best Japanese Cocktails to Make at Home
White Tiger cocktail

Between a vibrant gastronomical scene and a built-in mentality that so often stresses craft and perfection, Japan is set up perfectly for a top-shelf cocktail game. This is, after all, the nation that brought you sashimi and is home to the most Michelin-starred restaurants of any country on planet Earth.

Related Reading

Read more
The Best Pickled Cocktails To Mix Up at Home
Quick Pickled Vegetables

Move over dirty Martini and elaborate Bloody Mary garnish. There are way more interesting cocktails that feature a pickle, or some sibling element. Keen bartenders know they should always have some brine at the ready, whether it's pickle juice, olive juice, or some kind of jar-aged vegetable.

The best news is that you probably have something like this just kicking around in your fridge or pantry already. It doesn't need to be fancy; most brines will do. In fact, as usual, we encourage you to experiment at home. You can sub in the juice from some of your favorite condiments more times than not, utilizing the liquid in sauerkraut, capers, and more. The salinity and vegetal notes will add a whole new layer to your cocktail enjoyment, or you could just give it a shot and learn how to ferment your own pickles. It's quick, easy, and delicious.

Read more
The 11 Best Cocktail Books Money Can Buy
Black book surrounded by cocktail glassware in yellow background.

Cocktail culture is dense enough that it takes some literature to navigate it properly. Luckily, there are entire libraries devoted to the craft. What makes a great cocktail book? Some, like the best cookbooks ever written, offer tremendous recipes and critical written advice. Others explore the history of the category and how it came to be. Some cocktail books focus on fascinating niches within the realm and some look to blow up the whole ship with revolutionary new approaches and philosophies.

In short, they all tell a good tale, whether it be something as relatively simple as making a stellar Sidecar to how tiki bars and cultural appropriation are intertwined. From classic books that kicked off the entire movement to contemporary publications that add nuance and great new recipes to the scene, these are the best cocktail books money can buy.

Read more