It’s rare that I wax philosophical at Simple Cocktails, but occasionally I see something that so aligns with our mission here, I have to share it. A few years ago, I established our mission with a post called Why We Need Each Other, discussing the lost art of home bartending and the ways we can personally help to revive it.
Today, I read an interview with Jim Meehan that stirred my desire to see the resurgence of home bartending. In the interview, Meehan, who is one of this century’s most influential bartenders and the founder of PDT in New York, discusses the direction that bartending is headed in the next decade.
He says home bartending will play a big role.
According to Meehan (emphasis added), “If history is inclined to repeat itself, I predict the cocktail will be domesticated by enthusiasts who can’t get a seat and congenial face time with the busy bartender at their local.” He says that quality bartending tools that are readily-available now help to supply us with what’s needed to outfit our home bars well, and in turn, better home bartenders will create a better craft cocktail scene overall.
From my perspective, we are on the right track. Our target audience at Simple Cocktails is amateur home bartenders, and it’s you (our readers) who Meehan suggests will help to “buoy the craft of the cocktail.”
4 years ago, we issued a call to you to start bartending at home. Now the revolution has begun, and the tools and resources are in place to help you here at the blog (see our buyer’s guides and free recipe book) and from many other great cocktail enthusiasts as well.
It’s easier than ever to enjoy a drink at home, so cheers to the next decade and the rise of the home cocktail enthusiast!
Update: 2 months after I wrote this post, I had the opportunity to speak with Jim about his comments. You can hear what he had to say in our Tales of the Cocktail podcast # 4.
