PJ Renaud

[GOLDENEYE] 144 Islands Remana • feijoa eau de vie • mānuka honey + tea • matai bark A little wee collaboration series with @144islands Using the Remana meyer lemon aperitif, I created a sort of stirred-down, martini style Bee’s Knees. The Remana uses tarata, Aotearoa’s own lemonwood, to give a more complex citrus profile, and some fun, gently bitter herbaceous elements. Combined with: - @cauldronspiritsnz feijoa eau de vie for fresh and floral seasonal fun - @projecthydrosolnz matai bark distillate for earthy resinous length - mānuka honey and tea syrup to help bring everything together Chur 🍸💜

An intimate exploration of fermentation beyond fruit and grain, where tea leaves took centre stage. Across four nights, @peejs_potions and @lionfindingtea guided us through the world of @nzdilmah tea wines and ferments—revealing how everything from green to aged leaves can be transformed through time. Brought to reality with @hendricksgin and @federal.nz

[PARALLEL] Scapegrace Anthem • charred tomato • cherry • sesame • pineau des charentes • nori My Entry for @scapegrace 2026 When I dropped out of medical school to become a bartender, my parents told me that I had to be the best bartender I could possibly be. The only way I knew how to do that was being uniquely me, standing out, and making a statement. Scapegrace and I share that in common. Parallel is about the deliberate choices that led us to where we are today. Scapegrace was Rogue Society, I was a med student, but with careful precision we have both thrived with the cards we were dealt. Cherry represents Scapegrace’s intentional decision to sit in Central Otago, on the 45th parallel, which itself acts parallel to the aging conditions in the Northern Hemisphere in Scotland. Tomato harkens back to the first drink I pitched for the menu at Parasol and Swing, six years ago. I was told tomato could work in a cocktail, but I’d have to be careful, and ultimately my drink was discarded. Tomato works as a bridge with the sweet cherry, and the savoury mānuka smoke in the Anthem. Pineau des Charentes represents the bold decision to age Anthem in virgin French oak, for a more dynamic flavour and smooth finish. Since my beginning in hospitality, I have made a name for myself in working with fortified wines, and this unsung hero speaks to me. The sesame wash acts to boost the nutty characteristics of this wood, bring silky texture to the drink, and dances with the Manuka smoke’s herbaceous and savoury elements. The whole drink is boosted visually with a leather made from the cherry and tomato, along with aromatic sesame and a nori sheet to add complexity to Anthem’s strong and intoxicating aroma. This drink makes a statement to say that I made the right decision in becoming a bartender, but I can still live parts of my past sciency life. Scapegrace has made carefully crafted decisions to make Anthem come to life and stand out amongst the rest of the New Zealand whisky category, but that doesn’t mean they’re not authentically Kiwi. Kiwi ingenuity at its finest. This is Parallel #ScapegraceCocktailComp2026

Flashback to the NZ Spirits Awards 2025, where Panacea officially took the title of Bar of the Year. Walking into this Auckland gem, it’s easy to see why our judges were so impressed, from the curation of their spirits list to an atmosphere that defines modern hospitality.   While the awards are in the history books, the quality at Panacea is very much in the present. The bar remains a “panacea” for the industry, proving that world-class drinks and a welcoming vibe are the ultimate pairing. 🍸   Happy World Bartender Day! 🥂 To celebrate, we’re highlighting the incredible skill that makes a winning bar possible.    Keep an eye out for our 2025 judge and Bartender of the Year finalist, PJ Renaud, who is often behind the stick. If you’re lucky enough to be at the bar today, you might just bump into PJ for a world-class pour and a chat about what it takes to curate an award-winning back bar.   Visit the reigning champs this weekend! 🥂

[MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT] Part of my takeover with @bar.mea gin • blueberry • jasmine • maple • fino • citrus I did a wee pop up at Mea in the viaduct this past weekend, and what a fun one it was! This little riff on the classic Parasol and Swing staple, the Crimson and Clover Club, features a jasmine tea infused fino sherry and some maple syrup for some complex vanilla flavours to go swimmingly with a touch of blueberry, and a festive blueberry dust dons the outside of the glass. It’ll leave you saying “gimme gimme gimme!”

[PUTIPUTI] 🥝 My entry for the Art of Italicus Competition 2025 @italicusrdb • red kiwifruit + flaxseed cordial • sparkling mead • soda Inspired by the art of raranga, Māori traditional weaving using harakeke, New Zealand flax, the suppression of Māori traditional art styles during colonialism, and its inevitable and inspiring renaissance. Pre-colonialism, raranga was used for functionality, such as baskets or fishing nets for hunting and gathering. However, at the start of the 19th century, European settlers suppressed these kinds of art styles, seeing the Māori as a dying race. These art styles were replaced with more conservative mediums, such as landscapes and portraits, in a particular “Noble Savage” style that enforced these opinions. Then came a strong resurgence of Māori nationalism, reclamation of Māori identity, and a renaissance of Māori art. A cultural and political voice rose, demanding the respect of te Tiriti o Waitangi in the 1960s-70s. Since then, Māori art styles, such as raranga, have evolved to be more than just functional, but a statement on Māori’s pride of identity. Using a generations-old family recipe, Giuseppe Gallo released Italicus in 2016, showing the strength and love of family values. By blood, I am European, but by birth, I am a Kiwi. Inspired by uniting my cultural heritages, and bringing people together in the style of Aperitivo, I have created the Putiputi. Using linseed, also known as flaxseed, I pay homage to the wāhine that take pride in their raranga, and their harakeke. Using red kiwifruit, which also grows in Italy, as well as sparkling mead, I bridge the gap between European and Kiwi produce and technique. Served upon locally hand-woven harakeke coasters, and named for the woven rose depicted, the Putiputi. 📸: @snapscal #ITALICUS #rosoliodibergamotto #artofitalicus #aoi25

[ON MELANCHOLY HILL] watermelon eau de vie • Aperol • jasmine sherry • quince • riesling A refreshing take on an Aperol Spritz from my pop-up with @cauldronspirits and @we_are_panacea 🍸 featuring the lovely @behindbarsagency setup… The eau de vie is fermented and distilled from 100% watermelon, thanks to Michael from @projecthydrosol for helping capture the delicate, juicy watermelon flavour! Aperol and pear to help with the juicy flavours, sherry and riesling to help it balance out, and jasmine to capture some of the more floral flavours. Thank you to everyone who showed up to support this pop-up! It won’t be the last of its kind, and hopefully soon there’ll be something new as well. Cheers! 🍸

[ANDROMEDA] feijoa eau de vie • bergamot • sakura • shiso • bubbles One of the delightful beverages from my pop-up with @cauldronspirits and @we_are_panacea 🍸 featuring the lovely @behindbarsagency setup… The eau de vie is fermented and distilled from 100% feijoas foraged by friends around Auckland! I selected a handful of aromatic botanicals to elevate the already iconic smell and taste of a Kiwi feijoa. Garnished with a cheeky sour feijoa lolly for an extra nod to growing up in Aotearoa…

Behind Bars Volume 1.0 Join @peejs_potions and @cauldronspirits for a night of weird and wonderful spirits & cocktails he has passionately crafted himself in Panaceas new private drinking room! Walking you through the process of making spirits from start to finish, as well as spinning a little yarn about his journey to become a full time distiller in Aotearoa. Tickets are $49 each - included is a welcome cocktail, x4 unique drams and x4 mini cocktails (with some snacks) To book - email [email protected] or drop us an instagram message 18:30 - 21:00 Tuesday October 22nd Wednesday October 23rd Thursday October 24th Friday October 25th

[ROCKETMAN COMP] 🚀 A few weeks ago, I competed in a wee cocktail competition, hosted by @rocketman.nz and @camparinz , and I managed to squeeze out the win! Thank you to @vince.schiller and the crew at Rocketman for hosting, to @steburke for the insanely generous prize, and a big congrats to @lucien.tobias who put up the best fight 💜 The winning drink: Prince Ali #2 white rum • black pepper • Campari • acid adjusted mandarin • amontillado • honey • absinthe 📸: @sikaholmes

[IT TAKES A VILLAGE] 🇲🇽 Del Maguey Vida • black rice sake • holy trinity • lager acid • nogave “It takes a village to raise a child” While I’m not a child anymore, I’ve got to where I am today by being taught, raised and nurtured by so many different people. I couldn’t decide whether to celebrate my biological family, teaching me to appreciate flavours, or my bartending family, teaching me how to work with them, so today I’m celebrating both. While I was growing up, my Dad had a deep fascination with the southern American states. I grew up on jazz, country music, and of course jambalaya. My “dirty rice wine” is a blend of Americano vermouth and junmai sake, infused with black rice, paprika and the holy trinity of cocktail onions, celery and green capsicum. These elements enhance the silky texture and the nutty, vegetal characteristics of the Vida. My first bar job was at a craft beer bar. My “big break” was at Parasol and Swing, where @ginaffnicholls taught me everything I know. Combining these two elements landed me on a rich emulation of agave, using reduced lager, honey, demerara, orange blossom and vanilla, to help this feel like one of Gina’s favourite drinks, the Tommy’s Margarita. Garnished with a waste black rice cracker, sprinkled with sea salt and paprika. Vida comes from a single village in Oaxaca called San Luis del Rio, and just like my journey with flavours, it takes a village to create a beautiful bottle of mezcal. 📸: @pmcreatives

[POUNAMU] 💚 Scapegrace Gold + Classic • smoked chardonnay • beech • zero waste citrus • sherry My entry for the Scapegrace Uncharted Spirits competition for 2024. A tribute to pounamu greenstone, using ingredients found on the West Coast and Fiordland of Aotearoa. Sphagnum moss, which decays into peat, smokes an unoaked chardonnay for an earthy, salty minerality with a delightful floral component. Beech leaves, which have a salady and citrusy flavour, are broken down with lime husks thanks to enzymes, and added to lime juice and oleo to create a zero waste lime cordial, to complement the herbaceous and citrus-forward palate of Scapegrace. A herb oil is dotted on top, because if green is the name, then green is the game! Thanks for that @alecwiseish 📸: @pmcreatives 🍸: @scapegrace