From the onset, Drinking LIke Ladies has been a community, a collaborative project incorporating women from the global hospitality industry.

The COVID19 global pandemic has had disastrous effects on the hospitality industry. We have 45 years combined experience between us, and even though we no longer work behind the stick or apron we are devastated for our friends, family and the industry that has always been our home. We kicked off 2020 with a companion project to our 2018 book as a way to expand the DLL community via a podcast featuring unsung women who walk among us, the cool things they do, and of course, cocktails. Those lively recordings are still forthcoming, but for now we’ve turned our attention to sharing advice from experts and leaders in our field who can help us all navigate this global pandemic. If you’d like to financially support members of the industry please check out Another Round Another Rally (link). And for advice and input from industry leaders as to how they are navigating this crisis, check out our podcast. Thank you so much!

Kirsten Amann & Misty Kalkofen

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"My mother worked in a New England textile factory sewing machine gun belts. Her modest dream was to continue her education and teach women’s athletics; a dream deferred to allow her older brother to attend university. Let’s raise a glass to Drinking like ladies, a book that celebrates extraordinary women who fought against the idea that young women who want careers are simply dreaming."

Dale Degroff, Author of the Craft of the Cocktail

“Inspired, original and captivating. Drinking Like Ladies is a cocktail of hidden women’s histories, amazing recipes from some the best female bartenders around the world, and a graphic novel to boot. I want to give a copy to all my pals. Especially my gal pals.”

Davia Nelson, NPR’s Kitchen Sisters

"Looking for the essential guide to frilly drinks that taste like creamsicles and fruit pops? Keep looking. Misty and Kirsten have collected cocktail recipes that deserve to endure from some of the best behind the bar, complete with chaser of education and inspiration. No froufrou, no handlebar mustaches — just sips to satisfy palate and soul."

Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in 10 Cocktails.

“Misty Kalkofen and Kirsten Amaan have written a cocktail book for our times. Each of these 75 recipes was inspired by a remarkable woman, and is accompanied by a short history of same. Not just known notables like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Hedy Lamarr, but also unsung figures like “Wrecking Crew” session musician Carol Kaye, fearless tavern owner “Dirty Helen” Cromwell and antebellum Pinkerton detective Kate Warne. Dive in, drink and learn. If there’s any justice, the mixologists who honor the women in these pages soon will be just as celebrated.”

Robert Simonson, New York Times cocktail writer and author of A Proper Drink.

From a Navy SEAL to a Rohingya activist, Erykah Badu to Betty White, the women in this book are a lens through which to see the world anew. Since the dawn of man, women have been scaling mountains, dreaming up inventions, discovering cures, and challenging the system in ways both quiet and strident, subversive and straight-on. Some are lauded, many have been overlooked. Drinking Like Ladies acknowledges all these fierce women and their achievements with delicious, inventive odes that will delight history buffs and cocktail nerds alike.

Leslie Parizeau, writer and co-author of SPRITZ: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitivo

At The Bitchery of History, we like to ask questions. Questions like, where is all the women’s history? Why don’t more people know about Irena Sendler?! When will there will be a drinking book that memorializes women in history AND helps us up our cocktail game during our weekly rants against the patriarchy?! Thankfully Drinking Like Ladies is not only gorgeous and informative, the recipes are inventive and look delicious! The women covered, some of which we’ve covered on the podcast, are well researched and diverse. So be classy, always Drink Like a Lady, and remember that Bitches Get Stuff Done.

Max Kirkham & Allison Powell, co-hosts / producers of "The Bitchery of History" podcast

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about the authors

Kirsten Amann

Kirsten has more than fifteen years of experience in the beverage industry as a brand ambassador, publicist, bartender, and writer. She is the Boston-based brand ambassador for Intrepid Spirits’ Egan’s Irish Whiskey and Mad March Hare Poitin and the local brand ambassador for Perfect Puree of Napa Valley. Kitty partners with Jonathan Pogash of The Cocktail Guru as his Marketing and Business Development Guru, representing brands and presenting cocktail events nationwide. Kitty spent four years as Boston’s first Brand Ambassador for Fernet‑Branca and her past clients include Plymouth, Beefeater, Bols Genever, The Bitter Truth, No. 3 Gin, and more. Kitty works with clients to champion their brands, develop dynamic events, create delicious cocktails, and find a little healthy balance while doing it. She is a founding member of the Boston chapter of LUPEC and the U.S. Bartenders Guild. She writes a monthly cocktail column for the MA Beverage Business under the byline “Pink Lady,” and her cocktail writing has appeared in Daily Candy, The Weekly Dig, and Chilled Magazine, among others.

Misty Kalkofen

Misty Kalkofen first stepped behind the bar while studying theology at Harvard Divinity School and soon realized what most excited her about the Bible was the passage in which Jesus turns water into wine. She has been featured in Bon Appetit, Imbibe, Food & Wine Cocktail editions, Wine Enthusiast, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, Tasting Panel, Wine & Spirits, and more. Kalkofen has spent the past fifteen years honing her craft and has earned a reputation as one of America’s foremost authorities on cocktail history and culture. In addition to tending bar at Brick & Mortar since 2011, she actively consults on new and exciting projects with AKA Wine Geek. In 2007, she founded the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of the Endangered Cocktail (LUPEC), fulfilling her desire to “cocktail for a cause.” Since then, LUPEC has raised more than $40,000 for local Boston women’s charities by throwing the best parties in town.