A Taste of the Past

The Women Left Out of Cocktail History

Episode Summary

The history of cocktails in America is heavily skewed toward the male’s tale when, in fact, that is only half of story of the cocktail’s rise to social prominence. Women are largely absent from the tales of the cocktail until the late 20th century, but they were making, serving, and writing about the scene and its art long before Jerry Thomas’s famed bartender’s guide. Dr. Nicola Nice recognized the history gap while working in market research advising liquor companies. Now, along with her entrepreneurial gin liqueur business and website, she has extended her research to historical liquor literature in which she strives to fill that gap of the missing women.

Episode Notes

The history of cocktails in America is heavily skewed toward the male’s tale when, in fact, that is only half of story of the cocktail’s rise to social prominence. Women are largely absent from the tales of the cocktail until the late 20th century, but they were making, serving, and writing about the scene and its art long before Jerry Thomas’s famed bartender’s guide. Dr. Nicola Nice recognized the history gap while working in market research advising liquor companies. Now, along with her entrepreneurial gin liqueur business and website, she has extended her research to historical liquor literature in which she strives to fill that gap of the missing women. 

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