Drinking Like Ladies

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. Kalkofen has spent over twenty years honing her craft and has earned a reputation as one of America’s foremost authorities on cocktail history and culture. 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. In 2013, she decided to focus attention on her love for all things agave by joining the team of Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal.  Always one to find a good reason for a party, Kalkofen founded the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of the Endangered Cocktail (LUPEC) thus 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.Kirsten Amann has over 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. She is also 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. Kitty is a founding member of the Boston chapters of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC Boston) and the United States 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 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.