Hurt - Drink Like a Woman

Copyright 2016 Jeanette Hurt

Illustrations copyright 2016 Paige Clark

Disclaimer: Please drink responsibly. This is book is intended for readers age 21 and older.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review.

ISBN 978-1-5800-5629-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

Published by

SEAL PRESS

An imprint of Perseus Books

A Hachette Book Group company

1700 Fourth Street

Berkeley, California

Sealpress.com

Cover Design: Kara Davison, Faceout Studio

Interior Design: Kara Davison, Faceout Studio

Printed in China by RR Donnelley, Shenzhen

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Susan Ward, Bec Loss, and Jen Fichtel.

This ones for you. Cheers!

Table of Contents

contents

Damn you, Carrie Bradshaw. Damn you!

Your romp through the late 1990s and early 2000s was a never-ending conveyor belt of Cosmos and -tinis and other sugary, fruity, girly drinks. Would it have killed you to order a Sazerac every once in a while? Or maybe a Hanky-Panky in honor of Ada Coleman, the pioneer of female bartenders? (Jeanette will tell us more about her later.) Im not saying Sex and the City created the idea of female-centric drinks, but it sure didnt do anything to lessen the stereotype that says women like only sweet, electric-colored cocktails. Really, the writers were just reflecting what was happening in the wider culture, where over-the-top drinks, premade mixers, and kitschy gimmicks ran rampant. Luckily for all of us, especially for female bartenders and bar patrons, those days are dead.

Theres a reason why whiskey has moved past vodka as the number-one-selling spirit in Americaand its not just that men started drinking a lot more of it. The favorite bar call of cowboys and the manliest of men is now being enjoyed by everyone. Its no longer an anomaly to walk into a bar and see several women sipping something brown from a rocks glass. The same thing goes for all kinds of other spirits. More and more women (and men, for that matter) are now choosing their drinks based on one thing: taste. Bitter, herbaceous, fruity, spicy, sour, and, yes, even sweet. And thats the pointone that Jeanette touches on again and again throughout this book with her own brand of wit and charm. Both women and men are getting more savvy about what they want out of a cocktail, and more adventurous in what theyre willing to try.

As a woman in the cocktail industry, though admittedly not on the day-to-day bartending grind, I have only experienced support. But it wasnt always that way for women in our business. There was a time in our history when we werent even allowed in bars, let alone behind them. In fact, a 1945 Michigan law made it illegal for a woman to tend bar unless she was the wife or daughter of the bar owner. When this law was challenged in 1948 in the U.S. Supreme Court in Goesaert v. Cleary, the court ruled in favor of the Michigan law. Other laws like it stayed on the books into the 1970s.

And even after that, sexism and discrimination kept many female bartenders from being taken seriously. But then it began to change. As the cocktail revolution was bubbling up, the barrier for women started coming down. Theres Audrey Saunders. Charlotte Voisey. Julie Reiner. They and so many others have helped pave the way for female bartenders, who are taking the industry by storm. In 2015, Ivy Mix was recognized as American Bartender of the Year at The Spirited Awards, part of Tales of the Cocktail, the festival that recognizes the industrys best. Not Americas Best Female Bartender. The Best Bartender. Period. Ivy wasnt the first woman to win this honorSaunders won in 2007. And she most definitely wont be the last, because talent is now being recognized regardless of gender.

The proof is in the glass.

No matter which side of the bar youre onas a bartender or a customerwomen have come a long way. This book is a celebration of that. Through more than fifty cocktails that cut across practically every spirit and taste profile, Jeanette honors some of historys most inspiring women. Sorry, Carrie Bradshaw, you didnt make the cut.

ANN TUENNERMAN

Founder of Tales of the Cocktail

Readers: Before you make, shake, stir, strain, blend, or muddle, lets get something straight right now. There are no girly drinks. There are no manly man drinks. There are just drinks, and each human has her or his own preferencessweet, tangy, salty, spicy, sour, and so on.

Unfortunately, there are still bartenders, spirits marketers, and alcohol advertisers who assume a woman will always prefer a saccharine-sweet pink drink.

Listen up, bar butlers and hooch hawkers: Women like all kinds of bevvies. We like them big and small, strong and subtle, gussied up and straight out of the bottle. Our tastes in cocktails are as varied as our tastes in everything else.

Women are drinking what they want to drink, says Cris Dehlavi, award-winning head bartender of M Restaurant and Pisco Porton brand ambassador. Its often whiskey and gin and tequila, and it has nothing to do with being girly at all. Julia Momose, head bartender at GreenRiver in Chicago, encourages bartenders and consumers to expand their vocabulary as wine connoisseurs do, to label drinks with more detailed terms. As Momose says, Describe a drink as light and refreshing, or dark and stirred, or leathery or velvety or beefy.

That doesnt mean theres any shame in a woman liking sweeter drinks. It might even make some sense, scientifically. According to a study of college students in both the United States and Spain, 60 percent of the foods that both Spanish and American women craved were sweet, while 60 percent of the foods that both Spanish and American men craved were salty. Another medical study (of rats, so take this with a grain of cheeseer, salt) poses the hypothesis that females crave sweets because of the hormone estradiol. Other studies have shown that women have a greater sensitivity to bitter flavors and irritants. Women also have more taste buds than men.

Taken altogether, these studies may suggest why some women prefer cocktails on the sweet side. So enjoy your Mai Tais and Margaritas! Just dont call them girly.

The absolute basics you need to outfit your home bar are jiggers, a muddler, a shaker, a strainer, a bar spoon, and optional pourers. And glasses!

You also will need to borrow some equipment from your kitchen, including a sharp paring knife and cutting board, a juicer, a zester, some peelers, and a blender. (A juicer is a must when it comes to making good cocktailsfresh citrus juices are really a necessity for many classic recipes.)