I used to love cocktails, then I fell out of love with drinking alcohol completely before slowly starting to enjoy it again. This book is making me go out and want to try my hand at making some new drinks. I may need a house party!

There are some great sounding drinks in here but it's also a celebration of women. To steal the campaign tagline; 'Drinking Like Ladies' is dedicated to preserving and honoring classic cocktails from pre-Prohibition and beyond, while celebrating the oft-forgotten ladies who sipped them. 

Each drink comes with it's own lady of history and a short bio about her. I'e read a few books now with short bios of women in history that I now want to go out and find more about and this book has greatly increased that to-do list. 

It's an interesting mix with the recipes and history and I love the originality of it. I can't wait to get the hardback to add to my bookshelves. 

Free arc from netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital advanced copy of Drinking Like Ladies. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the various women and I think it’s an inventive book. But as much as I love fussy recipes, there were few cocktails in here that I could recreate without major effort in sourcing materials. I might try a few of the rum recipes (we are mai tai fans in my friend set), but overall this is more of a coffee table book to flip through in the bar than a practical recipe compendium. I am glad the authors were able to publish this after much effort, even if it’s not quite to my taste.

Drinking Like Ladies is a unique cocktail book focused on famous women from history and dedicating a cocktail in their name. There are 75 different cocktails within the book with the main ingredient ranging from Gin, Whiskey, Rum, Agave, Vodka, cognac and ending with punch and low alcohol tipples so there is something to suit everyone. 

To start with there is a nice guide to the essential things you will need to make the cocktails including the main spirits, garnishes, glassware and mixers along with some mixology terms that people who are new to the cocktails world may not have come across before. 

Each of the cocktails in the book are named after different women throughout history, with their story then a cocktail that has a related name to the person plus a lovely illustration of each person on their page. There are some that I already like the person so was more drawn to the cocktail such as the Princess Diana cocktail ‘Park House’ or Lili Elbe ‘The Danish Girl’ but in other cases, I really enjoyed finding out about the people. 

There are only a few main drawbacks I found with the book, there aren’t really any simple cocktails that could be used as a starter cocktail so you’d have to be rather serious with the cocktail making plus it would take a bit of investment if you were hoping to try a few from home.

This is a beautiful coffee table book. It has some interesting stories of women from distant and modern history paired with beautiful cocktail recipes. Each recipe has been created by a talented female bartender to embody the spirit of the subject of the story.

Fun and original cocktails compliment short bios and illustrations of many pioneering women. It's nice to see representation from non-white and non-cis women, and the selection is varied. Unfortunately, many of the cocktails are multi-step or multi-bottle, making this volume less approachable for cocktail novices.

Cute idea that was well executed but felt more novelty/kitschy then actually useful or informative. The content on the women was limited and the recipes were not exceptional.

That's a great book not only because of the cocktail recipes, but also because all the recipes are by female  bartenders, which showcases their talent and it would be an amazing gift.

Fabulous read. Interesting recipes and very hard to put down! Great book to give as a gift. Thank you for the read.

Oh, I have never cursed my rural existence more than I have after reading this book.  It's hours to the nearest bar that could produce these drinks and there are soooooo many I would love to try!

Divided by liquor, these drink are by women, inspired by women, and unique!  They all sound delicious, but most are far too intense for the home cocktail artist.  Don't expect to make these at home, but if you're going to drink them, you should be drinking in the company of other interesting women anyway!

It was also interesting to see profiles of lots of women that I had never heard of before - along with some famous ones.  Great concept, great book!

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  
From the publisher --- 
Drinking Like Ladies is dedicated to the proposition that a woman’s place is behind the bar. . . or in front of it. . . or really any place she pleases.

Acclaimed bartenders Kirsten Amann and Misty Kalkofen have scoured the globe collecting recipes--often from equally acclaimed female bartenders--pairing each tipple with a toast to a trailblazing lady. From gin to whiskey, tequila to punch, Drinking Like Ladies has a twist and a toast for every tippler, whatever your base spirit.
I have come to the conclusion that bar-tenders are mostly drink-pourers these days, at least in the restaurants/bars I frequent: they follow their boss’ or franchise’s instructions and pour boring drinks with no creativity. This book made me think that I need to take that book with me to any place I might frequent: I am not a big drinker but when I do want a drink I tend to just get a diet pop as I don’t want a boring “well pour” and, also, they don’t sell Yuengling in Canada!
I LOVED the stories of the famous ladies (many I had never heard of!) and the suggested cocktail although I am pretty sure that most of the drinks I will have to make at home unless I miraculously find a hipster bar that has molasses or PAMA – even Aperol is a non-stocked item where I live! 

I did get a recipe for a wicked punch for my niece’s wedding shower – screw the mere thought of pineapple/cranberry/vodka swill I was suggested to make! Love this book although it will be for my bookshelf at home vs. my work library as we “cannot promote alcohol on any level lest lose our funding!”  Sigh – five stars.

I received a digital copy of Drinking Like Ladies by Misty Kalkofen and Kirsten Amann.  This book was so unique and interesting, I loved it!  It starts with an intro describing essential spirits, mixers, garnishes etc...then the book is divided by alcohol type.  There are chapters on Gin, Vodka, Rum and others.  Each recipe includes a short bio on a woman in history.  I could not put this book down.  I learned so much about cocktails and read bios on women I had never heard of before.  I can't wait to try the Pink Lava and Park House cocktails.  I already pre-ordered a hard copy since it doesn't come out until June.  This book would be a great gift for a stock-the-bar party or in a cocktail kit.

This is a more than just a bartender's guide (although the recipes are unique and look really good)..It is also a showcase of talented female bartenders, and a tribute to amazing women past and present.

Enjoyable to browse through for the cocktails recipes, or for inspiration for creating new drinks, but really wonderful to learn more about extraordinary women in herstory,.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Wow this book is cool on so many levels. The recipes themselves were pretty great- lots of new ideas and instructions to make syrups and other mixers (I am definitely trying out the Pink Peppercorn syrup) that are not easy to find.
I love that all of the recipes are from female bartenders, as I think they are often overlooked. Really inventive ideas.
I also liked how the drinks were paired with a famous woman's story. Very rad, however I am unsure if some of these ladies would appreciate being paired with a boozy drink. HOWEVER I think it is very important to tell these stories: there were a few in there that I hadn't heard of.
Definitely worth checking out!