For a long time in the United States, it was rare to see women working in drinking establishments, just as it was unacceptable for them to even drink at the bar. Many bars had separate entrances and rooms to segregate women from the male customers.
Drinking establishments enforced rules based on both gender and class. Female bartenders or “barmaids” were usually the daughters of tradesmen. In working-class saloons, it may have been acceptable for women to drink with men, but often the women drinking alongside men were sex workers. Upper-class women faced even stronger disapproval for drinking at the bar—with exceptions for famous entertainers who sometimes received special treatment, depending on the establishment.
Despite the challenges for women, many forged paths and shattered barriers, leaving doors open that would have otherwise remained closed. Here are just a few who shaped drinking culture as we know it—with recipes for drinks we can raise in their honor.
Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin. Courtesy Veuve Cliquot
Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin
The 2023 film The Widow Clicquot recounts Ponsardin’s takeover of her failing husband’s wine business in 1772. I don’t recommend the movie, but I do recommend reading more about Pondsardin’s life and accomplishments. She kept the business afloat during the Napoleonic Wars by making keen business decisions that would outpace her competitors and save her business. The brand you may have heard of: Veuve Clicquot.
Ponsardin also developed a method of riddling.
Wine riddling, or remuage, is the process of rotating and tilting bottles of wine in gradual increments, encouraging the natural sediment to settle in the neck of the bottle. This process gives the wine—or Champagne, in this case—clarity. The traditional process was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it didn’t always yield consistent, uniform results.
Ponsardin sought a faster method that would get better results. As the story goes, she offered to have her kitchen table carved to accommodate the bottles in the optimal position for the process. Holes drilled into the table allowed bottles to be stored at various angles and easily rotated, allowing gravity to do the work. It’s a method still used today (with modern updates, of course).
Besides the riddling technique, her creativity led to the first known vintage Champagne, with written records dating back to 1810. Ponsardin created the first known blended rosé Champagne. Before that blend, they used berries rather than blending red and white wines. Her contributions to the Champagne industry earned her the title of “la grande dame de la Champagne.”
La Grande Dame
1 oz floral gin
½ oz light amaro, such as Angeleno Amaro or Fast Penny Amaricano Bianca
2 dashes orange bitters
Veuve Clicquot Brut Champagne, chilled
Combine the gin, amaro, and orange bitters in a mixing glass with cubed ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a Champagne flute or coupe glass. Top with chilled Champagne and garnish with an orange twist.
“Betsy Flanagan” (or Catherine Hustler)
How the word “cocktail” came to reference mixed alcoholic drinks is uncertain, but several unlikely stories have evolved and been repeated over the past couple of centuries. One such story relates to Betsy Flanagan, supposedly an innkeeper during the American Revolution.
Flanagan is said to have stolen a neighbor’s chickens to feed a group of French soldiers who were fighting alongside the Americans. The story goes that she kept the tail feathers and used them to garnish the soldiers’ drinks—and when the soldiers saw the creation, they shouted, “Vive le cock-tail!”
As it turns out, the story is fiction—literally. Betty Flanagan was a character in James Fenimore Cooper’s 1821 Revolutionary War novel, The Spy. In Lewiston, New York, Cooper frequented the Hustler’s Tavern, co-owned then by Catherine Hustler—and Cooper apparently based Flanagan on her. (There’s no evidence that Hustler invented the cocktail, either, but she may well have been an early adopter.)
But what “cock-tail” might they have been drinking back then? It’s fun to speculate.
Some of the older types of mixed drinks include cobblers, fizzes, flips, highballs, grogs, nogs—and, of course, punches. Flips typically included egg—either the entire egg or just the egg white—plus fortified wine or spirit and sugar. Grogs, synonymous with the British Royal Navy, consisted of rum, lemon juice, and sugar or other sweetener.
Punch would have been a strong candidate to serve to a dinner party. Typically consisting of spirit, citrus, sugar, and spices, punches sometimes also included eggs. It was often served from large bowls, and I like the idea of a feisty innkeeper serving it up to the troops. Punches fell out of fashion around the Victorian era, later making a comeback in modern times.
Traditional Tropical Rum Punch
Serves: 6
¼ cup orgeat syrup
1 cup lime juice
½ cup pineapple juice
½ cup passion-fruit juice
2½ cup white rum
1 cup club soda, chilled
1 Tbs freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 lime, sliced
Combine all the liquid ingredients except the club soda in a pitcher with cubed ice; stir until chilled. Strain into a punch bowl, top with club soda, and stir gently. Sprinkle spices on top and garnish with floating lime slices. For serving during the summer months, freeze a block of ice in a plastic container and place the ice block in the middle of the punch bowl before adding the cocktail. Optionally, garnish with a chicken’s tail feather—no judgement here.
Ada “Coley” Coleman. Courtesy Difford’s Guide
Ada “Coley” Coleman
Ada Coleman, the “First Lady” of the Savoy Hotel’s American Bar in London, was the first female head bartender to work there—and the only one until 2021, when Shannon Tebay became the second.
Coleman began working as a bartender at London’s Claridge’s Hotel in 1899, when it was exceptional for women to do so in respectable establishments. She eventually made her way to the famous Savoy—the first hotel in England to have running water and electricity, the height of luxury at the time. Once promoted to head bartender, she held the position for more than 20 years. Coleman excelled in the techniques of mixing drinks as well as creating recipes.
Coleman was popular and loved rubbing shoulders with famous entertainers and royalty. Many believe that she mentored Harry Craddock, author of the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book and one of the most famous bartenders of the 1920s and ’30s. He may also have been involved in persuading the management to appoint a man as head bartender.
As head bartender, Coleman created the hanky panky cocktail for Charles Hawtrey, a famous actor. This cocktail, which has stood the test of time, is the only one of hers that made its way into Craddock’s recipe book. I often wonder how many of Coleman’s creations are lost to time. The hanky panky combines the herbal flavors of gin, the fruity profile of sweet vermouth, and the complex bitterness of Fernet-Branca.
Hanky Panky
1½ oz London dry gin
1½ oz rosso vermouth
½ oz Fernet-Branca
Stir all ingredients with cubed ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
Valentine Goesaert and Anne Davidow
In 1945, Michigan passed a law that banned women from bartending in cities with populations of more than 50,000 people, unless she was the wife or daughter of the bar’s male owner. The state’s rationale was that bartending could lead to moral and social problems for women, so it was within its power to ban them from the job.
Valentine Goesaert, meanwhile, owned a bar herself in Dearborn—technically illegal at the time because the city had more than 50,000 people. So, she challenged the law in an attempt to protect her income and overturn the discriminatory law. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case Goesaert v. Cleary in 1948.
Goesaert’s attorney, Anne Davidow, had passed her bar exam in 1920 and practiced law alongside her brother at their firm in Detroit. A suffragist who campaigned for women’s right to vote, Davidow also served with her brother as counsel for the Reuther brothers, who formed the United Automobile Workers (UAW).
After a district court ruled in the state’s favor, Davidow took Goesaert’s appeal to the Supreme Court. Davidow argued that the law in question was unconstitutional because it infringed on the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause—and she was the first to make such an argument before the court. Goesaert lost the case—the Supreme Court upheld the district court’s ruling—but it established a precedent, and Michigan would repeal the law in 1955. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, didn’t overturn its ruling until 1976 in Craig v. Boren—a case argued by Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
For these two trailblazers, I think a fitting choice would be a daiquiri—a fashionable drink at the time. Now, if you’re thinking of a frozen daiquiri, this isn’t The Love Boat, and I’m not Isaac Washington. Typically, a daiquiri includes rum, simple syrup, and lime juice. This recipe leaves room for riffing.
Trailblazer
1 oz aged rum
1 oz bourbon
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz honey grapefruit syrup
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with cubed ice and shake until cold. Strain into a chilled coupe glass, and garnish with a lime twist.
Honey Grapefruit Syrup
¼ cup raw honey
¼ cup fresh grapefruit juice
¼ cup hot water
Combine the ingredients and stir well, until the honey dissolves. Allow to cool before adding to the cocktail. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Shaking Things Up
These remarkable pioneers—and more like them, including many we’ll never know—defied conventions and helped to open doors for women in the hospitality industry. Their contributions didn’t just transform the drinking landscape, they also inspired and empowered future generations—including me—to pursue their passions for mixology and distilling.
In doing so, they helped to redefine societal attitudes toward women’s roles in beverage alcohol, leaving an indelible mark that continues to resonate today.
So, to all the women mixing, shaking, brewing, vinting, distilling, and leading, thank you for your contributions. And may the path be easier and successful for the women behind us.