For Sammi Katz and Olivia McGiff, bringing “Spirited Women” to life was a true labor of love.
Building on the success of their 2023 book, “Cocktails in Color: A Spirited Guide to the Art and Joy of Drinkmaking,” the duo recently released “Spirited Women: Makers, Shakers, and Trailblazers in the World of Cocktails” — a vibrant celebration of the women who aren’t just behind the bar, but are shaking up the beverage industry.
“We were able to sign a two-book deal, so we knew we’d have a second book to work on,” said Katz, the book’s author and a seasoned bartender. “It really gave us time to think about what we were really passionate about, what we would want to spend years working on. And so not only is this a passion — both of ours — but I think it allowed us to collaborate with so many cool ladies that throughout my career in the industry, I’d met and learned about.”
“Spirited Women” highlights the work of 45 groundbreaking women, including figures like Lynnette Marrero, co-founder of Speed Rack; Chockie Tom, an Indigenous hospitality advocate; and Yola Jimenez, Founder of Yola Mezcal. Through engaging profiles, cocktail recipes and colorful cartoons, the book showcases the diverse range of women reshaping the world of spirits and cocktails.
“I think there are more and more books on the market about women in spirits, but they’re a bit more historical,” said McGiff, the book’s illustrator and Katz’ friend since college. “The opportunity to talk to living women in the industry who are leading their fields was really exciting and gave us also the opportunity to put ourselves out there and meet those women.”
The project, born out of the pair’s shared passion for cocktails, also tackles the issue of sexism in the industry, shining a light on the barriers women have historically faced in a traditionally male-dominated field.
When she started bartending a decade ago, Katz said, she was the only woman on the bar team.
“But now, if you walked into a bar and there were no women on staff, that’s unacceptable … and other people would be like, ‘That’s not cool!” she said. “That’s just not how it is anymore.”
McGiff’s vibrant illustrations further enhance the book’s accessibility, breaking away from the intimidating aesthetic often associated with cocktail culture.
“My illustration style, I think, allows our approach to cocktailing to feel really accessible and approachable and friendly,” she said. “I love honoring the cocktail and the stem wear and the glass, the bottle that the product is in, treating all of that with beauty and respect.”
McGiff often refers to the illustrations in “Spirited Women” as “Still Lives.”
“I try to incorporate as much of the raw ingredients that you find in the cocktail to style the illustration in a way so that you can know by looking at the illustration exactly the flavors, the textures, the mood that you’re going to imbibe if you were to make that cocktail at home,” she said.
“I think oftentimes when cocktail books are photographic, they’re beautiful, and they’re stately, but they’re also fairly intimidating,” McGiff went on. “If you don’t have this perfect meticulous stem wear, or you don’t know how to spritz the lemon twist with backlighting, it can feel a little bit like a buttoned-up boys club, honestly. It reminds me of a lot of more old-school cocktail bars. My inability to draw a perfect oval for the stem wear and everything hopefully makes things feel more approachable and homey and fun.”
But “Spirited Women” is more than just a collection of profiles and recipes, the creators said — it’s a celebration of the women who are shaping the future of spirits.
“We’ve been able to talk to so many women around the world who work in this industry in different facets of it — distillers, blenders, educators, authors — from the far reaches of the world to our local Brooklyn,” Katz said. “It was very cool to be able to understand a more global scope of women in the industry and also to be able to share stories of ladies who people who might not have ever heard of before.”
“Spirited Women: Makers, Shakers, and Trailblazers in the World of Cocktails” is available anywhere books are sold.
