I’ve been speaking with a range of women distillers, winemakers and bar chefs lately which got me thinking about the many cocktails named for women, inspired by women or made with women in mind. Here, a few favourites:
Bloody Mary: The savoury cocktail made with vodka, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and spices, named after Queen Mary I of England. Sub in the tomato juice with Clamato and you’ve got the favourite Canadian cocktail known as The Caesar.
Dirty Shirley and her little sister, Shirley Temple: A vodka cocktail made with ginger ale and grenadine, named after the famous child actress. Or skip the vodka for sis and you have the iconic, zero-alcohol Shirley Temple cocktail.
Mary Pickford: A cocktail made with white rum, pineapple juice, grenadine, and Maraschino Liqueur, named after the silent film actress.
Margarita: A classic cocktail made with tequila, lime juice, and triple sec, named after a woman who was a regular at a Mexican bar in the 1940s.
Pink Lady: A cocktail made with gin, grenadine, and lemon juice, allegedly named after a popular song from the 1920s.
Brandy Alexander: A dessert cocktail made with brandy, crème de cacao, and cream, named after Princess Alexandra of Denmark.
Bee’s Knees: This Prohibition-era sipper of gin, honey syrup and lemon juice was reportedly named for Bee Jackson, a professional dancer who claimed to be the originator of the Harlem-born Charleston, the popular dance of the Twenties.
Joan Collins: A cocktail made with vodka, raspberry liqueur, lemon juice, and soda water, named after the actress.
The Audrey: A cocktail made with gin, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, lime juice, and cucumber, named after the actress Audrey Hepburn.
