The Cocktail Parlor

Winner of the Spirited Award for Best New Book on Drinks Culture, History, or Spirits

James Beard Award Finalist in Beverage with Recipes

An Imbibe Holiday Gift Guide Pick

A Saveur Best Narrative Food Book of 2024

Meet the hostesses who have shaped cocktail history, and learn how to make the drinks they loved.

Throughout American history, women have helped propel what we know as classic cocktails—the Martini, the Manhattan, the Old-Fashioned, and more—into popular culture. But, often excluded from private clubs, women exercised this influence from the home, in their cocktail parlors. In The Cocktail Parlor, Dr. Nicola Nice, sociologist and spirits entrepreneur, gives women their long-overdue spotlight in cocktail history and shows how they still impact cocktail culture today.

Journeying through the decades, this book profiles a diverse array of influential hostesses. With each historic era comes iconic recipes, featuring a total of 40 main cocktails and more than 100 variations that readers can make at home. Whether its happy hour punch à la Martha Washington or a Harlem Renaissance–inspired Green Skirt, readers will find that many of the ingredients and drinks they’re familiar with today wouldn’t be here without the hostesses who served them first.