Bartending, a historically male world
It was just a few days ago that there was a controversy over Beatrice Venezi 's statements at the Sanremo Festival regarding the difference between the definitions 'female conductor' and 'conductress.' On this particular Women's Day 2021 because of the limitations due to the health emergency, whether they are referred to as women bartenders, women bartenders, or women mixologists, the world of bartending and mixing is historically male, both iconographically and as a way of life. Women who want to make a career in this field are often destined to reinvent themselves, but although the trend is thankfully reversing, today RGLife takes you on a (brief) journey among the women who have made (and are making) history in bartending and mixing.
Anistatia Miller and Jennifer Le Nechet
We can only start with Anistatia Miller, author with Jared Brown of two indispensable volumes on the history of drinking and winner of several industry literary awards, such as the 2011 'International Wine & Spirits Competition's Communicator of the Year'. Also worth mentioning is the guide to vermouths and the history of Cuban rum by what is truly an authority on the subject.
The first woman to win the prestigious 'Diageo Reserve World Class' competition, and thus the title of the world's best bartender, was in 2016 Frenchwoman Jennifer Le Nechet, described online as the "barlady" of Café Modern in Paris. Jennifer routed 55 opponents through the use of some of the best spirits in the Reserve range, with which she created original steampunk-themed cocktails at the bar in her pop-up bar. The 2016 edition was the largest edition up to that point in terms of the number of participants, approaching 10,000 worldwide, of which only 56 won the trip to Miami, which ended precisely with Jennifer Le Nechet's first, historic 'pink' victory.
Kaitlyn Stewart
The world of bartending was confirmed as increasingly feminine in 2017, with the victory of Kaitlyn Stewart of Vancouver's Royal Dinette; the Canadian defeated 54 competitors, including only three other women, in Mexico City: "Participating in the final was already incredible, but to finish the week as the winner...I'm so happy! Cocktails are at the highest level ever and in the vanguard, and I've always believed that we need to carry forward the idea of using the best ingredients and the best recipes to create even better cocktails."
Bannie Kang
The latest bartender to have put a brick on the building of a female mixing universe is Bannie Kang, a South Korean on staff at Anti:dote, a cocktail bar at the Fairmont Hotel in Singapore, triumphant winner of the 2019 'Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year' against 52 professionals from around the world in Scotland. Thanks to cocktails designed to have beneficial effects on people and their surroundings, Kang experienced a year as Global Ambassador of the Reserve Diageo brands.
Innovative drinks for a concept-a woman as the world's best bartender-should come as no surprise by now. Bannie was the latest to bring it to international prominence, but more and more female professionals are striving-every day and every day-to be called such. So Happy Women's Day to them, however we want to define them, and to all women from RGLife and RGmania!
