Tag Archives: women

5 Women Bartenders who have made their mark

Working in a bar is a great career option for anyone with a creative mind and a drive to learn. The preconceived notion that bartending is a man’s field has been thrown out of the window in the past decade, with women from different social, cultural and academic backgrounds having set the standard high in this industry, by leading some of the best bars, discovering and creating new drinks and whatnot. This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating some of the top female mixologists from India, who despite the challenges, have broken barriers and showcased their excellent skills behind the bar.

Shatbhi Basu

An alumnus of IHM Mumbai, Shatbhi Basu went on to carve out an illustrious career in bartending and was awarded by the President of India and the Ministry of Women and Child Development as India’s first woman bartender. With an experience of over three decades, Shatbhi runs her own bartending academy in Mumbai called Stir Academy of Bartending. She conducts various workshops across the country and tries to keep this art alive among women. She also authored the first comprehensive guide to alcoholic beverages and cocktails relevant to Indian conditions called ‘The Can’t Go Wrong Book of Cocktails’, and has hosted and created India’s first TV show on cocktails & more – ‘In High Spirits’ on NDTV Good Times. Shatbhi was appointed the first American Whiskey Ambassador, India from 2013 – 2016.

Ami Shroff

Ami Shroff started her career in 2003 at the age of 18. Since then, she has never looked back. Today she is one of India’s few women flair bartenders who is sought after for special events and gigs. If that’s not enough, she is also an accomplished mixologist which makes her a complete professional at the bar. She has managed to perform at over 20 destinations across India and beyond the borders, at over 1000 events, from backyard pool parties to elite corporate functions and conferences. Ami also curates cocktail menus for some of the most acclaimed establishments and has starred in the Netflix documentary Midnight Asia, depicting the mixing of drinks into performing art.

Cindy Lalramngaihzuali

Cindy Lalramngaihzuali started her career in the F&B industry in 2015. After working in different departments, she got inspired after working behind the bar at Ek Bar in Delhi. Later, while doing a bartending course, she started working at Piso 16. After working for a month, she moved to Perch Wine and Coffee Bar, Delhi and takes care of Hoots’ cocktail bar there. One of her favourite cocktails is Hanky Panky – a spirit forward cocktail with gin, vermouth and Fernet Branca. Cindy considers her mother and grandmother as her biggest inspiration.

Sonam Rai

Hailing from a small town in Bihar and having no professional background in mixology, Sonam Rai is a hands-on and quick leaner of the craft. She credits he stint as an assistant bartender at GVK Lounge, Mumbai International Airport for her skills, where she picked up everything she knows from the Bar Manager Abhinay Patil. A big fan of dehydrated fruit garnishes and citrus drinks, try one of her grapefruit creations like the Bloody Habanero Margarita or Gin Grapefruit and Basil Ginger ale. 

Arati Mestry

Arati Mestry’s journey towards being a bartender started with an impromptu cocktail competition in college and with a part-time job at a friend’s bar on weekends. After switching jobs, Arati took a small break to find a good workplace, and within some time landed a stint with BYG Brewski Brewing Co in Bangalore. She got her first job in the pre-opening team in Planet Hollywood Beach Resort, Goa, and then moved to Elephant & Co. Pune which, she considers, was a turning point. Currently she works with Seven Rivers Brewing Co, Taj Group, as a bar manager. Some of her accolades include being runner-up in the American Whiskey Legacy 2020, winner of the Jameson Barrelmen’ Face-Off 2018 (1st Edition), and national finalist in several competitions like the Campari Bartender Competition Asia 2019 – Top 5, the Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Championship 2019 – Top 5, and the Beluga Signature Bartender Program 2019 – Top 30.

How Women are Disrupting India’s Alcobev Industry: Panel Discussion | INDSPIRIT 2023 |

Join Anmol Gill, Nita Kapoor, Aditi Chauhan Mukherji and Varna Bhat in a captivating panel discussion on “How Women are Disrupting the Alcobev Industry” at INDSPIRIT 2023. The session was moderated by Dr. Arpita Mukherjee, this insightful conversation explores the influential role of women in shaping and empowering the alcobev industry. Gain valuable insights, discover inspiring stories, and be part of the conversation. Watch now! This session was powered by ISWAI (The International Spirits & Wines Association of India)

In the Panel (L-R): – Anmol Gill, Head of Customer Marketing, Bacardi India & Neighboring Countries – Varna Bhat, CEO, Blisswater Industries Ltd. – Dr. Arpita Mukherjee (Moderator) (Member of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) – Aditi Chauhan Mukherji, National Head, Defence Sales (CSD&CPC), ABD Ltd. – Nita Kapoor, CEO, ISWAI

Women in the Dry State of Gujarat are Jumping on the Alcohol Consumption Bandwagon!

Earlier, we reported that binge drinking among women has been increasing steadily over the past few years. Thirteen percent of adult women have reported binge drinking four times a month on an average while consuming five drinks per binge. A 2019 survey conducted by TU Dresden in Germany found that Assam led alcohol consumption among women in India. However, the North-eastern state is not the only Indian state where alcohol consumption has increased drastically. Gujarat, the Dry State, is climbing up the charts steadily too.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) released recently for the year 2019-20, it was discovered that the number of women consuming alcohol in the Dry State has doubled in the last four years. The survey studied a total of 33,343 women and 5,351 men from Gujarat. 200 women (0.6 percent) and 310 (5.8 percent) reported that they consumed liquor. 

Previously, in the NFHS-4 Survey (2015-16), the sample under study in the state included 22,932 women and 5,574 men amongst whom 618 men (11.1 percent) claimed they drank liquor while only 68 women (0.3 percent) claimed the same.

A comparison between both the surveys shows that while the number of women consuming alcohol in Gujarat has doubled, the number of men doing the same has nearly halved.

Gaurang Jani, a sociologist, said “The middle class and upper middle class have embraced the party culture in recent times. As a result, women in families have also started consuming liquor. Earlier, men used to go out to drink. Now, a new culture of consuming liquor in family parties has emerged. People are throwing family parties to celebrate even small events. Moreover, kitty parties have also contributed to higher liquor consumption among women, NRIs are also bringing liquor with them and enjoying it during house parties here with relatives.”

Jani thus pointed out that the rise in party culture as well as the growing acceptability of drinking in society has contributed to the rise in the number of women drinkers.

Binge drinking is cool for Indian women

More women are drinking and women are drinking more,” a new survey made eye-opening claims — and not for the reasons you’d think.

Men had succumbed to alcohol long back, but women had held back. Not long ago women didn’t dare to damage their image by showing the world that she in fact drinks and enjoys it too. Now women pour and fill their glasses with more than just lemon water and juice. Wine, beer, whiskey, vodka or a cocktail; women have come to love their drinks and how!

Alcohol consumption among women is rapidly increasing, not only because she wants to relax and have fun but there’s a bigger picture here.

Nearly half of adult women report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. Approximately 13% of adult women report binge drinking and on average do so four times a month, consuming five drinks per binge. About 18% of women of child-bearing age (i.e., ages 18–44 years) binge drink.

Questions like ‘Are women more prone to absorb bigger drinks?’ ‘Do women have higher alcohol levels in their blood than men?’ are being asked and studied. Though women have had historically lower drinking rates than men, the negative effects of alcohol abuse are typically worse and more pronounced for women. The problem is exacerbated by the special dangers that alcohol poses for women. In general, alcohol affects women more strongly than men. This is both because women’s unique body chemistry interacts with alcohol differently from men and because women are on average significantly smaller than men, meaning the same amount of alcohol will have a greater impact.

Why women drink

The survey by the Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD) studied the alcohol consumption pattern in Delhi and has revealed some major reasons behind alcohol consumption among women. Rising affluence, aspirations, societal pressure and exposure to a different lifestyle is driving women to experiment with alcohol, stated the survey. The results were found among 5,000 women aged between 18 to 70 in Delhi.

Among the reasons why women drink, the survey says “mostly all social activities are centred around alcohol, and alcohol is seen as a quick and easy social lubricant, and when everyone is doing the same thing, it does not seem like a problem. It is just the norm.”

Alcohol consumption in India increased by nearly 40% and women’s alcohol market is expected to grow by 25% over the next five years.

In Delhi itself, 40% of men and 20% of women (almost 15 lakh women) are alcohol consumers; the survey quotes a report by AIIMS as saying.

The survey reveals that 43.7% women in the age group of 18-30 years consumed alcohol out of habit or desire to do so, 41.7% women in the age group of 31-45 years consumed alcohol as an occupational requirement or because of social norm.

Over 53% women above 60 years and 39.1% women in 46-60 years had alcohol for emotional reasons.

“Driven by the market forces where cocktail and berry drinks are being promoted as feel good and relaxing drinks for women, women are enticed into drinking more with a promise of good time that awaits them,” it says.

The CADD survey lists out more reasons why women drink, it says, “At times just to fit in or as a way to unwind, more spending capacity/affluence, another way of equal opportunity or pursuit at work place/profession, alcohol as a coping mechanism to stress, depression, loneliness anxiety, pain, mental and physical traumas and to cope with the needs and pressures of fast paced life.”

India has witnessed a steady rise in its consumption of alcohol in the last decade. A 2019 study by researchers from TU Dresden in Germany, concluded that between 2010 and 2017, alcohol consumption in India increased by 38% – from 4.3 to 5.9 litres per adult per year. The decade also witnessed a boom in home grown whisky and gin labels, and saw both men and women significantly altering their tipple choices and consumption patterns.

According to this survey, women in Assam consume much more alcohol than their counterparts in other states and union territories in the country. The ministry’s 2019-20 data showed that 26.3% of women in Assam who are in the 15-49 years’ age category consume alcohol, which is the highest among all states and union territories (UTs).

Notably, in 2019, another survey, conducted by Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD), took stock of the men and women in Delhi and their drinking habits, and concluded that “More women are drinking – and women are drinking more.”

Women are also not just taking up important roles in breweries, but also leading alcohol brands in various capacities. In fact, Dewar’s master blender Stephanie Macleod, who created the world’s best whisky, as per the 2020 edition of International Whisky Competition, was recently awarded the “Master Blender of the Year” award.

New research has found that despite the potential health risks of exceeding national drinking guidelines, many middle-aged and young-old women who consume alcohol at high risk levels tend to perceive their drinking as normal and acceptable, so long as they appear respectable and in control.