Speaker

  • Guest Lecturer

    As a guest lecturer at such institutions as NYU and Columbia University, I deliver talks to students and private clients on popular topics ranging from cocktail history to brand building.

  • Keynote Speaker

    As a keynote speaker, session moderator, and panel participant, I speak regularly at conferences on subjects from marketing and communications to entrepreneurship, women’s history, and booze.

  • Toast Master

    There’s more to a toast than the nod of the head and a clink of the glass. I bring the art of the tribute to special occasions with lively after-dinner toasts, speeches, and closing presentations.

  • Dr. Nicola Nice’s outstanding moderation of the Les Dames d'Escoffier Annual The Next Big Sip panel was a masterclass in planning and execution. Her insightful questions and seamless facilitation kept the audience engaged and the conversation dynamic.

    Les Dames d’Escoffier New York

  • Dr. Nicola Nice joined us in Westport to share insights from The Cocktail Parlor, hosting a workshop dedicated to the art of concocting signature drinks and composing the ideal toast to accompany them. Throughout the event, she skillfully intertwined the rich history and stories behind cherished cocktails.

    Anthropologie

  • The Culinary Historians were thrilled to welcome Nicola Nice to present at our event on “New York’s Cocktail Parlors and the Women Who Hosted in Them”. Nicola is an engaging and knowledgeable speaker whose new book, "The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home", is a must read for anyone interested in cocktail culture.

    Culinary Historians of New York

  • Dr Nicola Nice has been a frequent guest lecturer in my graduate class at Columbia University. A dynamic speaker, Nicola shares her incredible expertise in how to build a successful brand—from insight to strategy to execution. Nicola’s presentations always generate a high level of student engagement and spark lively and thoughtful discussion.

    Columbia University, MS in Strategic Communication

  • Dr. Nicola Nice is a wonderfully engaging speaker. A brilliant, down-to-earth scholar, Dr. Nice certainly knows her stuff, and she presents her talks in just the right way to capture the attention of her audience, whether it’s a group of graduate students, discerning culinary historians or journalists in New York City, or hungover bartenders at Takes of the Cocktail in New Orleans.

    New York University, MA in Food Studies

“When you think about cocktails in history, who do you imagine making and serving them, and where? It's inevitably a man in a bar, right? This, despite the fact that the majority of our cocktail consumption has taken place at home… The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home, takes a look at how women shaped cocktail culture.”

Listen to some recent interviews…

“Is there an overtly male point of view in the spirits category? Wine Enthusiast Writer-at-Large and spirits reviewer Kara Newman sat down with Future 40 Tastemaker Dr. Nicola Nice to discuss women in cocktail culture.”

“I met Dr. Nicola, an English expat, just a couple of weeks ago, but I'd been hearing about her - and her groundbreaking book detailing the forgotten history of women's involvement in the cocktail's evolution, especially in the home - for quite a while, since before the book came out, in fact.”

In her book, "The Cocktail Parlor," Dr. Nicola Nice delves into the pivotal role women have played in shaping classic cocktails like the Martini, Manhattan, and Old-Fashioned. Often barred from private clubs, women made their mark from their homes, in their cocktail parlors.”

“The gin myth of ‘Mother’s Ruin’, which was depicted in William Hogarth’s 1751 print, Gin Lane, has colored the perception of alcohol consumption by women for nearly 300 years. Dr. Nicola Nice joins Linda Pelaccio to talk about the history of gin and women.”

“If two thirds of all cocktails are made at home, how come we only ever read about people who make cocktails in bars? That’s the question that Dr. Nicola Nice tackles when she returns to the Speakeasy to talk about her new book “The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home.”

“Dr. Nicola Nice shares forgotten stories, inventive recipes, and cultural shifts that highlight women's integral role in making the cocktail the centerpiece of social gatherings. Explore the vibrant tapestry of cocktail culture through the lens of gender, empowerment, and innovation”

If you like uncorking the perfect drink or learning the hidden stories of women too often written out of history, this week’s show is for you. Meet Dr. Nicola Nice, sociologist, spirits entrepreneur, and author of The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought The Cocktail Home.”

“Dr. Nicola Nice is back on the show to talk about her ongoing fight to give women the primacy they deserve in the pantheon of cocktail history. The ongoing battle to right the wrongs of people who wrote it wrong continues this summer at a seminar in New Orleans that Greg and Sother can’t wait for.”

“The history of cocktails in America is heavily skewed toward the male’s tale when, in fact, that is only half of story of the cocktail’s rise to social prominence. Women were making, serving, and writing about the scene and its art long before Jerry Thomas’s famed bartender’s guide.”

“If you didn’t know that a higher percentage of spirits are sold to women than men you’re not alone - they certainly aren’t marketed that way. Sociologist, spirits producer, and industry pioneer Dr. Nicola Nice talks with the band about giving women back their rightful place in drinks history.”

“Women have been making cider and brandy for centuries - so where are they in the history books? Our guests on this episode are Dr. Nicola Nice of the Women’s Cocktail Collective, Diane Flynt of Foggy Ridge Cider in Virginia, Jen Querbes of Brandy St. Louise, and Lisa Laird Dunn, a ninth-generation apple brandy distiller from New Jersey.”

“People have been writing about drinks as long as they’ve been enjoying them. On this episode co-hosts David Wondrich and Noah Rothbaum are joined by two experts—antiquarian bookseller Lizzy Young and Oxford-educated sociologist and founder Dr. Nicola Nice—to talk about cocktail book collecting and some newly discovered and undervalued volumes.”

“So often when the history of the craft cocktail is told and retold, the contributions and perspectives of women are sadly left out. But what if you were to learn that some of the earliest and most popular books featuring drinks recipes were written by women? To help shed some light on this forgotten period in history, we are joined by Dr. Nicola Nice.”

“Join us for an enlightening conversation with Nicola Nice to share insights from her new book, "The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home," exploring the fascinating history of women's contributions to the cocktail culture.”