KIRSTEN "KITTY" AMANN has more than twenty years of experience in the beverage industry as a brand ambassador, educator, cocktail book author, podcaster, publicist, bartender, and spirits writer. She is the New England Market Manager for Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and author of Drinking Like Ladies: 75 Modern Cocktails from the World’s Leading Female Bartenders. In both roles she is honored to share untold stories of greatness and help the truth find the light.
Kitty is a founding member of the Boston chapters of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC Boston) and the U.S. Bartenders Guild. She is a Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Spirits, an Executive Bourbon Steward, and has completed the Advanced Certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust.
Kitty speaks frequently on the history of women behind the bar and in the spirits industry, and has presented at Tales of the Cocktail, The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, Portland Cocktail Week, San Antonio Cocktail Conference, San Francisco Cocktail Week, Speed Rack Academy, and at the Smithsonian. In 2010 she cofounded Tales of the Cocktail’s premiere women’s networking event, the Dame Hall of Fame, and oversaw its recent rebrand into the Catalyst Luncheon as co-chair from 2021-2023.
Kitty has taught yoga in Boston, Rhode Island and around the world since 2010. She was among the first in the industry to introduce movement and breathwork to fellow bartenders, servers, and brand ambassadors to support their careers, and has presented at Tales of the Cocktail, The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, Portland Cocktail Week, and for local restaurants and USBG chapters. She leads consumer-facing yoga retreats incorporating yoga, wine, and cocktails to places like Sorrento in Italy, Costa Esmerelda in Panama, and Vermont's Green Mountains.
In 2020 she launched the Drinking Like Ladies podcast with coauthor Misty Kalkofen, and contributes a monthly column to the MA Beverage Journal under the byline “Pink Lady”, as well as featured stories about cocktails and the New England beverage alcohol industry. Kitty and Misty are currently at work on their next cocktail book.
