Bartending has been a man’s game for a long time. In a country like India, women entering the spirit industry was and still is considered taboo. Breaking through these barriers, here are 5 female bartenders who have mastered the skill and have paved a way for all women who aspire to work behind a bar in our country.
1. Shatbhi Basu
Shatbhi Basu was the first woman to step into the world of bartending in India. Starting her bartending career at the age of 21, she grew up to be a beverage consultant, head of a bartending academy, an author of a comprehensive alcohol guide and also the American Whiskey Ambassador for India. She has been bartending for over 32 years now, splitting her time between bars, and teaching and training other women to enter the field of bartending.
2. Ami Behram Shroff
From the streets to behind a bar, Ami Shroff took to the world of bartending after watching Tom Cruise’s film ‘Cocktail’. She went on to win the La Maison Cointreau India championship which secured her bartending career in the country. She progressed as a flair bartender and performing artist, becoming a common name at corporate gigs and private parties.
3. Jenika Sapam
Taking up a job in the hospitality industry gave Jenika Sapam an opportunity to try her hand at bartending. Making it her career, she wants to break all stereotypes revolving around women bartenders so that more women choose it as a career option. She works as a freelance bartender in Bangalore currently, shuffling between the city and her hometown Imphal in the state of Manipur.
4. Ngalaton (Amy) Chithung
Ngalaton Chithung was very sure about taking up bartending as her life-long career. Upon graduating from IIHM, Kolkata, she started bartending at a Bangalore hotel. Today, she works as an F&B supervisor at Grand Mercure Shrem Resort in Goa. Her only complaint is not being able to find work in her state Manipur which is a dry state.
5. Priyanka Kandalkar
Priyanka Kandalkar started as a student who learnt about alcoholic beverages during her hotel management studies by getting hands-on experience through a bar training academy. Bartending and mixology fascinated her so much that she ended up pursuing it as a career after getting a job at Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai. She went on to bartend at Yauatcha restaurant in Mumbai, Shangri-La hotel and Tulleeho bartending academy. Today, she works as a freelancer and a mixology trainer at Barwings Academy in Mumbai.
