Pawtucket’s Rhode Island Spirits hosted a book signing event with Nicola Nice, author of “The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home,” at its distillery and tasting room on Oct. 10. Guests enjoyed lite fare and event cocktails featuring RI Spirits’ Rhodium line while mingling with Nice, who is also a sociologist and spirits entrepreneur, and enjoying anecdotes from her book. It spotlights the many contributions of women to American cocktail history over the years, the popularization of many classic cocktails and their impacts on cocktail culture in contemporary times. RI Spirits are crafted from local fresh, farmed and foraged ingredients and are gluten-free, organic, non-GMO and vegan, with all in the lineup but one certified kosher by RI Kosher. Rhodium Grapefruitcello, Limoncello, RI Red Vodka, Coffee & Black Walnut Vodka, Citron Vodka and Forager’s Gin are among its brands, all distributed in the state by Horizon Beverage Co. of Rhode Island – Copley division. The company is New England’s only LGBT-owned spirits brand.

Photos by Emily Frye.