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Flair bartending

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Flair bartending is the practice of bartenders entertaining guests, clientele, or audiences with the throwing/juggling of bar tools (eg; shaker tins) and liquor bottles in tricky, dazzling ways. Used occasionally in cocktail bars, the action requires skills commonly associated with jugglers. It has become a sought after talent among venue owners and marketers to help advertise a liquor product or the opening of a bar establishment. Competitions have been sponsored by liquor brands to attract flair bartenders, and some hospitality training companies hold courses to teach techniques of throwing and catching. The Flair Bartenders Association (FBA) is the recognized global authority on the sport with membership of over 10,000 individual bartenders in more than 100 countries. The FBA is based in the United States but has representatives living in 15 countries and holds events all over the world.

The earliest record of a flair bartender is legendary barman Jerry "The Professor" Thomas, who poured fiery streams of boiling water and scotch and mixed an original cocktail called "The Blue Blazer" all around the world in the mid 1800s. Today, good flair should be light hearted and entertaining while making actual, drinkable cocktails. It is a form of showmanship bartenders that differs from the ideas behind mixology and drink-orientated, or service-minded bartending.

In the United States, the center of flair bartending is Las Vegas, where some of the worlds best flair bartenders work. Carnaval Court at Harrah's and Shadow Bar in Caesars Palace are two such flair bars.

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Competition Styles

Flair can be split up into working flair and exhibition flair with the noticeable difference being the amount of liquid in the bottle. Both working flair and exhibition flair can be seen in competitions, depending on the rules and regulations of the event. The important distinction between working flair and exhibition flair is not so much the level of liquid in the bottles (though that is a criteria) but the speed in which the bottle is flair and/or the drink is made. The accepted definition of working flair is "flair that does not noticeably slow service" and usually involves bottles filled to various levels that are quickly manipulated and then poured.

Exhibition flair almost always involves bottles that are often pre-set with less than 2 ounces (60ml) specifically for flipping. Exhibition flair often involves longer sequences and routines, multiple objects, and shows choreographed to music. The first open competition to have a "working flair" round was Quest for the Best Bartender in the World in 1998.

Presently there are different styles of exhibition flair competitions. The two biggest contrasting examples are Legends of Bartending World Bartender Championships and The Ultimate Flair Bartending Championships. At 'Legends', competitors are expected to make upwards of 4-6 drinks, to very specific specifications, and in some cases, severe penalties for not following procedures exactly. The result is a competition where a bartenders slightest error may cost them a place in the finals. At the 'UFBC' (formerly King of the Ring), competitors are given a time limit and asked to make 2 drinks however they like, so long as the major sponsors products are used (most recently the sponsors have been Smirnoff Vodka and Red Bull). The result from this style of competition is one where showmanship and entertainment value mean everything. A bartender cannot be penalized for incorrectly making a drink, and instead is encouraged to make whatever they like for the value of the show.

Competition History

The earliest Flair-based World Championship was held by TGI Friday’s in 1987 for their bartenders and was won by John J.B. Bandy who went on to train Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown for the 1988 Movie Cocktail. TGI Friday’s is credited for modernizing and popularizing flair bartending beginning in the mid 1970s in the United States. London and Orlando were the “hotbeds” of Flair Bartending in the early and mid 1990s. Currently, Las Vegas is the Flair Capital of the World with London a close second. The countries producing the most top competitors right now are Argentina, Ukraine, Italy, United States, United Kingdom and Japan.

Current Competitions

The Roadhouse in Covent Garden hosts a very popular World Championship competition where competitions are held on the last Sunday of every month from January, culminating in the grand finale in November.

Another highly respected flair competition in the world is the Ultimate Flair Bartending Championships (formerly titled 'King of the Ring') held annually at Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas. This competition boasts the largest prize money available to winners, and consistently garners the strongest showing of competitors in the world.

Coming too out of Las Vegas is the invitation-only competition called Legends of Bartending World Bartender Championships held in the Spring of each year in Las Vegas, Nevada and organized by 5-time World Champion Flair Bartender Ken Hall.

Until the past two years, most of the other biggest flair-based competitions in the world besides Roadhouse are events held in North America including:

  • The Quest (Orlando, the oldest major flair competition in the world)
  • Best in the West (Las Vegas)
  • Nations (Miami/Las Vegas)

The newest major events to gain credibility among top competitors include:

  • Pinnacle (Vancouver)
  • Flair Castle (Ukraine)
  • BarTrix Winter Games (Chicago)
  • Station Flair Contest (Italy)
  • Big Apple Showdown (New York City)
  • Paris Flair Open (Paris)
  • Maxwell's (UK)
  • The Blue Blazer Challenge (Las Vegas).

The major events almost always have a grand prize purse of US $20,000 or more and most of today's majors including Legends, Roadhouse, and Quest are endorsed by the sanctioning body of the sport, the FBA.

Flair Bars

The term flair bar was first coined by FBA co-founder and first president, Toby Ellis, in 1997. Ellis also started the first website devoted to Flair Bartending in 1997, BarMagic.com and is considered one of the foremost authorities in the world on Flair Bartending. Ellis opened Flair Bars most notably in Las Vegas (Shadow, Caesars Palace), Hawaii (Jackie's Kitchen), South Africa (Sequoias) and has provided flair consultation and training for TGI Friday's, Kahunaville, Caesars Palace, Isle of Capri Casinos, Winter Park Ski Resort, Tavern on the Green and on Food Network Television.

Top Current Flair Bars

Notable Competitive Flair Bartenders

Flair bartenders considered to be the best in the world competitively by their peers include:

Men

Women

A woman has not yet won a flair world championship, though the women mentioned regularly place in the top 10 or better at major competitions.

To date there has not been a competition that has fielded all or most of the top active competitive flair bartenders. Some in the flair bartending world believe the current benchmark for "ranking" flair bartenders is the FBA Pro Tour Leader Board; a points race based on attendance and success at FBA sponsored competitions. While the tour is the greatest organized attempt at creating a world encompassing tour, the large majority of the competitions take place in the USA, which creates a trend of American-residing leaders that might not reflect the world's distribution of talented flair bartenders. The USA (as of August 2006) presently has 6+ competitions all taking place within the USA. Other countries such as the UK, Canada, and Ukraine have one (perhaps two) competitions each. There is presently a bias in the system but the FBA continues to make adjustments to the sport that are helping to create a fair and balanced competitive field.

Through August 2006, the top four flair bartenders on the 2006 FBA Leader Board (in order) are (1) Rodrigo Delpech (Argentina/USA), (2) Levi Donaldson (USA), (3) Justin Keane (USA) and (4) Tom Alley (USA)

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