While the drink itself may be the main focus of bartending, it’s also important to make your customers’ experiences enjoyable. It’s also a chance to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the job and show that you’re at the top of your game. And what other way to do it other than flair bartending? The finest ways to serve out some of your finest drinks with a little more flair are listed below.
What Is Flair Bartending?
Flair bartending is popularly also known as ‘extreme’ or ‘performance’ bartending. It focuses on having fun while serving drinks to clients and guests. Entertainment is a big factor that allows you to keep the guests engaged while also mixing drinks with style. With a few tricks under your belt, you know that your guests are having a good time and are happy. Your customers are sure to be impressed by your skills and client satisfaction at your bar will increase dramatically (and so will your tips if you’re a professional bartender).
Flair bartending is a real profession and many seasoned bartenders also take up professional courses to harness this skill. With some basic knowledge and consistent practice, anyone can learn how to shake a leg or two with flair bartending. And as a professional in the industry, it’s best to have such skills that add to your skill set. Besides, in certain establishments, it’s a qualification for employment. Leisure bartenders rarely perform flair bartending, but if you have a few tricks on your sleeve, why not show them off?
Also Read: 6 Cocktail Books To Buy For Every Bartender
Things You Need For Practicing Flair Bartending
Before we move to the flair bartending moves, let’s look at some things and bartending tools that you’ll need to have by your side when practicing. It’s important that you keep these things handy and practice your skills whenever possible.
1. Empty Bottles
The first thing you’re going to need is empty bottles of all different weights, sizes, and forms. You’ll easily locate this in the garbage of most bars or pubs. If not, you can ask the management about your intended usage, and they should be able to help you find some bottles.
2. Duct Tape
In your pursuit of excellence, you’re certain to spill a few bottles. Use a simple duct tape to tape the bottles all the way around. This will lessen the likelihood of the bottle falling and breaking into a million pieces. And even if the bottle breaks, taping will minimize the amount of glass that will break.
3. Mirror
A mirror in front of you will be of great help in assessing your technique. Small gestures, posture, and some nitty gritty are things you can pay close attention to with the help of a full-size mirror. However, don’t focus on the mirror so much that you make mistakes with your movements. To avoid this, consider asking a friend or partner to watch and help.
4. Space
A spacious area, where you will not bother people or put them in danger is very important. A space where you can freely move around and have enough room to wiggle is also important. In this area, you need to make sure that there aren’t any breakable items (vases, TV, etc) standing around. It is advisable to practice on a thick carpet or surface which will minimize the chances of bottles breaking if they fall. It will also help reduce the noise.
5. Bartending Equipment
This includes random and necessary bartending equipment that you can potentially want to flair with. It’s not just your bottles that you juggle around and flare with. It also includes your cocktail equipment ranging from cocktail shakers to glasses, tongs, or anything else.
Also Read: Popular Bartending Institutes In India
5 Flair Bartending Tricks You Can Master At Home
Now that you know what flair bartending is, and the tools you’ll need to have by your side, gather them, let’s look at some basic flair bartending moves.
1. Multi-Pouring
Multi-pouring is a fantastic method to prevent repetition while showcasing your bartending skills. It allows you to not only pour multiple drinks at one time, but it also never fails to amaze the audience. When shakers are filled with beverages and ice, they can be stacked on top of one another, with the top shaker receiving a strainer. The stacked shakers can be raised in a horizontal, curving arch over the glasses. Make sure that the glasses are spaced appropriately as it allows the beverages to be poured into the spaces between the shakers. If you have enough extra shakers, you may do this with any quantity of beverages!
2. Stall Or Balance
A stall or balancing bartending tools is one of the oldest flair bartending tricks in the books. A bottle, shaker, tin, glasses, or any other object for that matter, can be balanced in a variety of ways. This simple feat is flipping, catching, and holding a bottle upright while balancing it on the back of your hand. The hand must soften the bottle’s arch when it lands for it to balance.
There are several variants of this technique that use other body parts, such as an elbow, a forearm, or even the head. The bottle can be turned vertically from the stall position before being returned there, or the bottleneck can be grasped with one hand and poured into a glass. Regardless of which trick you’d like to use, practicing the variations will help you gauge which one you like best.
Also Read: Tips On How To Store Wine Properly
3. Juggling And Passing
When bartenders spin and flip bottles or toss and catch bottles behind their backs, it never fails to wow the audience. It’s one of the most gauging and interesting tricks that keeps the audience engaged and excited. But, when tossing and catching spinning bottles becomes second nature, the next step is to juggle multiple bottles at once.
Before working up to tossing and catching numerous bottles at once, make sure you’re confident catching a bottle while holding one or two others in your hand. Start with two bottles at a time and see how that goes for you. Once you’ve got that covered, start adding more bottles and practice as you move along. Keep in mind that this is a tricky one that will need a lot of time and effort for you to practice. But once you’ve mastered it, it’s going to get you some good tips! And who doesn’t like money, right? So, go start practicing!
4. Thumb Roll
The thumb roll trick is one of the most adaptable ones of the lot that you may use it on almost anything with your hands. You can use it as a stand-alone outstanding move or as a bridging trick between movements; it truly is an ideal all-arounder.
The metal portion of a cocktail shaker is one of the simplest tools to use as a starting point. Start off by holding it at the base and then start by flicking it out of your line of sight. With your right hand, rotate the cocktail shaker clockwise and anticlockwise, with your left, around your thumb. Start doing this slowly and increase your speed as you get the hang of it.
After mastering the thumb roll with one hand, go on to the other and keep trying with different objects, motions, and positions. There are countless options with this one and that’s exactly why it’s a trick you need to master.
5. The Chin Stack
Although The Chin Stack trick doesn’t really have any everyday applications, it’s still a nice trick to know in order to hone your agility when balancing. To learn this trick, you need to start by placing the mouth of an upside-down bottle on your chin. Once you can balance that, start stacking up more things and see how you can balance those together. This is the part called ‘Stack’ and with this, you need to be very careful and patient. To make the stack more stable, place wet napkins between the bottles and glasses. This one is truly a real circus feat, so make sure you take it one step at a time.
Also Read: 10 Women Bartenders In India
Summing Up
It takes years to become an expert at flair bartending, but with these simple tips, you can pick it up in no time. Make sure to practice before showcasing your new movements on stage if you want to become a bartender with all the talents and begin moving up the professional ranks!
FAQs
Why Is Practice A Key To Master Flair Bartending?
When you practice, you involuntarily make your body get accustomed to the moves. It’s the repetition of the technique that helps you focus and not mess up when performing a sequence. That’s why practice is key to mastering Flair Bartending.
How Long Does It Take To Learn Flair Bartending?
When you talk about flair bartending, there are ample tricks that you can learn over time. But some of the basic ones take no longer than 2 to 3 days to master with consistent practice.
What Are Three 3 Important Attributes Of A Bartender?
Knowledgeable about drinks, excellent customer service skills, and general awareness are the three most important attributes of a bartender.
Is Flair Bartending Still A Thing?
Yes, flair bartending is still a thing and is one of the most entertaining to watch. The way the bartenders spin, stir, juggle, and do all of these tricks simultaneously is very intriguing and exciting to watch.
Is Flair Bartending Hard?
Flair bartending is not hard and can be learned by anyone who wants to. With concentration and balance as the key skills needed, flair bartending is easy to learn.
What Does Flair Mean In Bartending?
Flair Bartender is a set of tricks that a bartender uses to keep his guests entertained while making some drinks for them. This usually involves spinning, flipping, and balancing different bartending tools in different ways.
Which Is The Best Bartending Course In India?
Bartending is a rising career path for a lot of youngsters in India. With the popularity growing, there are ample institutes that have excellent courses for the same. Some of the best bartending institutes in India are as under:
- Barwizard
- Kossmo Bartending School
- Cocktails And Dreams Bartending School
- Bar Code – Bartending Course
- Drinq Barmen Academy
- European Bartender School
