The flair bar. It’s still the No.1 super chilled out way to wow party guests at a big party reception. You just have to listen to the appreciative whoops of joy and instant handclaps from guests surging forward around the open bar. There’s ever wilder, high-flying bottle juggling and totally stretched out, flair bartending acrobatics. Perhaps a touch of fire-eating may be thrown in for good measure too!
Trained skills and a polished performance
The art of flair bartending is not simply knowing how to throw a few cocktail shakers in the air. With flair bar displays now lasting up to 5 to 10 minutes or more, today’s switched on cocktail bartender will often choreograph their trained skills alongside new techniques into a polished performance set to backing music.
In a few short years, flair bartending and mixology are the two essential ingredients demanded of the mobile bar to rock any party event. While mixology remains at the bar catering heart of the uniquely crafted cocktail, nevertheless, flair bartending symbolises the untameable, outward spirit and pure joy of the entire taste adventure.
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DID YOU KNOW… the creative art of flair bartending is said to have been first established by Jeremiah “Jerry” P. Thomas (1830 -1885), an American bartender who owned and operated his own saloons in New York City. Dubbed “The Professor”, he was renowned for creating the “Blue Blazer”, which involved setting whisky alight and then passing its flame trails between two mixing glasses.
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Bar catering itself was shaken up and stirred
Incredibly, the transformation of a cocktail bar to flair bar only really took off with the cocktail bar fraternity in the mid 1990s. Ten years earlier, the first signs that bar catering itself was about to be shaken up and stirred was when US casual dining chain, TGI Fridays, instructed their bartenders to “express themselves” behind the bar. It’s likely that they started with simply flipping a glass from behind the back with one hand and catching it in front of with the other.
Cocktail cabinet of basic flair techniques
Today’s flair bartender is sure to have mastered a full cocktail cabinet of basic flair techniques that stretch far beyond the well-known “flip”. Or the other famous move where several ice cubes are thrown in the air and all are caught in the glass or shaker being used for mixing the cocktail.
Other key skills could include the “head catch” where objects are passed from one hand to the other above or on the side of the head. A little more tricky is the “shadow pass” where the object passes from one hand to the other behind the head but follows a path over the shoulders.
Party Power means Mixology and Performance!
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