Cocktail Shakers & Bar Sets

Flair bartending is the practice of bartenders entertaining guests, clientele or audiences with the manipulation of bar tools (e.g. cocktail shakers) and liquor bottles in tricky, dazzling ways. more...

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 flair techniques.

Formerly referred to as "extreme bartending", the word flair became popular among practitioners in the mid 1990s. Also used as a verb (e.g "to be flairing"), the word refers to any trickery used by a bartender in order to entertain guests while mixing a drink. Flair can include juggling, flipping (bottles, shakers), manipulating flammable liquors or even performing close-up magic tricks (also referred to as "bar-magic").

Today, good flair should be light-hearted and entertaining while making quality cocktails. Flair is showmanship added to bartending that enhances the overall guest experience. The ideas behind mixology and drink-oriented or service-minded bartending can still be upheld with the correct application of working flair. Recently, there is a noticeable rise in bartenders combining prominent mixology knowledge and working flair skills all over the world.

Overview

Flairing is loosely definable as any "trick" or manipulation performed with the equipment or ingredients in the course of making a drink. Flair tricks can range from simply throwing an ice cube in the air and catching it in a glass to juggling several bottles of spirits. Thousands of people across the world practice flairing, both as professional bar staff and as a hobby. Although it is mainly seen in cocktail bars or "flair bars," some staff in ordinary bars learn to flair to break the monotony of the job. Flair can be split up into working flair and exhibition flair, with the key factor being that working flair must be low-risk and provide quick customer service when working. Exhibition flairing involves attempting highly technical and difficult manipulations that may not involve the production of a drink at all, but are intended to showcase the performer's skills.

Read more at Wikipedia.org