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Now, the real question is - is it still a relevant thing?
To start, let's define what flair bartending is. Flair bartending is making a drink while throwing or juggling bottles and tools and essentially putting on a show while making drinks. There are two types of flair bartending - exhibition/demonstration flair and working flair.
Exhibition Flair is literally putting on a show while making a drink or drinks. It is what you find in competitions or at events where wowing the crowd is the goal. Picture the guy that’s juggling three bottles while flipping a Boston shaker off his elbow, to catch it on his forearm type of deal. The NZ bartending Guild used to have annual cocktail competitions, with two categories, classic category (which was just making a cocktail) and the flair category. In the flair competition, you were judged on your flair skill, technique, theme, routine, spillage and the final drink itself. So, you had to have a theme and a flow of how your show was going to look but also make a drink, do some cool tricks and not spill too much. Aw yeah - and make a balanced tasty concoction. It’s not for the faint hearted. But if you pull it off, you’ll look badman fiyah!!
Working flair is what you use at work to either make things easier or add a touch of pizazz to service if people are watching. It never takes away from getting drinks out on time and usually makes movement a bit more fluid and efficient. Proper working flair should anyway. Grabbing that shaker from the bar top with a little spin as you catch it can be a working flair. Throwing a cocktail (technique where you pour from one tin another to aerate a drink) can be deemed working flair. Hell, if you free pour with some style, that can be working flair.
Now, the real question is - is it still a relevant thing? In my opinion, ya damn skippy! I think flair bartending catches a bad rap from bartenders and customers because they see exhibition flair on a video and think its someone making a drink, and don’t necessarily see that’s its exhibition flair. To be honest, I can catch a cold - spinning bottles is a whole new skill level.
A lot of bartenders forget that Jerry Thomas, the godfather of bartending, was a flair bartender. We travelled around the world making his signature drink, the Blue Blazer, which was pouring whisky that was on fire between two metal cups. To see so many throwback elements of bartending make a comeback over the past few years, such as milk punches, White Russians, Aviations etc., it’d be cool to see flair make a return in 2023. Like mixology, it’s part of bartending that you need an experienced skill set for. And it just brings so much more fun to the table!
Born from passion and nurtured with love, this delicious spirit is the brainchild of two visionary co-founders, Stephanie Jordan being one of them. As she sat in a charming café in Amsterdam chatting with me via Google Meet, her eyes sparkled with pride and excitement as she delved into the story of her beloved "baby," Avallen.
Enter Salut Salut, an intimate hole-in-the-wall Spanish wine bar. Despite its cosiness, Salut Salut has an impressive range of wines as well as a handful of spirits and predominantly NZ beers.
Cal Ross is the friendly face that greets you the second you walk into Parasol and Swing, or the wine pop-up downstairs, Brolly. His cheeky British banter and contagious laugh has gained him a reputation for impeccable customer service, which ended up winning him the Lewisham Award for Outstanding FOH for 2023. I sat down with him with a cocktail in my hand, as we often do, to ask about his past, present, and future in our thriving industry.