Email Us
Find Us
Phone us - 01928 589236
  • Home
  • Services
  • Process
  • Gallery
  • Venues
  • Partners
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Flair Bartending: A Beginner’s Guide

Building on our previous foray into the history of flair bartending, now we’re going to offer our very own beginner’s guide to the art.

Before we get into the swing of things, there are a few ground rules we should address:

* It might be easier said than done, but try not to break or spill anything

* Another obvious one, but don’t say we didn’t warn you – don’t flair, flip or spin bottles, glasses and shakers too close to audience members

* In fact, we wouldn’t recommend showing off any flair bartending moves in front of people full stop until you can pull them off repeatedly to a consistent standard

* Finally, if your hand-eye coordination isn’t the greatest, the odds are stacked against you being able to master flairtending, unfortunately

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, onto the starting essentials. Luckily there isn’t a big, long list of must-haves – all you’ll need is a selection of discarded glasses and bottles of various sizes and weights, duct tape and a Boston cocktail shaker. You were probably going to throw the bottles away anyway, and your practice sessions give them a last lease of life before carting them off for recycling.

Fill the bottles up to varying extents to give a range of different weights, and then smother them in duct tape. This offers them some protection against drops, and should contain the shards if the glass shatters on impact.

There are more formal practice bottles and weighted shakers available, but you might want to start with little-to-no monetary investment to see if flair bartending is for you, before you spend money on flairing equipment.

We would also suggest giving yourself plenty of space to practice in – somewhere where you won’t get disturbed or distracted, and where there isn’t anything precious or breakable nearby.

Right, now we can get onto the good stuff – the tricks themselves. There isn’t really any substitute for seeing them done in person, but we’ll do our best to describe some of the classic moves that you’ll have seen in bars, films and so on.

The glass catch

A straightforward place to start, hopefully. Throw a few ice cubes in the air, and catch every single one in a glass or shaker. You’re never going to set the world on fire with this trick, admittedly, but it is a lovely cherry on the top after you’ve blown your audience’s socks off with the rest of your display.

The palm spin

A staple of the flair bartending diet, so to speak. The palm spin involves spinning the bottle or shaker a full 360 degrees (720 degrees if you’re feeling brave) on the palm of your hand – in a clockwise direction if you’re using your right hand, or anti-clockwise on your left hand.

The thumb spin

Hold the base of a shaker, bottle or glass and spin it around your thumb – clockwise on your right hand. It might sound simple, but it isn’t!

Over the shoulder

A classic. Hold a bottle by the neck and hold it with the opening facing towards you. Now swing your arm downwards, making sure to whip the bottle over your shoulder once your arm passes your body. As the bottle falls in front of you, move your arm forward to catch it.

We’re only scratching the surface of the flair bartending world here, but there’s enough there to cobble together a small routine you could wheel out at your next gathering. Just make sure you’ve practised, practised and practised some more – you want your flairing to look effortless, not studied and practised, even though it is.

Share this story

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Back to other stories

Archives

  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014

Categories

  • Catering
  • Corporate Events
  • Drinks and Bars
  • Event Management
  • Florists
  • General
  • Partners
  • Photographers
  • Private Parties
  • Recipes
  • Services
  • Venues
  • Wedding Cakes
  • Wedding Catering
  • Wedding Ideas
  • Weddings

Want to drop by? Please don't hesitate to drop by, we can answer any of your questions and help where we can.

Close

Contact us Units F&G,
Goddard Court,
Astmoor Industrial Estate,
Runcorn,
Cheshire,
WA7 1DX

Call Us 01928 589236

Email Us enquiries@samueljamesevents.co.uk

Social

Interested? Please get in touch by filling out the form below and we'll get right back to you

Close