Photo from John "JB" Bandy/ Animated 1998 flair gif courtesy of Dan the Melon Man
Flair Bartending
“The barkeeper and his assistants possess the agility of acrobats and the prestidigitative skill of magicians. They are all bottle conjurors.—They toss the drinks about; they throw brimful glasses over their heads; they shake the saccharine, glacial and alcoholic ingredients in their long tin tubes. They scourge eggs and cream into froth; they send bumpers shooting down the bar from one end to the other without spilling a drop; they give change, they talk politics, tell quaint anecdotes, swear strange oaths, smoke, chew and expectorate with astonishing celerity and dexterity. I should like to be a barkeeper, if I were clever enough.”
This colorful description was written by George Augustus Sala in 1853 for Household Words, the weekly journal edited by Charles Dickens. It was later reprinted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1856 and The Western Literary Messenger in 1857.
Apparently, bartenders were flairing 135 years before Tom Cruise figured out what to do with a bottle of Bacardi.
Modern dictionaries define flair as style, talent, or a distinctive quality—and bartenders have been bringing all three to the bar for centuries. Tossing bottles, sliding drinks, performing tricks, and adding a little showmanship to service are hardly modern inventions.
But for the general public, flair bartending became forever associated with Tom Cruise tossing bottles behind the bar in the 1988 film Cocktail. There’s little doubt that the movie helped ignite the
late-20th-century explosion of performance bartending and introduced millions of people to the idea that making the drink could be just as entertaining as drinking it.
Suddenly, simply pouring the vodka into the glass seemed a little lazy.
Flair Bartending Beginnings
When did flair bartending begin? No one really knows. But humans have been juggling and performing for thousands of years, with evidence found in civilizations including China, India, Greece, Mexico, and Polynesia. An Egyptian wall painting dating to around 1700 BCE even depicts women juggling.
Jesters, bards, fools, and traveling entertainers were known for juggling and other feats of skill, so it isn't hard to imagine a little showmanship eventually finding its way into taverns and drinking houses. Somewhere along the way, surely an ambitious barkeeper flipped a flagon, slid a goblet down the bar, or attempted something impressive after hearing, “Bet you can't do that again.”
In the 1600s, Dutch artist Jan Steen painted numerous lively tavern scenes. In one, a drink is dramatically long-poured from a pitcher into a conical-shaped glass.
And what about fire? Alcohol and flames have been acquainted for centuries, so surely somebody discovered that setting a drink ablaze was a guaranteed way to get everyone's attention. Because apparently alcohol wasn't exciting enough on its own.
The first bartender widely documented for combining cocktail making with true theatrical showmanship was Professor Jerry Thomas. In the mid-1800s, Thomas traveled with a custom-made set of solid-silver bar tools and developed a reputation as much for his performance as for his drinks.
His most famous bit of bar theater was the Blue Blazer—flaming whiskey and water poured back and forth between two metal mugs, creating a stream of blue fire. Thomas also published the first known American cocktail recipe book, How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant's Companion, in 1862.
So while Jerry Thomas probably didn't invent flair bartending, he gave us something even more important: proof that bartenders were showing off long before Tom Cruise was born.
Flair Today
Today, flair bartending isn't just about juggling bottles. For the everyday bartender, flair is personal style—finding a fresh way to make something ordinary look extraordinary.
Flip a shaker tin once before adding the ice. Pour two liquors simultaneously using both hands. Spin a cocktail napkin before placing it in front of a guest. These little touches take virtually no extra time, but they add style, confidence, and showmanship to the experience.
This is known as working flair. The style became increasingly popular in the late 1990s as exhibition flair bartenders developed moves that were low-risk, high-impact, and—most importantly to bar owners and managers—didn't slow down service or send a $40 bottle of liquor flying across the room.
But flair doesn't even have to involve a bottle. It can be the way you pour a beer, stack shot glasses, tell a joke, handle a crowd, garnish a cocktail, or simply present a drink. And flair isn't unique to bartending. Think about a Japanese teppanyaki chef tossing an egg into the air, catching it on a spatula, cracking it perfectly, and continuing as if that's a completely normal way to make dinner.
That's flair. At its heart, flair is simply doing your job well—with a little something extra worth watching.
Jerry Thomas | Public Domain
The Grandfathers of Flair Bartending
T.G.I.Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's focus on training their bartenders' flair in the 1970s and 1980s and host the first known flair bartending competition. The three competitors were JB” Bandy, John Mescall, and “Magic” Mike Werner.
John "JB" Bandy
John "JB" Bandy wins of the first T.G.I. Friday’s Bar Olympics then put out the very first flair bartending video . He was hired as the bartender choreographer for the 1988 film Cocktail starring Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown. Watch a 2018 Skype interview here.
Wayne Collins
Wayne Collins was the first flair bartender in London, England. He worked at the Roadhouse bar, which is now home to the largest flair bartending competition in Europe.
Alan Mays
Alan Mays started flair bartending in 1987 at Orlando's Church Street Station. In 1999, he helped open the first flair bar in Las Vegas, and co founded the FBA with Tobin Ellis. Read his story here.
Ken Hall
Ken Hall started flair bartending in 1992 at Rock-n-Roll Beach Club at Pleasure Island/ Walt Disney World. He won many competitions, helped create the Quest for the Best competition, helped open the first Vegas flair bar, created a style of 3-bottle juggling flair, and created the Legends of Flair competition.
Flair Bartender's Association
Tobin Ellis and Alan Mays founded the Flair Bartender's Association in 1997. Ellis serves as President and Jim Allison is Vice President.
Dean Serneels
Dean Serneels invents the first flair bottle and first bar unit that folds up into a suitcase which is used at flair competitions. His site then was Flairco.com.
Legends of Bartending
Ken Hall and Alan Mays create Legends of Bartending, the first independent World Bartending Championship and most prestigious bartending competition in the world.
Be@1
Leigh Miller, Paul Mason, Rhys Oldfield and Steve Lock start the first independent flair bar in London known as B@1 (Be at One).
Magic Mike Werner
Jimmy Skeadas
Magic Mike Werner and Jimmy Skeadas were Friday's bartenders who were instrumental in the creation of flair bartending. They also started the first flair company, Showtenders.
Todd Connell, Ken Hall, Kent Brooks
Todd Connell, Ken Hall, and Kent Brooks created the first international flair competition Quest for the Best at Walt Disney World’s Pleasure Island inside the nightclub Mannequins.
Chuck Rohm
Chuck Rohm opened the first flair bartender store Bottles-Up on the Internet in 1991!. He also sold the first flair bartender video on the Internet.
Todd Connell
Todd Connell helps create Quest for the Best competition and in 1999 helps open the first flair bar in Las Vegas. I remember the day he told me about going to Vegas. We were working at Disney's Pleasure Island.
Tobin Ellis
Tobin Ellis started the first full flair website barmagic.com. It was the first website to rank flair bartenders and flair bars around the world. Ellis coined the phrase, Flair Bar, and was the first to perform flair on the Food Network.
Voodoo Lounge the Vegas Rio
Ken Hall, Alan Mays, Todd Connell, and Steve Bushur open the first flair bar in Vegas at the Voodoo Lounge atop the Rio. Vegas bartenders Eric Holbert and Guy Guerra helped welcome and introduce this new concept bar.
Scott Young
Scott Young produces the first series of flair videos.
MARTIN REED
Jim Allison and Tobin Ellis are the first to arrange a US National TV special on Flair Bartending on the Food Network.
FlairBar.com
Rick Barcode and Rob Husted start the first online flair website flairbar.com. It is still active today.
Christian Delpech
Soon time went by and the new generation took over. The fastest rising star was most certainly Christian Delpech who went on to win more than 80 competitions. You can read more about Delpech on my Famous & Influential Bartenders page.
Flair Bartending in Media
As far as I know, I am the first to write about flair bartending in my 2006 book Miss Charming's Guide for Hip Bartenders and Wayout Wannabes. In 2005, I spent a lot of time contacting people to gather the list of "The Grandfather's of Flair" that you read above. To the right are some images that I created for the book that I had on my last site.
