Post #266577 by tomdyerFLAIR on Tue, Nov 14, 2006 5:58 AM

: a uniquely attractive quality : STYLE

First off...it's Borat not Borak!! Get your facts straight.
Second of all I said PUBLIC....not bartenders!!!!(I know what bartenders choose!!!)
Get away from the fact that this whole forum is based on all Bartender opinion's....Were not the important one's....its the public

"we simply don't want your spam." - If thats the case then why do you have this forum??? You obviously just made it up to ridicule flair, which shows that you obviously don't have much time on your hands. And the fact that you have started swearing at me proves all my points and that you have no real answer.

"I have never seen a chef throw together ingredients, without measuring them" - You couldn't be more wrong...most chefs know how much they are putting in their food out of experience, so don't need to measure. Same with free pouring!

I agree with some of your comments...A lot of flair bartenders cannot make good drinks, and we don't on stage either. Yes we do perform and enjoy it immensely. There is no other feeling like it. The fact that I am using bottles on a stage and shaker tins and making a drink no matter what it be classes it as flair bar tending (in some parts of the world....freestyle bar tending) So-what if a good drink is not made in some competitions. That is just SOME competitions. There are competitions where Mixology and flair are 50% each. (Blue Blazer and International Bar tending Association)

As for working on a bar....you will find flair bartenders actually work on "Mixology style bars" and can actually make good drinks, but don't flair behind the bar. Be assured if I am working and don't have time to flair then I won't , I will be sure to make my drinks with speed and good quality.(so good that people always come back to me for more) If however I do have time to flair then I will (working flair-which hardly slows down the service anyway). It will not affect the quality of my drink as all the same ingredients are going into the drink, I'm am just putting on a show to make some more money at the end of the day. There are different forms of bar tending, and this is one of them. You will see it no matter where you go and which country, there is a call for it and we will continue to "throw bottles around like monkeys", make loads of money, travel around the world, meet the most fantastic people, "make shit drinks", but also make good drinks, and get paid for a hobby!

It is Obvious that you don't like flair, which is fine. A lot of people don't. BUT A LOT of people do too. You have to get away from the film "cocktail" which was made over 20 years ago. It moves on a lot since then.

We are all bartenders in some way or another. I read all your quotes which are fantastic, but who's to say they are right. Yes they have been extremely successful in what they do. Now just because they have a book, or magazine article, they suddenly become the "rules of bar tending". Everyone has there own opinion, style, methods, personality and ceativity, and they way we use them is the most important.

The fact that you don't like flair does not bother me one bit, its the fact that you have no compromise and are extremely small minded in the whole matter.