How to learn the art of flaring

Flairing, or in our dialect, flairing , is one of the skills of a modern bartender who has to learn for practically years.

Wait, wait, stop reading the article, because there are many techniques, techniques, and exercises related to this art that almost anyone can master.

What is flaring?

For the first time, people started talking about flaring in Russia after the release of the acclaimed film “Cocktail” with Tom Cruise in the 80s of the 20th century. Then a freedom-loving, dexterous, handsome young man looked at the viewer from the screens, pouring cocktails and personifying the freedom of that time. Since there was no community of bartenders in the Union at that time, painstaking enthusiasts in love with this profession came up with their own tricks, took out American publications, translated them and retyped them on a typewriter, and then shared them from hand to hand with each other. As you understand, in such a slow format for transmitting information, the style (and indeed the entire profession, in fact) developed incredibly slowly. A breakthrough in the bar craft was the formation of the Russian Bartenders Association in the early 90s, and therefore its opportunity to enter the international community of the International Bartenders Association. What did this do, you ask? Everything is very simple! This gave bartenders the opportunity to come to international competitions, learn from pros, do internships and make friends with bartenders around the world.

For three decades now, Russian bartenders have been maintaining the brand of quality and professionalism.
Our compatriots became World Champions in various categories, including flaring.

Let's take a closer look at what flaring is.

Flaring is a separate type of bartending art. This is the ability not only to prepare high-quality, tasty drinks, but also to delicately handle bar equipment, devices and bottles. When a bartender juggles with a shaker or bottles - this is flaring; when he makes several exquisite turns of a glass on a high stem - this is flaring; when he catches ice cubes on the fly - this is also flaring.

Where can you see this art?

In general, bartenders present show flaring programs in two cases: either at professional competitions or at catering events . Of course, at events, more spectacular elements can be added in the form of fire flares, dry ice or driving through the necks of bottles. At championships, bartenders demonstrate exactly that part of their skills that requires maximum concentration, training and skill. Believe me, it's amazing!

But, in addition to the flaring show, there are also craft bar skills or feihuli , which almost every bartender who loves sophistication in details works with. There are no bottle tosses or fire shows in crafting. Craft is the sophistication of details, it is smooth, refined movements, it is accuracy and a new fashionable life of that same flair from the movie “cocktail”.

How to start from scratch

Wish. Time. Healthy ambitions. In principle, these three things are enough to master flaring and even achieve some success in this direction.

There are several options to get started:

• videos. There are millions of videos on YouTube and social networks where professional bartenders from all over the world demonstrate tricks of various techniques, complexity and visuals. We set it to slow action and repeat until it works;
• go study with professionals. Almost every major city has bartending schools that specialize in teaching different techniques. We pay some money, go and study;
• online courses. In our world, it seems, everything has already become online. Mastering the art of flaring is no exception. There are very high-quality courses where they will clearly, technically, and most importantly, explain as correctly as possible what, where and how to “twist”.

But! In any case, it is worth remembering that flaring is time. In order for an element to look smooth, cool and unforgettable, you will have to do it several hundred times, and this does not depend on the complexity of the element itself.

What to train with

Basic elements begin to be taught from equipment. Jigger , muddler , bar spoon - this is the basic set for your first achievements. You can twist them, make a “helicopter”, scroll them all over with your finger and carefully throw them to a small height. After mastering these devices and training fine motor skills, coordination of actions and neural connections, you can take on shakers and bottles.

All equipment with which bartendersIt’s better to take the one you don’t mind, believe me, while preparing for the article, we broke a couple of jiggers and bent the spoons. As for bottles, there are special training bottles made of durable plastic, but bartenders use only glass.

3 simple movements: spin, balance and grab behind your back

Scroll We take the bottle in our working hand (right-handers - in the right, left-handers - in the left). The neck is facing away from you, the thumb is parallel to the bottle. We twist the hand slightly towards ourselves and open the palm and move the hand away. By inertia, the bottle spins on the open palm. We repeat several dozen times until perfect and move on to the same element on the second hand.

Balance. This is how the element is called when a bottle (or, for example, a shaker) is placed on the back of the hand. You can simply place the bottle on your palm (necessarily the outer part) and try to hold it for a few seconds. We are sure that you will definitely succeed. We also start with the working hand, then move to the second.

Grab behind the back. You'll have to work hard here. The trick is to throw a bottle (or shaker ) behind your back and catch it with your other hand. We recommend using training bottles. So, the bottle is in the working hand, the thumb is along the bottle, the second hand is waiting for the bottle behind the back from below. The right hand slightly throws the bottle over the right shoulder and the body carefully turns to the left side, without interfering with the movement of the bottle, and the left hand grabs the device in the lower back.

Pouring from a bottle.

To practice pouring from a bottle, you can use regular water and a geyser stopper . The filling speed depends on the density of the drink. The density of water is the same as the density of alcohol, so for training and practicing various methods and techniques of pouring it is possible, and even necessary, to use ordinary water.

Juggling

The best way to start juggling is with balls. No balls? We run to the store for oranges, lemons or limes. Juggling is a skill and naturally can be developed. First two oranges, then three, then five, and then you can move on to training bottles or clubs. Why mace? Everything is easy! The shape of the bottle is similar to that of a mace. When juggling, both objects must make another revolution (or several revolutions) around their axis. It's complicated. But with diligence in training you can master it.

Flaring, like any other art form, has very multifaceted forms. The best flairists are not only hardworking and spend 6-8 hours a day in the training room, but they are also endlessly talented. When they picked up the equipment for the first time, they realized that this was their brainchild, it was their gift and almost super power.