Bartender HQ Podcast : Bar Culture, Cocktails and Flair Bartending for Everyone.

BartenderHQ is delighted to announce the Central Flair Series!

Central Flair Series

The Central Flair Series is a monthly event that BartenderHQ is producing in association with the West Midlands Flair Club and Reflex Arcadian in Birmingham.

Running on the first Monday of each month starting from Monday 1st of February 2016 the CFS will be a little different from other flair competitions, aiming to be as welcoming as possible for new and experienced bartenders to attend and compete together as easily as possible. We’ll be including a Midlands Flair Bartender league running throughout the year, a novice subcategory to give new bartenders a chance to be a winner and an open competition for anyone to enter, all in the same competition format.

For full details, check out our event page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/545705988922369/

You can also check out the Central Flair Series homepage for all the rules and schedules.

Changes at Roadhouse World Flair

Roadhouse in Covent Garden, London, easily the biggest flair competition in the UK has some big changes coming to the Roadhouse World Flair competition in 2016, with the WFA (World Flair Association) taking over the day to day running of the competition.

We’ll be keeping a close eye out for any rules changes that come from this but it can only be a good thing. The World Flair Association has been very active in helping to promote smaller flair competitions and pushing to educate bartenders with their coloured tin certification levels.

BartenderHQ and the CFS will do everything we can to support the goals of the WFA and encourage bartenders to compete at Roadhouse too, and we’re hoping to be down at several Roadhouse events in 2016!

Here’s Tom Dyer’s legendary farewell routine from the Roadhouse World Flair Final 2015, the Bottle and Tin is King routine that had everyone talking at the end of November this year!

January – Dryathlons and filling your time

Of course coming through December, we’re getting to the end of the busy period of the year and coming into the quietest month of the year.

If you’re looking for something to fill your time –

* Pick a spirit that you neglect and research the drinks you can make with it for your guests.

* Spend some time memorising new drinks (shameless plug) http://bartenderhq.com/memorising-cocktails-the-easy-way/

* Get your cocktail gear ready for 2016 behind the bar and in competitions http://bartenderhq.com/barproducts (and you’ll be supporting the show without paying a penny more!)

* Learn a new skill – Try flair for the first time, try molecular mixology or buy a smoking gun!

Non drinkers – have a great alcohol free menu for January!

 

We’re late but we’re back with a new look podcast!

First off this week was a trip to Birmingham’s new speakeasy, Suds & Duds, hidden away behind a Launderette frontage off the main drag of Broad Street.

Suds & Duds head bartender Sam Boulton welcomed me to the bar and shared a couple of his new recipes, the Netflix & Chill and the Oreo Espresso Martini.

Netflix & Chill is a Sailor Jerry’s base with Frangelico, Butter popcorn syrup and lemon juice, while the Oreo Espresso Martini mixes Kraken Spiced rum with Kahlua, Oreo cookie syrup and a espresso coffee. Check out the BartenderHQ take on a Rum Espresso Martini here.

The Suds & Duds bar has a great look and will quickly become a go to place for anyone in the city after a great drink!

Suds & Duds,

Gas Street

Birmingham

0121 6324936

Star Wars New Years Eve

Head down to Reflex in Birmingham’s Chinese Quarter this New Years Eve to join the Star Wars Celebration as 2016 Awakens! David from BartenderHQ will be behind the wood mixing our Force Awakens cocktails all night long.

 

Its that time of year and as we all know bartenders are a pain to buy for! So, save the effort and check out our gift suggestions below – this is your one stop shop for your bartender Christmas shopping!

Cool Bartender Shirts

Ok, we’re biased, but we love these shirts! Look out for new designs coming early in the new year but for now there are 4 designs to choose from: Bottle & Tin, Flair, Old Fashioned and Daiquiri. Take your pick and show your passion!

There’s a variety of styles so you can choose your favourite on a hoodie, a variety of T-shirt options, long sleeves, and we’ve not forgotten the ladies – these are available for everyone!

So head over to the store, check out the options and place your order. Feel happy that you’re helping keep BartenderHQ’s podcast and website running. Servers cost money you know!

BartenderHQ.com/Store

Homemade Gift Guide from A Bar Above

Chris and Julia from A Bar Above put out a great podcast a couple of weeks ago about how you can create your own personalised gifts for your friends and family. Whether you want to create bitters, tinctures, infusions or anything else, their guide is a great place to start. If you’ve not heard it already, check out our podcast with Chris and Julia, from way back at the start of the show!

Homemade Christmas Gifts from A Bar Above

For everything bar related…

We’ve partnered with BarProducts, the world leader in bartender equipment so you can get absolutely anything you need.

Whether you need a sleeve of shaker tins for your year’s flair competitions (BarProducts offer these with a guaranteed 93mm diameter so you know your tins will match and you won’t suffer from sticky tin), custom Flairco Practice bottles with your own design or even just some pour spouts, BarProducts is your one stop shop, and you can help support BartenderHQ by buying through our links.

Our Amazon Gift Guide

Don’t forget last year we put together a bar gift guide, with some great options. If you’re buying from the UK store we’ll get a little kick back from your purchase, but you’ll be able to find the items on Amazon worldwide.

http://bartenderhq.com/bartender-gift-guide/

On this week’s video podcast we’re talking about working at trade shows and using your bartending skills to sell bottles by retail to the public.

Winter BBC Good Food Show Birmingham with Minus 33

Thursday and Friday BartenderHQ was working alongside Loca Bev‘s Minus 33 Juniper Distilled Spirit, and in the show we talk about why that doesn’t mean that Minus 33 is Gin, but something different, something better. Minus 33 is the Gin that is better than Gin.

We’ll talk about using your bartending skills and prowess to support new spirit brands and how to have a mutually beneficial relationship, making your guests and others in the industry aware of the new products while associating yourself with the brand.

So if you’re looking for a spirit to mix in gin cocktails, Minus 33 may be the spirit for you!

Flair Bartending Course

There is more information too on how to save on our flair course which will be released in the coming weeks – so sign up here for your 50% launch week discount and get yourself a free cocktail ebook while you’re waiting!

Want the BartenderHQ Podcast as soon as its released each week? Subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher Smart Radio.

Join The Flair Project at http://TheFlairProject.com

The Podcast is Back!

Sorry to everyone for the break – We’ve been arranging our wedding and with the new job everything has got a little crazy!

On this week’s podcast I’m talking about my work bartending in Dubai 5 years ago, stories about living in the Middle East and slinging cocktails. There are plenty more stories to tell so if you like this show, let me know and we’ll talk more about it!

In 2010 I was recruited to work in Dubai at One & Only The Palm on the Palm Jumeirah as a senior bartender training new staff and flipping bottles in one of the most amazing places on earth. We even had Cocktail star Tom Cruise filming Mission Impossible 4 next door!

The Flair Course – Coming Soon!

We’re also talking about our soon to be released first Flair Bartending Course – a homage to Tom Cruise himself as we’ll be teaching how to perform the Hippy Hippy Shake routine from the movie! If you want to be the first to know when the course is released just sign up for our mailing list as there will be an exclusive discount for our subscribers too valid for the launch week!

Click this link to sign up: http://bartenderhq.com/sign-up/

 

On this weeks’ podcast:

Gold of Mauritius Rum Mixology Competition

As you’ll have seen on the website over the past weeks (and with more to come) I’m sharing the creations from the Gold of Mauritius competition held over the past few weeks across the UK and culminating in the final at Rumfest in London last week. There are some amazing creative recipes so keep your eyes peeled, and if you’ve not tried Gold of Mauritius or it’s sister product Mauritius Club yet, I highly recommend both!

Halloween Cocktail Menus – The Right Way

Not got your menu in place yet for this week’s halloween festivities? we’ll give you the run down on how to give your cocktail menu a halloween make over with very little effort – find our full guide to the smart way to create themed cocktail menus here.

Newsjacking to Promote Your Bar.

This week saw Back to the Future Day breaking Facebook – EVERYONE was talking about it, os of course working in an 80s bar we really took advantage of it and made the most of it to get attention on social media. We talk a little about how you can harness trending topics to get more traffic to your social accounts and therefore more bodies through the door. For more details on bar, restaurant and nightclub marketing take a look at our interview with Louie La Vella from a few weeks back here.

Want the BartenderHQ Podcast as soon as its released each week? Subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher Smart Radio

On this week’s show we’re answering questions left on our voicemail service by Dean Patel.

I’m hanging out in the garden and we’re talking about the Fridays Recipe Manual and if you can get your hands on one, along with the alternatives.

Get my practice sheet with the perfect layout for writing out and learning cocktails here:

Dean has some great ideas about flair practice for flair bartenders which we discuss at length too.

We talk about the TIPS certification in the US, its relevance to the UK and the closest equivalents, and how to protect your flair routines and moves.

Support the show by downloading a FREE audio book at Audible:

Audible is the perfect way to consume books if you don’t have time to read or you don’t have the mindset to just sit down with a book. I recommend the Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart and BartenderHQ readers and listeners can get a free audiobook with a 30 day free membership by clicking the link below:

http://bartenderhq.com/audible

On this week’s podcast we’re going deep on old school vs new school flair competition and where the personality has gone.

Back in my day…

When I first started flair bartending the competitions to win were Legends of Bartending and Quest, both in the US and both incorporating showmanship and technical skills as well as the exhibition flair which is still ubiquitous today.

Bartenders were forced to actually know the skills needed behind the bar and not just the working and exhibition flair moves in isolation from the real world of working bartenders.

Vanilla Flair?

Today the flair competitions in general have becomes so specialised that competitors don’t really need to have ever stepped behind a bar to be a winner at these competitions – the skills needed can be practiced in isolation from the actual discipline of bartending, and even those who do still work behind the mahogany have to focus so hard on the incredibly technical moves that many of them will never have tried bar bets, magic tricks and the like with their guests.

If you don’t do it behind the bar…

…is it still flair bartending, or does it just become bottle flipping. Surely the bartending part of it is derived from tending to the guests at a bar, not just a default name because your particular juggling act is performed with bottles and shaker tins.

Basically, for me, if you don’t do it for your paying guests at the bar, you’re wasting your time learning this and calling it bartending.

Maybe I’m completely wrong, and if I am, you need to tell me about it! Let me know in the comments.

On this week’s show:

The No Podcast Podcast

Its been a crazy week so the podcast I had planned I’m putting off till next week as its a great topic and needs the time it deserves… More on that later!

Everyone Loves Craft Flair Bartending

Last week’s podcast on Craft Flair Bartending went viral and got shared all over the place, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out now! We take a look at a move that Ryan Clayton (who competed at Masters of Flair) created at the Pie & Ale in Manchester. Its great that people are already using the term Craft Flair Bartending now, as I think I actually created the term on last week’s show. Let me know if you’ve heard it elsewhere before that as I don’t mind being corrected!

The Confused Vodka that thinks it’s Bourbon Whiskey

Absolut have released a vodka which is rested in oak barrels, Oak by Absolut. With a flavour similar to a Bourbon, it’s a really interesting that this is something Absolut are trying out. We’ve not tried it yet, but I’m looking forward to giving it a go!

The Joys of Small Bartending Teams

Just a quick reminder that when you work as a part of a small team, it makes a huge impact when you have anyone call in sick for work! With a team of 6 due to work at the club last night, having a bartender and bar back not able to get in and no cover available makes a huge impact, that’s ⅓ of the team missing on a Saturday night. Of course, sometimes its unavoidable, but it does make life harder for those who do make it in to work (who by the way did a stellar job!).

Next week – Personality in Flair Competitions

We’ll be talking about the old school competitions where bartenders wore crazy outfits and used confetti cannon, while today its more about technical and precise moves. Is it more entertaining for our customers now or are we tailoring our routines to showcase skill in a way that can only really be appreciated by other bartenders? Let me know your thoughts.

Want the BartenderHQ Podcast as soon as its released each week? Subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher Smart Radio.

Join The Flair Project at http://TheFlairProject.com

On this weeks show we’re looking at how the art of flair bartending is making a huge comeback behind premium bars and how you can be at the forefront of this trend.

Over the past few years, while flair has still flourished in the competition scene with the moves getting consistently harder and more technical, seeing real world working flair to a good standard in the wild seems to have declined. Of course there are some brands, most notably in the UK TGI Friday’s which have always promoted the skill of their bartenders, and as I see it helped to retain their skilled bartenders with their excellent Bartender Challenge which has gone from strength to strength over the years.

TGI Friday’s Bartender Challenge 2015

The UK final of the Bartender challenge in fact took place this week in Liverpool, with Russell Ward taking the top spot once again and securing a place at the World Championships in the USA later in the year. All the best to Russell with his training and we’ll try to get him on the show soon, we tried last year too but couldn’t work out the dates.

BartenderHQ Podcast is One Year Old

On that subject, the BartenderHQ Podcast is now just over a full year old! We launched the podcast as audio only back on September 10th 2014 and I think we’ve only missed one or two weeks since then. Of course over the year while I’ve been learning more about the tech side of things we’ve added the video recordings to YouTube, we’ve had a few interviews (which I must say are my favourite episodes) with the guys from A Bar Above’s Mixology Talk podcast, Brian from the Bartender Journey podcast, Roadhouse World Flair Champion Tom Dyer, Russell Davis from the Bar Rescue TV show with Jon Taffer and Louie La Vella the Nightlife Marketing expert.

Its been an awesome year and we’ll be doing even more great stuff in the coming years – coming up soon I have guests scheduled from one iconic brand in the spirits space, another from a brand new spirit brand where we’ll talk about how he created his own spirit from scratch and much more.

The Flair Project

We also launched the Flair Project a couple of months ago, our crowdsourcing project to create a flair routine from moves submitted by bartenders all over the world. I entered the first competition of the project a few weeks back, the Masters of Flair and took the honour of Best of the Midlands, so look out for The Flair Project kicking into high gear next month as my change in job lets me spend far more time on both BartenderHQ and The Flair Project.

I’m still looking for more submissions, so if you want to help out and be a part of The Flair Project, shoot your video, don’t worry about the quality, smartphone footage is absolutely fine, just please make sure its landscape! Then drop me an email with a link on [email protected] and you’ll be a part of it!

The Rise of Craft Flair Bartending

There have been videos going pretty viral on Facebook of a guy by the name of Evgeniy Shashin who has an amazing style with his flair, in a style that I’m calling “Craft Flair Bartending”. Its really paired back and has all the huge showy moves taken out in preference of small, incredibly precise jigger bumps, spoon flourishes, nesting of shaker and cheater tins and super accurate pours.

In a second video, you’ll see him performing 8 short and sweet moves with pairs of shakers and cheater tins, each unique and almost impossible to follow. Its a kind of stealth flair that if you were in the bar relaxing and talking to ...