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Flair Lesson #28: Tony Cogburn 360

In the flair world, you’ll discover there are some moves that are really difficult to learn but are totally worth it because of how impressive they are. However, sometimes moves that are really difficult to learn don’t even look that cool. And then there are moves like this, which are  easy to learn and have a huge payoff. These are the good ones. Checkout the Multi-Pour and the Jager Bomb Domino for two other low-difficulty/high-payoff moves.

The Tony Cogburn 360 is a total crowd pleaser. It’s functional – you’re pouring the drink as you flair – it’s flashy, it’s fun, and it’s really simple to get the basics. The heart of the move is really nothing more than holding a tin near a bottle while you spin like a pretty little ballerina. I’ve added a “lead-in” to the move, but anytime you find yourself with the bottle upside down into the tin you can jump ahead to step 7 and do the Tony Cogburn 360. The move is named to give credit to the first person I ever saw perform this move and, I believe, its creator: Tony Cogburn, an awesome flair bartender from the U.S.

For the lead-in:

1) With the bottle in your right hand and the tin in your left, you change the grip on the bottle just like we did in the Circle Swipe Thru.

2) Continue the “rocket ship” of the bottle in a circle past your head in bring the nose of the bottle into the tin.

3) While you use your right hand’s pinkie and ring finger to clasp the tin to the bottle, release your other hand from the tin.

4) Let the momentum of that Circle Swipe Thru continue with the tin capped onto the bottle and complete the bottom of the big circle you are creating in front of you (think of the first part as the yin and this bottom half as the yang.)

5) Instead of stopping this momentum by your side like we did in the Circle Swipe Thru, use it to lift and toss the bottle/tin together across your body.

6) You may have to play with the catch a little bit to see what works for you. After I toss the bottle/tin, I like to turn my right-hand wrist palm up and grab the body of the bottle. At the same time, I use my left hand palm down to catch the tin, holding it slightly apart from the bottle. Keep in mind: this is when the bottle will start pouring so get to the 360 quickly.

For the 360:

7) Pick up your foot, open your ankle to the right, and take a small step as you lean that direction, starting your spin.

8 ) At the same time, begin to pull the bottle away from the tin, keeping the pour spout down. Let the bottom of the bottle lead the way through your spin.

9) The further the bottle is from the tin, the longer the stream will be between the two and the move will look more impressive. Play with how fast or slow you spin and how far apart you can get the bottle and tin.

10) Keep in mind your pour count and portion control. Don’t just dump a bunch of booze in the tin. Keep your pour count going in your head while you’re spinning. I find, generally, that 1 full rotation tends to be about 1 ounce of liquid.

11) Practice this one at home with a live bottle a bunch before you perform this at work. Once you understand the mechanics, this is a pretty easy and really flashy move. Don’t be the guy (or girl) who does this at work and sprays everyone around them with whisky.

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