Flair Lesson #9: Arm Roll Down into Pour
I promise this is the last of the Change Grip Around the Head variations before we move on to some other flair moves.
Keys to getting this move down:
1) Use your thumb and middle finger to grab the opposite sides at the very top of the tin. You should be able to swing or “hinge” back and forth comfortably.
2) Learn to “hinge” the tin with one hand while you grip change the bottle around your head with the other hand simultaneously. Continue Reading » Flair Lesson #9: Arm Roll Down into Pour
Flair Lesson #8: Change Grip Arm Roll Down with Tin
Hey, whaddya know: another add-on to the Change Grip Around the Head? Crazy, I know. This move isn’t really more difficult than the previous sequence of moves, but I wanted to make a separate video for this move for two reasons:
1) It is our first flair move involving two objects!
2) This lesson is meant to illustrate the fact that even if the drink you are making doesn’t need to be shaken in a mixing tin, you can still use one while you are flairing. A ton of the flair bartending moves we’re going to be learning use 1 bottle and 1 mixing tin. I’d like to think I’m a pretty smart guy, but it wasn’t until I sat at my first flair bar – two years after starting to learn flair moves – that I watched the bartenders flip a bottle and tin, pour the liquor into the tin, and then pour the tin into the glass they served me. This was actually revelatory for me. I thought you only grabbed a tin if you needed to shake a martini. Maybe you’re smarter than me, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to point it out. (See the video 2:21 and 2:35 for what I’m talking about.)
Flair Lesson #4: Change Grip Around the Head
A bit of a twist on the previous change grip move, lesson four here can be a bit tricky at first but will become a piece of cake after a little practice. It’s also a great starting point for a ton of moves that we’ll be learning in the next few videos.
You can “cheat” a little when you practice the throw by placing your left hand just to the left of your head and using that to catch your throw. After you’ve gotten comfortable with the throw, try catching it with the same hand you used to throw the bottle. Be sure to move your hand above or around your head – don’t blind yourself with your arm and make this difficult to catch.
Get comfortable with this move – both hands! – because we are going to build upon it a lot in the upcoming videos.