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Lesson 94: Arm Roll Down to Double Across Body (with Pour/Cut)

Wow, that is a mouthful of a name for this move. If you’ve been following along with the lessons so far, we are synthesizing a few previous moves and adding one new one to create a nice little mini-routine. Make sure you know the Arm Roll Down and the Pour Cut already.

To put this sequence together, the new move we are learning involves throwing the bottle in a double spin across your body and catching the bottle right side up. The slightly tricky part is that the grip we are doing it with is the grip you have on the bottle/tin at the end of the Arm Roll Down. Practice just this double throw a bunch of times, then see if you can put the whole routine together.

Also, as with all moves – especially exhibition flair moves – be sure to learn the move with an empty bottle or a FlairCo bottle. Once you are comfortable with the move, then add a few ounces of water and practice it again until you can do it without spilling.

Get on it, cuz we’re going to add a new ending on to this to make another routine very soon.

 

Flairtending Lesson #74: Bottle Tin Over Shoulder Full Routine

This week’s flairtending move is another addition to the sequence we’ve been working on the past couple weeks. All we are doing is adding on a behind the back tin toss. Make sure you are good with the previous weeks’ flairtending moves.

It may take a little bit of practice to get the timing down; the rhythm is a bit funky since the tin takes more time to travel behind your back than it does to come under your leg. Be sure to let the tin roll off your fingers nice and evenly.

Finish this sequence by catching the bottle in the tin. This is a great flairtending sequence on its own and also works nicely as the start or finish of a much larger set of moves.

Have fun with this one and practice, practice!

Flair Lesson #32: Figure 8 Pour

I like this move because you’re not actually throwing anything so there’s less concern about dropping. It’s really more of a hand maneuver. It’s also functional – you’re pouring the drink while flairing. There’s also some really nice finishes that we can add to the Figure 8 Pour that we’ll go into later.

1) Start with the bottle in your right hand, gripping it as though you’ve just pulled it out of the rail. Hold the tin in your left hand at the top of the tin with your middle finger and thumb opposite each other. The tin should be loose and able to hinge or swing back and forth.

2) Focusing on just the bottle, give it a slight toss – just enough to change your grip up to the neck of the bottle, palm down.

3) In your left hand, give a little momentum to swing the tin over with your palm face up. The mouth of the tin should be face up.

4) Practice steps #2 and #3 independently. Once you feel comfortable, try doing them at the same time. You should Continue Reading » Flair Lesson #32: Figure 8 Pour

Flair Lesson #31: Combo #3

At first glance this is by far the most complex, longest, flashiest flair move we’ve learned so far. But if you’ve been practicing the earlier moves and being ambidextrous, it will be amazingly easy.

All we are doing here is putting together three moves we’ve already learned. Start with the Double Flat Back to Front. That should build a little momentum to bring you into the Circle Swipe Thru. Finish with the Change Grip into Arm Roll Down, or any other of the Change Grip finishes we annoyingly had to learn in the first half dozen videos.

That’s it. Not a lot of technical advice to give in this clip. Instead, I want to take a moment to congratulate you – if you’ve been patient, practicing, and slowly building to get here – because here is where your hard work will really start to pay off. And here’s where it gets fun. Up to now, we’ve been learning all these small little one-or-two motion moves. Now is when I start to show you how to synthesize those moves together into more entertaining routines. I also encourage you to start combining moves on your own, start putting them together in ways that make sense to you, ways that feel fluid or natural. You’ve got the tools, it’s time to start making your own not-quite-mini routines.

Flair Lesson #15: First Combo

Our first combo! When you are a first starting out as a flair bartender you learn a bunch of short simple moves to entertain your friends and guests. Nothing feels better than combining them into a mini-routine. This is a very short combo: we’re putting together the Same Hand Flat Behind the Back with the Flat From Behind the Back. If you’ve got those moves down, this combo should be a piece of cake. Tips to getting the transition between them:

1) Use the momentum of the catch behind your back to bring the bottle around in a big circular motion in front of your face.

2) While the bottle is passing in front of your face, grab the neck of the bottle with your right hand and release your left hand, continuing with the momentum of the bottle to lead you right into the Flat From Behind the Back. When you grab the bottle, it may help to point your index finger toward the bottom of the bottle as part of your preparation for the Flat From Behind the Back.

3) Practice this move at home with a “live” bottle. Get used to how the bottle feels with a little weight (water) inside it and be sure you can transition smooth enough to not spill anything, even when the bottle is upside down.