Flair Bartending Trick 84: 1 Bottle, 1 Tin, 1 Hand
This week’s flair bartending trick is some pretty badass exhibition flair bartending – but if you’ve learned last week’s flair bartending trick, you should be able to learn this with some extra practice. The move is essentially taking the lesson we learned last week with 2 hands and combining it into 1 hand.
Tips for learning this flair bartending trick:
1) Start with a 750ml flair bottle nested in a 28 oz. cocktail tin and hold it in your dominant hand (I’m right-handed so I use my right.)
2) Practice getting a 1 1/2 rotation on the bottle as you toss it out of the tin. Use a flick of your wrist as you move your hand up to get the proper amount of both height and rotation on the bottle.
3) Use your left hand to grab the tin out of your right hand so you can catch the bottle with your right hand. You should be catching the bottle with the pour spout pointing toward your elbow.
4) Once you are comfortable with the bottle-out-of-the-tin throw, it’s time to learn the “tin toss” part of this flair bartending trick. This time when you release the bottle out of the tin, instead of grabbing it with your left (non-dominant) hand, practice throwing it up as high as you did the bottle. You can throw either a dead/flat toss, a single, or a double – whichever is easiest for you.
5) Once you are comfortable with both the bottle toss and the tin toss, it’s time to focus on the bottle over the shoulder throw. Make sure you are already comfortable with the Double Over the Shoulder and the Double Over the Shoulder into Tin – if you need to, go back and review those lessons.
6) BE CAREFUL! When people learn this move they have a tendency to feel very hurried and rushed; while they are focused on the bottle/tin in front of them, they lose focus on the bottle over the shoulder throw and end up launching the bottle 20 feet behind them. This will likely happen to you so make sure you are safely using practice Flair bottles and that there is nothing behind you that will break.
Flair Bartending Lesson #51: Same Hand Shadow Pass
This move – an advanced version of the Shadow Pass – is one of those moves that just feels awesome when you land it. Get comfortable with the Shadow Pass, practice the technique here, and you’ll have this move in no time.
Things to keep in mind:
1) Watch your throw, not your catching hand.
2) Turn your torso and pivot your right knee in and towards the ground. Continue Reading » Flair Bartending Lesson #51: Same Hand Shadow Pass
Flair Lesson #14: Same Hand Flat Behind Back
This is a great basic working flair move that I really dig because when you land it, it just feels good. If you haven’t already gotten comfortable with the Flat Behind the Back, go back and make sure you can do that move. This one is only slightly more difficult but the catch is the same – so if you’ve got that catch down already, then you’re halfway there. Key points to land the Same Hand Flat Behind the Back:
1) Grab the bottle by the body (not the neck or the shoulders.)
2) Hold the bottle at a 45 degree angle up and away from you (away to the side, not pointing forward.) The biggest tip to getting this move down is to keep the bottle at this angle the whole time it’s in the air. You want a perfectly static bottle toss – no change in the x, y, or z axis. This way the bottle will be at the same position or angle for the catch.
3) The throw is really a matter of hinging your elbow. Continue Reading » Flair Lesson #14: Same Hand Flat Behind Back