MIXOLOGY MATTERS!
Summer Flair 4 in Review
by Mike Mclean & Xavier Alcaraz
FROM A SPONSOR & JUDGES PERSPECTIVE:
The fourth annual Summer Flair Bartender Competition was held once again in beautiful Palm Beach Gardens, Florida from September 20th to 22nd. Hosted by Flairbar.com's own Rob Husted at Club Safari, this competition was a Level 2 event on the 2009 FBA Pro Tour, as well as being part of the 2009 FBA Advanced Tour.
After a short but productive competition meeting, during which the competitors and judges were treated to dinner, the party moved into Club Safari for the Absolut Top Bartender “On the Rocks” kick off party. In addition to everything that normally goes on in this crazy nightclub, some of the top bartenders in the business were behind the wood to craft some creative cocktails. My favorite was the traditional Moscow Mule, courtesy of Mr. Anthony Alba himself.
Monday featured the qualifying rounds for both the Advanced and Pro Divisions, with a FAST Tender Accuracy round and of course a Flair round. The top five from both divisions qualified for the finals the following night.
On Monday night, the competitors and competition staff were whisked away by limo to the Absolut Finest Call spirited dinner. Hosted at Noche Restaurant, this dinner showcased multiple courses of food paired with cocktails made by Rob Husted and Cesar Romero. The combinations presented were certainly an interesting mix unlike anything I’ve tasted before.
As part of a new focus at this event, the "Mixology Matters Cocktail Conference" was held Tuesday afternoon and featured many different industry companies including Finest Call, Absolut Vodka, Diageo, Budweiser, Marriot Palm Beach Gardens, BarProducts, Flairco, the FBA, the United States Bartenders Guild, Liquidty Global, 360 Vodka, Dos Lunas Tequila, Cholive, Dukes Vodka, Life Vitamin Water, Wild 95.5 FM, Flairbar.com and BarWars LLC. In addition to the standard exhibitor booths, there were interactive seminars all day long featuring some of the biggest names in the business. The seminars were "Creating that Extriodinary Moment" by Dean Serneels of Flairco, "Contemporary Cocktails" Sponsored by Diageo by John Lermayer, "Molecular Mixology" by Anthony Alba of Liquidty Global, "Master Accrediation Testing" from Anothy Alba and the USBG, "Quality Cocktails" from Jim Barnett & Doug Clark of Finest Call, "FBA Certified Judging" by Mike McLean of the FBA and finishing with an "Absolut Toast" sponsored by Absolut Vodka. Congrats to Anothy Alba from Liquidty Global for winning an award for best seminar during the "Mixology Matters Cocktail Conference" for his "Molecular Mixology" seminar.
The "Flairbar.com Show" with Ben Rose was filming live during the event as well as the infamous Head to Head Flair Trick competition was also held at this event, with the top pair moving on to the finals later that night in Club Safari.
The final round was held on Tuesday night in front of a large audience. In the Advanced Division, current FBA Advanced Tour leader Eric Parker was able to edge out his co-worker Gustavo “King of Advanced Qualifying” Hernandez after Gustavo incurred a few too many penalties. In third place was Chad Tocco, with Ryan Sturing in fourth and Jeff Fralich in fifth. Eric Parker also won the final round of the Head to Head Flair Trick Contest.
The Pro Division once again had the sort of incredible shows that make FBA Pro Tour competitions the best on the planet. Large sums of cash and bragging rights were on the line this night and it showed. Coming out on top for a second year in a row was Dario Doimo, beating out Rodrigo Delpech in second place. Rodrigo Cao was very strong in third, with Eduardo Gomez in fourth and Cesar Romero in fifth place.
The final part of this event was held on Wednesday morning, with a bus sponsored by Absolut Vodka picking up many of the competitors for a ride down to Miami for the local auditions for this year’s “On the Rocks” competition, sponsored by Absolut Vodka. Moving on from these auditions was none other than Cesar Romero who ended up finishing in third place on the reality show!
Many thanks to the competition sponsors, including Absolut Vodka, Finest
Call, Budweiser, TY-KU, BarProducts, Marriot Palm Beach Gardens, Spill Stop, Club Safari, Rock & Record, Flairbar.com and Flairco.com. Also, a big shout out to all of the competition staff, including Amanda Ashcraft, Kara Ashcraft, Angela Fortin, Dean Serneels, Janelle Smithers, Jeff Smith, Amanda Bethea, Joey Lenz, the judges... Mike McLean, Justin Ripp, John Buckley, Aj Gruening, Christian Delpech, Mark Schultz, Deshon Allen, Graham Kimura, Brian Loukmas, Cheryl Rudewick, The MC Ben Rose, the DJ Ron Frank, and the barbacks who did an amazing job... Josh Gates, Jeff Gaither, Scott St. Hilaire, Charles Brown, Josh Antonelli and Wayne Ball.
FROM A COMPETITOR'S PERSPECTIVE:
Summer Flair 4 was an amazing time this year again, Rob Husted always seems to bring the right sponsors, judges, and competitors to make a great event. With arriving to West Palm on Monday afternoon because of my work schedule, Jeff "Flip" Fralich and and I walked into Club Safari with maybe an hour to get ready to compete with the Fast Tender Accuracy Pour Test. Monday was qualifying for the finals night on Tuesday to be in the spot light and put your best show on in-front of the crowd at Club Safari.
The first part of the competition was the Fast Tender Pour Test. Which I love this task at every event, it shows how efficient at pouring a bartender really is. This needs to be practiced quite some time before any event over and over and the competitors definitely do that. It was amazing on how many people were "ON" a majority of their amounts on this day. I’m sure Eric Parker can give everyone some tips in the FBA Advanced division.
Next on deck was the Flair portion, yet again everyone has some creative and sick moves. To me, you can only get better with learning and asking about new moves and practice over and over before a competition. Judges can't give you any points if you don't land anything or know what you’re doing. Next time I will be prepared.....
Each time I have done any competition there is always something you learn from someone and I would say Eric Parker, Rodrigo Cao and Dario Doimo taught me a lot at this competition this year. All I know was Eric Parker was the man at the Fast Tender Pour Test. He definitely knew how to be prepared for this competition. Which these events are all about... preparation and having fun. I mean thats why we all started doing this was because we loved doing this and having fun.
Tuesday was the day I was looking forward to with the "Mixology Matters Cocktail Conference" and The Finals. Graham Kimora was at the 360 Vodka booth and he made quite an interesting drink (Wasabi Martini), but very refreshing. He had some very creative ideas and etc, but he is Graham so he is the man, you can only expect the best from this great guy and alot to learn from as well.
Then Dean Serneels from Flairco gave a conference which covered alot of things to make more money from all perspectives of the business. Number one was how to make an extraordinary experience for your guest every time. I wish that Dean could have taught all day on this, for only bartending for two years, there were things as a bartender that I would never ever think about doing or remembering. It seems like this conference is necessary for any bartender starting off so you can build your knowledge with things behind the bar because everyone you meet will show you something different and possible... somethings you never thought of before.
We sat in on a Contemporary Cocktails Mixology seminar from Diageo taught by John Lermayer to try out Miami’s hottest drinks from the "Florida Room", The cocktails and procedures were amazing and a nice surprise. There was so much knowledge and information at the "Mixology Matters Cocktail Conference", it was something you could use every day behind your bar and in your cocktails that your guests would love.
Well, the Summer Flair 4 finals were somewhere in this night and I mean what can you say about these guys, they just leave you speechless and like... "How do they do that", how does one put on a show that great with moves, style, personality, etc. Even after going to various competitions the number one answer is PRACTICE.
Cheers!
