I've been working this line for almost 10 years now.. when i was young my mom was working in a bar on the other side of the island, from there at the age of 12 i started out carrying plates working for free just to help out my mom, I was exposed to the night life entertainment when i was very young but never had an interest in it until the age of 16... Let's get straight to the point, Knowledge vs Experience? who will succeed in this line? I saw both but people with experience should have a slighter advantage right..? I see people graduating from F&B school, Bartending schools, and the moment they graduate they got a job on an instance.. i mean this clubs in Singapore are willing to hire's freshie's than people who are darn more experience than them... I mean what happen to the old school, We still need those experience people around, those who can handle pressure when pressure hits them and still able to work, trust me it's not an easy job working under pressure. When thousands of people starts hitting you on an instant the chaos is unbelievable. Order's after orders, and it get's worse behind the bar. You do the math ya the equation between E to the power of K and equals to? Knowledge isn't everything without Experience and vise verse...
I love flaring, and i'm very passionate about it. Flaring in a bar makes your life so much more entertaining and challenging and of course more stylish... When you start flaring in the bar it also helps you with your confident, trust me you will be more confident behind the bar. Think of flair bartending like stunt driving. Most stunt drivers, when on the road with the rest of us fobs, drive much more safely than we do. Their experience and knowledge often make them the safest people on the road, and they will usually take the least risks. Most responsible flair bartenders will not use much (if any) flair behind the bar of an establishment where the manager doesn't want it. So you shouldn't worry that simply being a flair bartender will prevent you from getting a job.
As to the risks/danger, most flair bars (all that I've seen) have thick industrial-grade rubber mats on the floor that are almost certainly going to save a bottle if it falls. Obviously a flying bottle can still strike other bottles or the bar, but the floor is usually the most common breaking point for a dropped bottle.
Most of what you've seen in video or on TV is called Exhibition Flair; but if you've watched much Working Flair, you might notice that most of the tricks don't involve throwing the bottle at all, or the throws are far smaller and more in control. If the bottle isn't leaving your hand as part of a throw, then it's probably not going to break (unless you swing your arm around without paying attention and bash the bottle on a wall...or coworker)
There's also a lot of stuff you can do that is very much flair bartending that doesn't involve bottles. Shaker Tins, plastic cups, ice, garnishes, napkins, and bottle blades (a type of beer bottle opener) are all tools for potential flair that stand no chance of breaking and almost little chance of damaging the bar or a customer unless one of these items goes careening off into the crowd.
You shouldn't try a trick behind the bar that you can't hit 99 out of 100 times outside the bar. That's sort of a flair bartending motto...Besides being dangerous, it's embarrassing to screw up serious flair tricks in front of customers. Practice should be practice and done outside the bar, and only tricks you've practiced exhaustively should be in the bar.
My personal exception to this rule are the zero risk tricks, which can essentially never lead to damage, noise, or a mess. The zero risk stuff often includes thin plastic cups, ice, garnishes, and napkins. I actually like to see flair bartenders practice this stuff in the bar and I've made a lot of tips because of practicing these tricks behind the bar. The reason I believe this type is ok, comes from where most people can recognize you're playing around and practicing, so it's more fun without creating any risk.
The advice, if you haven't been reading between the lines, is to practice some fun and simple stuff first. The first flair tool I started using behind the bar was a bottle blade whenever beers were ordered, which is rarely going to damage a bottle, but can be quick and flashy for the customer. Also outside of the bar, pick up a bottle with some water in it and a plastic pour spout, now focus on doing tricks with a shaker tin (the non-breakable item) and learn to do different types of pours and cuts in different positions. Oh, and focus on Working Flair since it's usually safer and faster, which will make your customers happy to get their drinks in 20 seconds instead of 60 :) And again, practice it all at home before you bring it into the bar.
My Bottle's and shaker!!(Love my black shaker you can't get it here in sg)
Sorry Readers took me so long to update, Its been one hell of a busy week, Apologise again
