The sixth annual SuperFlair flair bartending competition was held in Windsor Ontario, from May 22-24 2011. SuperFlair has been one of the biggest flair bartending competitions in Canada for many years, and this year was no exception. As part of the FBA Pro Tour, there was over $11,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs. With such a large prize pool, SuperFlair always attracts the best flair bartenders from around the world. Past winners have included world champions such as Danilo Oribe from Uruguay, and Christian and Rodrigo Delpech from Argentina.
Tag Archives: Cocktails
SuperFlair 2011
Ryan’s B1 Adventures..
Just an average Thursday for our buddy Ryan here at BartenderOne. Join him on his rounds at a Diageo event and later on at our Mojito Madness workshop.
Diageo Vlog from Ryan Desjardins on Vimeo.
The art of cocktail creation âthe Ipour experienceâ
As a follow up to my previous blog âSyrup & Spirit Sundaysâ I have decided to share my cocktail creation experiences with you. What follows is a step by step breakdown of how our cocktail was created and thought process behind our syrups, infusions, and ultimately the end product!
Coffee, Caffe, Café!
Coffee, Caffe, CafĂ©! It doesnât matter where you come from or how you say it: If there is one thing I canât go a morning with out this would be it. Itâs a good thing I live in the CafĂ© rich city of Toronto.
Flair Bartending; It was acceptable in the 80’s
After a very successful Toronto Flair League season premiere, the promoters decided that for TFL 8 it would be fitting to couple the event with an eighties party.
The idea was that all of the bartenders would create a routine choreographed to any song from the 1980âs. Also, the background music throughout the evening would be all 80âs, and all competitors, staff and guests were to dress in the fashion of the era.
Falernummmmmmm…
Falernum – really the name seems to just roll off the tongue right? Emphasis on the num part here or should we say the âyumâ part because here at BartenderOne there is nothing better than a bit of quality homemade Falernum in your Caribbean style cocktails.
The Power of a Good Team
Long before bartending even entered my mind the biggest thing in my life was organized sports, more specifically ice hockey. Being part of a competitive sports team taught me many life lessons that have helped shape my life and I often reference them in my day to day travels. Through the years my grandfather was always my biggest fan and one of the things he used encourage was offseason training to stay sharp and ahead of the curve. He used to always say âif you play with better players they will make you better without you even knowing itâ Every summer I would train and actively play in summer teams, but it wasnât until I started playing with players of a higher calibre that I truly evolved as a player. They indirectly pushed me to be better by holding me accountable for my mistakes and making me strive to be at their high level. How this pertains to bartending you ask?
BartenderOne in New York
Imagine walking into a phone booth, dialling a number, and being redirected back to a world of sipping cocktails next to Charlie Chaplin, Louis Armstrong, and Ella FitzgeraldâŠâŠ
On March 11th of this year, I traveled to New York to experience some of North Americaâs finest Speakeasies and Mixology bars. With only having one amazing speakeasy in Toronto, we were eager to head to the Big Apple and meet the bartenders that compete in Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.
Bar Chef Finals – Winter 2011
Have you wished you could jump behind a bar with hundreds of ingredients, tastes, and ideas and be able to create the cocktail of your dreams?
On April 4th, 2011 the BartenderOne Bar Chef Finals took place at Empire Lounge in Toronto in Yorkville. As students, the mixologists had completed tasting over five hundred different spirits, bitters, liqueurs, sweeteners, types of citrus, infused foams and spirits, along with homemade syrups.
As mixologists, the students were asked to create an original cocktail from each of the 5 spirit categories. The cocktails could have been made with anything that the mixologists could think of; but were required to hold dear the traditional balanced cocktail theory. While they did have guidelines for balance, there were none for flavour profiles or presentation. Mixologists could incorporate elements that were taught in class such as: infusion, fatwashing, bruleeing, molecular mixology, spherification, custom foams, misting and much more.
As the student mixologists watched tentatively, their cocktails were tasted by three of Toronto’s top mixologists; Rob Montgomery, Gavin MacMillan and Scott McMaster. The students were were delighted to see that their hard work and development had paid off. The judges were impressed by all of the thought and effort that was incorporated into the final cocktails. The mixologists showed that they weren’t scared to test some boundaries in coming up with their very own recipes, and here are the top cocktails entered:
VODKA COCKTAILS
STRAWBARB BULLETS – By Mixologist Krissy Calkins
2/3 oz Strawberry reduction (no sugar added)
1/3 oz Rhubarb reduction (no sugar added)
1 oz Vodka
Shaken on Ice
Strain into Chocolate Cups
Float – Vanilla bean infused simple syrup on top
Served on a bed of Gram Crackers
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Born to Mix!
I’ll confess. Tales of the Cocktail 2011 took its toll on me. While in New Orleans I missed my seminar on “Vinegar: The Other Acid” due to a self-induced illness from the previous evening. But when my seminar on “A History of Cocktail Glassware” was cancelled due to Angus Winchester’s legitimate illness, I was only disappointed until I heard the next piece of news. The ticket had become an all-powerful talisman that allowed me admission into ANY other seminar, including those previously sold out.
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