Do You Have Flair? Bottle Twirling Competitions

'Flairing' is a hands-on sport in which juggling, flinging, twirling, spinning and tossing liquor bottles at mind boggling speeds that leave the customer wondering when in all of that did the twirler slash bartender actually fix the drink.

Tom Cruise played a self taught flair artist in the hit movie Cocktail where he dazzled patrons with poems and bottle twirling antics. There has been a recent surge in flairing since the release of Country Music Television's reality series 'Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search."

Bartenders are now contending with not only other bartenders but also with those skilled in the art of flairing. Bar owners have reported sales go on the rise anytime a flairing bartender is working, and it helps if she's young, cute and sexy or young, hot and studly.

Bottle twirling became such a phenomenon that competitions began springing up and rewarding bartenders for their hard work with prizes. Someone with really good flair could go far with endorsement deals and other goodies offered to contest winners.

Two of the largest flair competitions in the nation are Las Vegas's Legends of Bartending World Bartender Championships and Florida's Quest for The Best Summit. Although both of these are the largest competitions, that's the only thing they have in common. These competitions feature different styles of flairing and their contests couldn't be more different.

Flair comes in two styles; working flair and exhibit flair. In Las Vegas, the flairing capital of the world, it's all about working flair. The rules are very strict and penalties can be given for the smallest infraction. In Florida, showmanship is the name of the game where competitors twirl for effect.

Flair competitions can have a prize winning purse of $20,000 or more. The leading organization for flairing is the Flair Bartenders Association with over 10 thousand members in over 100 countries. That's a lot of bottle throwing bartenders looking to cash in.

For as many big flairing competitions there are, there are just as many small local competitions. Prizes range from a small pot of cash to tangible goods.

Fifty Five's in London has a Back to The Future flairing competition in which competitors are given one bottle, one tine and are expected to mix one drink fast and dazzling enough to blow your socks off.

The Wild Wild West Flair competition is held in Carson City, Nevada. Competition rounds include one working flair technique and one exhibit flair technique. Contestants must be able to quickly perform both.

If you're interested in learning to flair, there are about a gazillion book and video tapes you can purchase on the internet. Aside from videos all you really need are some good unbreakable bottles. Believe it or not they aren't very hard to find and from the looks of it, are much better than having broken glass all over your house while you practice.