92 MILLION TO KILL A DREAM… Bartenders Bash 2006 Recap!!!

WOW!!! As usual this years Bartenders Bash was a blast. With the thoughts of this being the last one in the back of everybody’s mind. We were not going to go out without a fight. A fight our livers and inhibitions lost and our friends and pouring bartenders won.

It all started Sunday evening. Evening because no decent bartender gets up before noon. I picked up my friend Brian Loukmas from the West Palm Beach airport around 2:00 p.m. Then we preceded to pick up a cutely dressed hitchhiker and headed down to what we all knew was going to be a trip to remember.

We checked in some time around 6:00 p.m. and once we unloaded the cases of liquor from the car we preceded to drink. Frozen Key Lime Coladas was the first batch followed with a Corona chaser. As we were hanging our Flairbar.com banners from our balcony, I heard the famous… “Hey, Heeeyyyyy!!!” A Flair bartenders calling card. It was Rick Barcode, Bartenders Bash Bartenders Skills champion 1999 and 2001 but more importantly my friend and business partner. I headed up to his room which once we got there looked awfully familiar. It was the usual Jagermeister room. So if he was in this room, Where was the Jager and Skyy vodka room? Those questions quickly left me mind as we cracked open two more ice cold Coronas and stepped out on the balcony and took in the fresh clean ocean air.

Next it was time to hit the infamous Tiki Bar… and the Tiki Bar hit back. Once inside we met up with old and new friends alike and the shots were flowing, God I love Grand Marnier. Shortly after that I left the bar quite unexpectedly, but that’s a different story…

The next morning and a new day. Today was the day of the “Bartenders Skills” competition. The very event that started my passion of Flair bartending. An event I still have yet to finish 1st place in. A couple of 2nd and 3rd place finishes were nice but something about 1st place has eluded me. With this possibly being the last Bartenders Bash the only thing standing between me and that 1st place trophy was nineteen other Flair bartenders all with the same goal. With competitors from Miami to Las Vegas this year was going to be tough. After the last bottle fell and the judges tallied up their votes it was Nicolas Antivero from Tampa in 1st then myself Rob Husted from West Palm Beach in 2nd followed by James Hadhazy from Las Vegas in 3rd. My hopes of that 1st place trophy were gone and quickly replaced with half naked women walking around. Not a bad trade off…

After out Traditional sunset dinner at Lora Lei we headed over to “Woody’s”. The beat place in the keys to get a drink, see strippers, get your oil changed, eat a sub and hear Big Dick and the Extenders: a damn funny Indian telling jokes that would make even a sailor blush. After some local talent it was back to the Tiki Bar. This time the Tiki Bar hit back even harder. Thank God for hangover pills…

The next morning was dedicated to the Bikini contest and the Sand Bar. After hitting the Hospitality tents and checking out a cool motocross jump session by Red Bull, it was then nearing time for the infamous Bikini contest. Well the Bar Gods must have been weeping for the last Bartenders Bash because it started to rain pretty hard after that. So what else was there to do but drink? Most of the competitors from the Bartenders Skills competition from the previous day all made their way to the Flairbar.com room. The party started off with a massive toast of Tequila Rose to Christian Delpech (arguably the number 1 Flair bartender in the world), followed by many more shots, drunken Flair, frozen drinks, beer and what is now know as the Bartenders Bash Triathlon 2006.

It started off between local West Palm Beach bartender Mike Hammer and Las Vegas bartender Mana Manasas trying to impress one another. Mana was opening a can of beer with his mouth that made him look like a human can opener. A great trick you can learn on our Masterclass in this edition of Flairbar.com. Mike was impressed he wanted to do this as well. Once he figured out the basis of it he challenged Mana to a race to see who could open a beer faster using only their mouth. Needless to say Mana went three for three against Mike in this round. Mike was frustrated at this point, So the next challenge was issued… “I bet I can chug a half full bottle of Cuervo before you” said Mike to Mana. Now Mike had experience at this category earlier in the day at the Cuervo tent where we found him afterwards doing “mud angles” in the rain below our balcony. Since we didn’t have two bottles of Cuervo, Mana agreed to chug a warm half-full bottle of Southern Comfort at the same time Mike would chug a warm half-full bottle of Cuervo and who ever finished first was the winner. The race was on and it was close but at the end of all the chanting and cheering it was again Mana on top.

From the look on Mike and Mana’s faces, that rush of warm liquor was not setting well in their stomachs. So the third challenge was issued… “I bet I could throw up before you”… Oh yeah you guessed it. They both ran to the bathroom with cameras rolling and preceded to have a puke fest in our bathroom puking and urinating all over each other. It was getting so messy in there that they couldn’t stand up because they kept slipping all over the wet tile. This challenge ended in a draw with both of them in the shower while it was running. The champion of the Bartenders Bash Triathlon 2006 was Mana Manasas.

How can you top that… with a run for a FBA award! A conversation broke out about last years FBA Naked Schultz award winner. Some thought it was fair and others thought “It’s called naked Schultz for a reason… you have to get naked”! Most of us thought last year was going to be the first this award was going to be won twice by the same person, for a hotel window show he pulled down in Nations, but I guess we were wrong? Next the people in our room started chantting “Naked Schultz… Naked Schultz…”. Mark Schultz being in the room decided to pass on this tradition to someone else. Who would step up… who would dare to bare for Flair? A voice shouted out “Give me a trophy and I will do it”. So within seconds an average papare plate was turned into a unofficial FBA number 1 Naked Shultz Award. Next thing we know James Hadhazy was wearing only the trophy in a room full of screaming inebriated bartenders…

As I stepped out on the balcony to enjoy the fresh clean ocean air, my senses were awakened with something different, a sense of brotherhood and bonding with my fellow bartenders.

Bartenders Bash will truly be missed by many but the traditions and memories live on. According to our sources the resort was sold for 92 million and they start making headway after September. Many bartenders have evolved to Flair bartenders because of this event with dreams of something greater. I know my life was changed forever because of this event and many countless others as well. 92 million to kill a dream… is it worth it? We all have our opinions but whether it be in the Keys, Fort Myers or Fort Lauderdale… Bartenders Bash will still come together to celebrate the end of season and throw all inhibitions to the wind.