HAPPY NEW YEAR! This month we look back at 2009…

Updated: January 1, 2010

“When times are hard, you appreciate the little things…” Wow! Looking back at 2009 we saw many changes. Some good and some not so good. This past year has been a roller coaster with many ups and downs.

Starting off with the declining economy here in the United States. From that we saw less sponsorship and a huge decrease in Flair bartending competitions this past year. In 2009 we saw only six competitions on the FBA Pro Tour and eleven on the FBA Advanced Tour… in 2008 there were seventeen competitions combined between the FBA America and World Pro Tour and eleven on the FBA Advanced Tour. With less competitions this year, one might argue that the FBA Pro Tour was easier to win this year over last… whether that may be true or not, you still needed funds to travel to the events… and that this year was harder then last.

With the decrease in Flair events we saw more of a focus on Mixology in 2009. Competitors that might have had their time monopolized by practicing for Flair event after Flair event, now had more time on their hands and utilized it to become better overall bartenders and gain more knowledge about their craft.

With bad there is always good. “Less events bad, more time to learn good”. Flair bartenders were attending Mixology events and Mixologists were being more exposed to professional Flair bartending. Because of this, Some Flair bartenders are being treated with more respect from the Mixology community and more Flair bartenders are treating Mixologists with more respect as well. To paraphrase a good friend of mine… Tobin Ellis “At the end of the day we are all bartenders”. So in a sense, the declining economy helped open doors that might have taken longer to walk through then normal.

Overall, it has been a good year on many levels because of this. The FBA Pro Tour is scheduled again for 2010. Something we all need and need to support to help the continued growth of our sport. Absolut Vodka has stepped up as one of the Flair bartenders choice of vodkas. Absolut Vodka has also created a bartender reality contest on a major network with the biggest grand prize to date… $100,000.00! Finest Call Premium Cocktail Mixes are still the industry standard for bartender friendly great tasting quality mixes. Flairco is still the original and most reliable producers of practice Flair bottles and portable bars to date. Also expect to see good things in the future from both Finest Call Premium Cocktail Mixes and Flairco working more closely together in the future. BarProducts will be coming out with new tools and gadgets to make our jobs easier and more fun. Budweiser is taking an interest in supporting Flair bartending more. Flairbar.com is still your 1 monthly source for Flair bartending. With some nice surprises in store for 2010 which we will start to unveil very shortly The Flair Bartenders Hall of Fame is still a reality on the horizon. A Flair bartender reality show is looking like a strong possibility for 2010. Fingers crossed for Jim Allison and Ken Hall because it will change things forever in our industry. The demand for entertainment, knowledge and Flair bartending is a standard for our trade… and all of this is possible because of you. Without people like you with your continued support, passion and desire to want more and to help make the hospitality industry better… where would we be? So on behalf of Flairbar.com… THANK YOU AS ALWAYS FOR YOU CONTINUED SUPPORT AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE CHALLENGES AND OPPURTUNITIES THAT THE FUTURE HOLDS!

One way we are thanking you is by sharing with you our loyal readers the best of Flairbar.com 2009. On the cover we have a collage of the 2009 Flairbar.com cover stars and in this issue we picked the best submissions from 2009 and packed it into one memorable issue!

Speaking of memorable, Check out “Flair & Mixology Evolved & Intertwined!” featuring Brian Loukmas all on our ‘Interviews’ page from our September 2009 issue. Get to know more about Brian as he talks with us about being a Flair bartender, organizer and now corporate Mixologist.

One Flair bartender we are always excited to see is Tim “Flippy” Morris from Carnaval Court day shift. He is always a joy to watch behind the bar at work and behind the bar at competitions and now he teaches us a two tin and bottle Working Flair sequence. Nice! All on our ‘Masterclass’ page from our March 2009 issue.

BIG THANKS AGAIN to our friends at Finest Call, they single handedly brought back one our biggest and most prestigious Flair bartending competitions of the year from the ashes of despair, like a phoenix rising back up again… Legends XI was a reality. You can read the full story and more from James Sordahl all out on our ‘Comp Reviews’ page from our May 2009 issue. Expect to see big things in 2010 from this FBA Pro Tour event.

From one great event to another, next we move on to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail 2009. One week of education and partying with frequent contributors to Flairbar.com and many new friends… You can check it out on our ‘And Finally’ page from our September 2009 issue. So looking forward to 2010!

Then we continue the theme of Mixology with our Flairbar.com article “Applying the Art & Science of Molecular Mixology”. Learn these celebrated techniques and the practical application of them behind a busy bar. Check it out on our ‘Articles’ page from our March & May 2009 issue. What will you come up with?

To see more examples of Molecular Mixology head on over to our ‘Flavors’ page with Flairbar.com’s resident mixologist Laurent Greco from Bar Academy Paris. Where we gratify our senses on some “Molecular Morsels” on our ‘Flavors’ page rom our March 2009 issue. He is always so creative and imaginative.

Kevin Bednarz is back again with, “Flairmation” which we revisit “Last Call Larry” dealing with online bar relationships. All on our “Flairmation” page from our September 2009 issue. Yeah… how many times have we all seen that at our bar… Lol.

We are pleased to announce that the “Glossary” is back! It took some work but we blew off the dust and changed the batteries and it is up and running at full power. Be sure to keep an eye on it as we will continue to keep adding to this on going database of Flair bartending knowledge.

Anthony Alba is back ‘In The Mix’ as he shares with us “A Mayor, a Mixologist and a Martini…”. Good stuff and you have to love Las Vegas! Check it out on ‘In The Mix’ from our September 2009 issue.

Next we have a new ‘Reader Contest’ based all on your most creative and fun “Finest Call Stall” for all of our loyal Flairbar.com readers. Plus our regular features, more ‘Barware’, more pages, and more Flair than you can shake Barack Obama at.

So take some time out, reminisce 2009 and enjoy a cocktail with Absolut Vodka and Finest Call, or a Bud Light Lime as you enjoy this months issue of Flairbar.com and say “Thank You” to the sponsors who keep our sport alive.