Most of the top bartenders and mixologists agree on one when it comes to Cocktail & Food Pairing – It’s one of those things that when people see it, then they believe.

Creating a cocktail pairing is no different than deciding on what wine to serve with a dish and the best bartenders in the business have no problem with it.

The reason that wine goes so well with dinner is because it has so many different flavors. When pairing wine with food you take into account the flavor profiles and varietals.

When pairing cocktails with food, the easiest to begin with is thinking about what wine you would serve with the dish. You can then deconstruct those flavor profiles and build them back into a cocktail.

In many ways, matching cocktails with food is easier than choosing a beer or wine pairing since the mixologist can create a drink to specifically pair with a certain food.

“Unlike wine, you can change or tweak the flavor of a cocktail to suit a dish. With a wine, you’re stuck,” says John Kinder, mixologist and national brand ambassador for Mystique Brands.

We encourage you to try different combinations at home and just have fun with it, you might discover a completly new passion…

The Bartending News Flash Team

Spirit forward cocktails

Spirit forward means a resurgence of cocktails like the Manhattan, Gin Martini or the Negroni, that are based solely on spirits, liqueurs or aperitifs, without the addition of juices and sodas. This means that you taste the quality of the spirit without adding a fruity mixer that masks the taste of the spirit.

Cocktail glassware shrinks

In the ‘90s glassware got much bigger. Now it’s getting smaller. Cocktail glasses have shrunk to their original proportions; 5 oz. instead of the staggering 12 oz. martini glasses that we were using. It’s time to archive those fishbowls and start serving cocktails in appropriately sized glassware.

Bitters are the new sweet

We have long enjoyed commercial bitters, but the ones I’m talking about are added by the drop, and are often compared to seasoning food with salt and pepper. We’ll be seeing more of bitters, from the iconic Angostura bitters, to newcomers to the Canadian marketplace like Fee Brothers, Bittermans, and the Bitter Truth.

Local Wine, Spirits, & Beer

Just as our friends in the food world continue to devour all-things-local, so  too those in the beverage world. Expect to see more locally made small batch  spirits, microbrewed beers, and wines from different regions.

With that in mind go ahead, explore and enjoy the world of cocktails in 2012!

The Bartending News Flash Team

Independent Flair League Grand Final – Poland’s unique league competition for Flair Bartenders under the patronage of: Captain Morgan, Smirnoff, Schweppes, Red Bull, Finest Call and Carlsberg. The competition is a part of Grand Slam of the World Flair Association – the biggest global cycle of bartending events.

On December 3, in a 1500m2 CLUB (Solec 18 Street) in Warsaw, we had the opportunity to admire the world’s best Flair bartenders. In the Open category we saw the winners of particular qualifying rounds, competitors with the best scores as well as international stars of world bartending. Among them there were competitors representing the UK, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain, Argentina, the USA and Poland. In the morning qualifying rounds there were 40 competitors including the top-rated Grand Slam bartenders, winners and laureates of the world’s biggest bartending events, such as: Tom Dyer, Rodrigo Delpech, Tomek Małek, Marek Posłuszny, Bruno Vanzan, Gianluigi Bosco, Danny Bakiev, Alex Searle and others. The best ten of them were promoted to the evening final.

The main task for the bartenders in the evening was to prepare two cocktails within 7 minutes (Moscow Mule with Smirnoff Vodka and Schweppes Ginger Ale and their own composition with the obligatory use of Captain Morgan and Schweppes), as well as to make an interesting presentation of Carlsberg beer and Red Bull.

The competitors were assessed by an international jury: Michał Kośnik from Evolutionbar (Poland), Cezary Broda from Carlsberg (Poland), Marcin Osypiński from Flair Academy (Poland) the WFA will be represented by Tug van den Bergh (Republic of South Africa) and Andy Collinson (UK). All cocktails were tasted by special guests from the show-business.

As always the IFL Grand Final is one of the most anticipated competitions on the Grand Slam due to it’s high level of flair and great production value that is put on by the IFL Team. This competition has never disappointed and I am sure that the 2011 edition will most definitely outdo the previous year’s – Tug van den Bergh, WFA Co-Owner, before the competition.

The IFL Grand Final is last competition on the WFA Grand Slam calendar and brings in the best flair bartenders from all over the world. The levels of productions executed on this event are second to none and goes to creating one of the best atmospheres seen at an international flair competition. Now into its 5th year it looks like the competition is going from strength to strength with the bartenders pulling out their brand new routines just for this final. If you are anywhere near Warsaw on the 3rd December then I suggest you make your way to the IFL Grand Final as it will be a night you surely do not want to miss. – Andy Collinson, WFA Co-Owner before the competition

The judges assesed the contenders in the scope of style, difficulty of evolutions, smoothness of tricks, showmanship, rhythm and composure. Penalty points were given for dropping, splitting and glass-breaking. Bonus points were given for a showy serve of Carlsberg beer and Schweppes. The winner of IFL Grand Final was awarded EUR 3 000, bonuses will be awarded to all first six positions. The prize for the best Polish contender is a contract during Euro 2012 awarded by Carlsberg Polska.

The event was hosted by Przemysław JahJah Frankowski from the Antyradio station and Tyson Davies, MC Roadhouse World Flair. Music will be provided by DJ Alexx Vargazzz.

The producer and organiser of the Independent Flair League is Entertainment Group – agency specialised in organising special events.

And here you you have the results of the Grand Final 2011:

1. Tom Dyer

2. Rodrigo Delpech

3. Marek Posluszny

4. Tomek Malek

5. Gianluigi Bosco

6. Marcin Cebula

7. Alex Searle

8. Alvaro Pagnanelli

9. Maciej Chojara

10. Danny Bakiev

11. Sabina Posch

Congratulations to the finalists and all the people who worked very hard to produce the competition and the finals!

See you next near…

Outside View...

The Stage

After the eliminations on Saturday 26.11.2011 the Final’s startup was looking extremely exciting! A Huge Crowd gathered in Roadhouse on Sunday the 27.11.2011, just minutes after 16h00. The competition took off at 17h00. Top 25 bartenders in the world competed for glory and 10.000£ in cash for the lucky winner. The finals of Roadhouse are the one of the most exciting competitions to see in Europe for many reasons; one of them is that right from the beginning it surprises, leaving you screaming for more…
The level of Flair was absolutely indescribable!!!

The TOP25 qualified for the Finals:

Running Order

The Top 10 after Saturday’s Working Flair Eliminations were:

10th – David ‘Ginge’ Reynolds
9th – Antonio Mantelli
8th – Sylvain Glatiny
7th – Clinton Weir
6th – Luca Valentin
5th – Tom Dyer
4th – Danilo Oribe
3rd – Tomek Malek
2nd – Juan Pablo Santiago
1st – Marek Posluszny

And here is what everyone was waiting for…

The FINAL Standings:

1. Tomek Malek
2. Tom Dyer
3. Marek Posluszny
4. Danilo Oribe
5. Juan Pablo Santiago
6. Luca Valentine
7. Ginge
8. Antonio Mantelli
9. Alex Searle
10. Sylvain Glatigny
11. Clinton Wier
12. Ivars Rutkofskis
13. Bruno Vanzan
14. Gianluigi Bosco
15. Jesper Callisen
16. Marcin Cebula
17. Marco Strombulini
18. Eric Parker
19. Vahe Manoukian
20. Alexey Balashov
21. Pedro Garzy
22. Matt Flint
23. Sima
24. Roman Zapata
25. Manuel Wieser

Congratulations to all of the finalists, especially Tomek Malek which defended his title again and is the 1st bartender in history to win 3 consecutive Roadhouse Flair World Finals!

See you next year at the Roadhouse World Flair Finals…

Here you have some of the insider’s pictures of the finals…

The Crowd

Judges 1

Judges 2

Judges 3

Judges 4

Judges 5

Tom Dyer's Dad

Alex Searle

Luca Valentin

Danilo Oribe

Bottle Check

Christian Delpech - Extra Contest Judge

...

3rd - Marek Posluszny

2nd - Tom Dyer

1st - Tomek Malek

Flair Factory

Stay tuned for electrifying interviews with the best flair bartenders, mixologists and people devoted to flair and bartending worldwide.

Tell us what would you like to read about, who would you like us to interview and which questions and problems can we help you with. Leave us a comment down below!

Bartending News Flash – not only for Bartenders…