Kamikaze. Cuba Libre. Long Island iced tea. Not only can Ken Hall mix any of these libations in less than 30 seconds, he can do it while juggling liquor bottles at the same time. It's called flair bartending, and thanks to a contest Hall dreamed up a decade ago that's now the largest of its kind in the world, it's fast becoming a semiprofessional sport. Picture Tom Cruise in Cocktail crossed with Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On.
This past March, a thousand people came to the Luxor in Las Vegas to watch Hall's Legends of Bartending competition, in which up to 70 challengers travel from places as far-flung as Singapore and South Africa to compete for thousands of dollars in prizes. When Hall (also the corporate flair trainer for Harrah's Entertainment) launched Legends back in 1999, anyone could enter. Today, it's gotten so big he's made it invitation-only, and he finds his contestants through other competitions and word of mouth.
Competitive Spirits
The three-day event starts with a meet-and-greet during registration and check-in, followed the next day by all-day qualifying matches, in which mixologists compete to demonstrate speed, accuracy, and flair. In the first round, bartenders have less than two minutes to make six drinks and open a beer; in the second, they mix 10 drinks but use water only, which is measured to make sure the number of ounces is correct.
The last roundflairis the showoff one: Contenders make drinks while tossing bottles and glasses in the air, in a routine self-choreographed to music. Whoever makes it to the top 10 faces off the following day in the finals rounds, and the one with the most points wins. Tickets, which cost $20 apiece, are sold only for the finals.
Hall doesn't make any travel arrangements for the contestants, so his biggest logistical challenges are first finding sponsors (SKYY Vodka is a longtime supporter) and then a venue. In eight years he's moved three times, and will do so again next year, as his current nightclub is closing. Not that he's concerned: "It's a complete package. I bring the event to [the venue] with my own staff"about 37 people, including judges, barbacks, promotion girls, a video crew, a DJ, an emcee, and merchandise people"so it's a pretty easy sell."
In the Mix
Like so many in the hospitality business, Hall got his start at the Magic Kingdom. As a bartender at Walt Disney World in the early 1990s, he entered a local flair contest called "Quest for the Best," and quickly climbed the ranks from competitor to organizer. Thanks to his "athletic background," he says, flair bartending came naturally to him.
That athleticism accounts for a surprising characteristic of flair bartenders: near teetotalism. "A lot of the people who compete don't even drink," says Hall. "They're like professional athletes, very dedicated to the sport. When I competed, I didn't drink a drop. Until it was over."