FLAIR & FUN UNDER THE FLORIDA SUN...
Bartenders Bash Series Recap

by Rob Husted

All together…Say it with me… Bartenders Bash 2008! What a crazy two months it has been! First off the long time tradition of bartenders from across the nation all heading down to Holiday Isle, in the Florida Keys to partake in tons of drinking, a Flair bartending competition, more drinking, a bikini contest, even more drinking, product awareness and promotions, yet still more drinking with random hookups and debauchery that is Bartenders Bash continues!

You have either been there or heard the stories… and as you might realize after reading this that this event is not to be missed! It starts every year in May the day after Mother’s Day in Holiday Isle in the Florida Keys. It is a celebration of the “End of Season” for us in Florida and grew to an all out industry party that brings bartenders from all across the nation to gather and share in the festivities. We started off driving down Sunday night (Mother’s Day… Yeah my Mom hates me every year) and got to Holiday Isle around 5pm. We unpacked the car and already the cell phone was blowing up with Flair bartenders from all over the nation arriving and ready to party. We unloaded the cases of SKYY Vodka, Finest Call Premium Mixes and 1800 100% Tequila for the competition the next day and headed down to the world famous “Tiki Bar”. For those of you that don’t know… this is where the “Rum Runner” was credited to be invented.

As soon as we walked into the bar, shots were waiting… next we all hopped in the “Rock & Record” Limo Party Bus and headed to “Hogs Heaven” for even more drinks and hardly edible food. Big thanks to Ernie and “Rock & Record” for supplying the Limo Party Bus allowing us to party and ensuring no one was driving under the influence. Once we got back to the “Tiki Bar” we met up with even more people, more stories and even more shots. There was a rumor in the air that this year was going to be one of the best “Bartenders Bash” in a long time…  and we were already off to a great start.

The next morning we woke up and set up for the 1st part of the “Bartenders Bash Series” Flair bartending competition. One of the big hits of the event was our SKYY Citrus Lemonades and our Finest Call Prickly Pear 1800 Margaritas… (at the 2nd part of our Bartenders Bash Series in Fort Lauderdale we had people coming up to us and begging us for the drinks we were serving down at Holiday Isle… You will read more about that later). Once the Hospitality tents closed and now that the crowd was in the right frame of mind… the Flair competition was under way. MC JD Spradlin who is the MC for most of the Major Flair bartending competitions, who Dj’s on Sirius Radio for Margaritaville and long time supporter of “Bartender Bash” got the crowd in a frenzy along with DJ Will and the competing Flair bartenders who came from all the way from Florida to Las Vegas. Also another one of our sponsors “Inkcorect.com” with their customized flat speed bottle openers and T-Shirts were a huge hit satisfying the needs of the hungry crowd of bartenders along with our “SKYY Vodka Spill-Stop Challenge” that challenged the crowd to find the quickest and most accurate bartender for cash and prizes.

This year’s crowd was amazing! They knew what Flair bartending was and came out in full force to support their favorites. In the end 1st place honors two years in a row went to Rodrigo Delpech from Florida, 2nd place to Mauro Garrido from Florida, 3rd place to James Hadhazy from Las Vegas, “Best Rookie” to Travis McCoy from Las Vegas and “Best 1800 Promo” to Tony Close from Florida. It was a great showing by all of the Flair bartenders and the DVD will be an exciting demonstration of Flair and partying not to be missed! Keep checking www.barwars.info to get your copy.

The next day we all started out at the Hospitality tents where many of the liquor companies were sampling new and old products to promote and educate the bartenders and masses on their products and recipes. Afterwards we all headed back to the Flairbar.comroom to watch the Bikini contest away from the hundreds of people in the crowd below. Well needless to say with free booze, “Dj Wizard” pumping the music and tons of party people in the room… we eventually got shut down (long story). Big Thanks to Eileen for her help and intervention.

So we all headed downstairs to the pool… where we continued with the drinking and enjoyed great conversation and scenery while relaxing in the water where we all came to the same realization… This was the best “Bartenders Bash” in six years! We were all happy to be a part of it. Big Thanks to Eileen McGuire, JD Spradlin, Bill Long, Holiday Isle, Josh Gates, T Caplan, DJ Will, Mobile Mike, all the judges and staff, the sponsors SKYY Vodka, Finest Call, Midori, X-Rated, 1800, Rock & Record, Ink Correct, Holiday Isle, Spill-Stop, Flairbar.com and BarWars LLC.

Here we go again… Bahia Cabana in Fort Lauderdale, Florida continued their tradition and celebration of “End of Season” in Florida as they have done the last five years every June with drinking, ITB Hall of Fame, more drinking, frozen T-Shirt contests, even more drinking, bikini contests, more drinking, free food buffets, product awareness, live bands, Flair bartending and a new addition the “Rooftop Rave”…

It started off Sunday June 1st with the annual ITB Hall of Fame Awards, where local In-the-Biz alumni were recognized for their contribution to the hospitality industry during their lifetime. We enjoyed the free food buffet and good company with T Caplan and many friends as this was a relaxing start to a crazy weekend (that’s a hospitality weekend Sun-Tues for those of you that don’t know).

Monday morning came way too early as we were setting up our BarWars LLC booth featuring SKYY Vodka, Finest Call, Midori, X-Ratedand 1800 100% Tequila. Rock & Record was there as the official event video team along with Ernie and the same party bus from the Florida Keys while Dj Wizard was pumping the party music throughout the resort. As the sun came out around noon so did the hundreds of local In-the-Biz party people ready to enjoy all the event had to offer along with free drinks, eductaion and good times. Just as we had done in the Florida Keys for the first part of the “Bartenders Bash Series” a month earlier, we were serving our SKYY Citrus Lemonades and our Finest Call Prickly Pear 1800 Margaritas that many still remembered and couldn’t get enough of. Big Thanks to Rey for running the“SKYY Vodka Spill-Stop Challenge”, Adrian & Matty from Barmaniacs, our friends from Inkcorrect and MC Ben Rose which all complemented the party atmosphere at our BarWars LLC booth this year. We had a lot of fun and were one of the busiest booths again at the event the whole weekend.

After 3pm the hospitality booths shut down and it was time for the Frozen T-shirt contest and the first Bikini Contest. We had great seats up front as we got to judge the fine women of the Bikini Contest (Big Thanks to Vanessa and Jenn for keeping us company and helping us with our scores). Next we all showered up, jumped in the Rock & Record Limo Party Bus while Ernie from North County Transportation (800-741-LIMO) drove our motley crew of Flair bartenders, staff and sponsors to Blue Martini in Fort Lauderdale where the GM Garret Hagen was more then hospital with reserving us the whole VIP section and one hell of a night to remember (Wow we took some great pictures that night)… Thank You!

The next morning came way too early again as we set up the BarWars LLC booth and prepared for the second wave of local bartenders, waitresses, servers, managers, owners and strippers that came along with Day 2 of the “End of Season” party at Bahia Cabana. Again at 3pm the hospitality booths shut down and the events were under way. We started off with the Mystery Bikini Contest, which I like to call the Home Made Bikini Contest, which consisted of strategically placed pieces of fabric and lots of body painting. Then we had the Belly Flop Contest were the person with the biggest splash won some cash. Next was the main event… The Flair bartending contest and the second part of the “Bartenders Bash Series”.

In front of a hospitality packed resort MC Ben Rose complemented the performing Flair bartenders who put on an incredible display of Exhibition Flair while promoting the sponsors of the competition featuring tricks and choreographed routines with SKYY Vodka, Finest Call, Midori, X-Rated, 1800 100% Tequila bottle and Spill-Stoppour spouts. Rock & Record had every angle covered with their 4 video cameras set up to capture the fun, energy and importance of the event. In the end coming in 1st place was Mauro Garrido, 2nd Place was Nicolas Antivero, 3rd Place was Marco Gamboa and “Best Rookie” went to Drew Bryant. Barbacking the competition was Wayne Ball and Rey Vigil. The overall points champion of the “Bartenders Bash Series” was Mauro Garrido, 2nd was Rodrigo Delpech and 3rd was a tie between Cesar Romero and Chad Tocco. Congrats to everybody that participated in this 2 month 2 venue event.

After the Flair bartending competition we had our first “Rooftop Rave” where we had Stefano Ravasini from Shore Club in Miami, Dj Ismaell from Hotel Rock Lobby in West Palm Beach, Dj Wizard from Cocoon Nightclub in West Palm Beach and Christopher James again from Hotel Rock Lobby in West Palm Beach spinning the best in Top 40 and House Music all night long while everyone enjoyed an open bar compliments of SKYY Vodk & Finest Call. It was good times with good friends…

This had to be one of the best and biggest “End of Season” parties at Bahia Cabana and everyone is already talking about next year. We were all happy to be a part of it. Big Thanks to Richie, Ben Rose, Bill Long, Bahia Cabana, Wayne Ball Rey Vigil, T Caplan, DJ Wizard, Adrian & Matty, Amanda Ashcraft, Vanessa Soto, Garret Hagen, Ernie, In-the-Biz Magazine, all the judges and staff, the sponsors SKYY Vodka, Finest Call, Midori, X-Rated, 1800, Rock & Record, Ink Correct, Bahia Cabana, Spill-Stop, Flairbar.com and BarWars LLC, and the bartenders from all over who showed up ready to party and caused no drama or incidents… THANK YOU and see you next year back at Holiday Isle in May 2009 and at Bahia Cabana in June 2009!

That was a brief recap of the BarWars LLC “Bartenders Bash Series” to experience more of the event be sure to pick up your copy of the DVD available soon at www.barwars.info. Oh yeah… let the good times roll again and again!

 

To Flair & Friends,

-ROB HUSTED-