Students had to learn how to toss, flip and balance a bottle in one hand (be it wooden, fiber glass or a real one) and practice doing it while holding a metal shaker tin on the other (also tossing, flipping and balancing it btw). All for a decent grade during the Mixology preliminaries or finals.
Other schools also have their own bartending courses with flairtending mixed in (get it?) but here at the oldest University in Asia, there are some things that I experienced as a novice flairtender that will forever remain etched in my college life.
~Lover's Lane was the place to be.~
- It wasn't just known to be the place of most cheesiness in UST, it was also the home to aspiring flairtenders alike.
Back when I was still studying (SY2009), every morning, lunch break, dead time, and even Saturdays (At 1:00 PM) you could see kids throwing their bottles in the air, some are juggling shakers and some are even taking videos (for their video project in Bartending). It was such a fun sight to see, though the school maintenance will think otherwise. Some would also venture on to the main field when there is no space in the said lane.
~You know when it's raining, just follow the sound of tins bouncing.~
- There are some days that you just feel like tossing the old bottle around and yet the weather does not agree with you. So where to go? The nearest shelter where people don't mind the damaged floor from all the bottle bouncing.
The carpark has heard (or felt) its share of noise from all the missed moves of the flairtender. Even chasing after flying bottles in fear of hitting a car.
As I have mentioned earlier, Saturdays were the norm when practicing your flair routine, but during the trip going to UST, you come across some rain and doubt if there are still some people going. But you still end up going anyways (since you really wanted to nail that move.)
Arriving in UST, some doubt already hits you since it is raining and there are no flying bottles in sight. But before you attempt to leave, you decide to rely on your sense of hearing in hope to hear a shaker make a loud CLANG. And you finally hear something, albeit faint but it's still a shaker and follow the sound. And voila, the people are hanging out inside the carpark and everything in the world is all right again.
~It doesn't stop at Lover's Lane or Carpark~
- For die-hard flairtenders, nothing stops you from perfecting that so-called move. So you end up in the classroom, even before the professor steps in. Your classmates studying may get annoyed but you still keep on stalling that Flairco Bottle.
~Your bag will always be full of shakers and bottles~
- People around you, especially on the commute will always be wondering what that clinking sound inside your bag makes. And also why it looks like it weighs a lot.
Ah, the everyday struggle of a student flairtender. You will always the ignore the weight as long as you can get to school without anything breaking. (be it the bottle or your back.)
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| Arrrribaaaaa! |
~It can be a friendly yet competitive pastime.~
- Let's face it, you learn most of your moves by watching others and copying them and try to create a new twist to it. And you often battle it out with fellow flairtenders for them to see your "New move" and they copy it as well.
It's just a game of give and take with others fashioning a move that is completely their own. (ehem, Electric Fan)
~ If you're caught flairtending in the building, prepare your ID.~
- When CTHM was still residing in the Albertus Magnus Building, some flairtenders would often practice their craft in the lobby, classroom even by the cafeteria area where it was spacious. But due to some other classes being disrupted by the noise, the SWDB (headed by the most recognizable authority figure then) decided to confiscate the ID's of those who were making such a ruckus with their tins and bots. You had to be a badass to practice while inside the building. (Or someone who already had their ID taken)
~Flower Pot conundrum~
- Some would attest to this as one of the most annoying problem while flair bartending in grasslands.
Have you ever dropped your bot head first in some soil, only to pick it up with a piece of dirt and some grass along the mouth of the bottle? So you whip it like a b*tch just to get rid of it? Damn.
~All in all, it's a great way to pass the time and learn something.~
- I's a fun way to meet new friends and also a huge learning experience. You learn something, you also get to teach it. And people tend to pay it forward and teach what you taught them. Also with laughs along the way as you hilariously fail at catching that bottle mid-air.
These are just some of the wonderful things that I've experienced whilst being an aspiring flairtender in the University of Santo Tomas. I would not mind adding some more from other's experiences as it would really help us get back some nostalgia (and some bruises and cuts)
How about you? What was flairtending like in your youth?
