Episode
#64 Tom Dyer - Flair Bartending: History, Culture, Training, Competition, Legends of Flair
- Published
- Feb 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5280
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Summary
Tom Dyer is a flair bartender, founder of the World Flair Association, and a bartending educator. Tom rose through the ranks of the flair bartending in the early 2000s and over a fifteen year stretch he won 12 UK championship titles, 2 World Championship titles and over 80 international flair bartending competitions across the globe. Unlike many of his contemporaries Tom has remained one of the leading figures in the flair community to this day, so is uniquely positioned to comment on the history and current status of this often misunderstood side of bartending. Tom has recently co-written the Flair Bartending book, which chronicles in great detail the story of flair going back almost 400 years! On the episode we discuss the history of flair, from the early days of TGI Fridays, through to the movie Cocktail, and into flair competitions, the so-called 'golden age' of flair in the noughts, right up to present day stars of flair. We also touch on the evolution of flair, discussing craft flair, bar magic, and much more.This was such a fun conversation and Tom is genuinely the best ambassador for flair bartending that I can imagine. The Flair Bartending Book is available here *DISCOUNTS ON STUFF I LOVE* ☕ The best coffee liqueur from Algebra - use discount code CURIOUS15 for 15% off in their web shop . 🍷 Get 15% off the world's best drinking vessels at Denver & Liely using this link 00:00 Documenting the History of Flair Bartending 04:20 *What it Takes to Become a World Class Flair Bartender 07:10 How Flair Competitions Work - IBA, FBA, WFA - Competition Structure, What Its Like Competing in a Flair Final, How Competitions Have Evolved 15:35 The Flair Bartending Book 18:24 The Origins of Flair Bartending - Jan Steen, Jerry Thomas, Japanese Flair 20:47 John Mescal…