She plays with fire and juggles with bottles
The art of juggling objects against gravity is what stirred Ami Shroff’s interest towards flair bartending. During her undergraduate years, she first developed an inclination towards performing arts with objects through Karate Nunchaku (sticks) and later, during her graduation years, while working as a hostess at an event to earn extra pocket money, she met a bartender who was flair bartending which Shroff found fascinating. “I asked him if I could assist him behind the bar and showed the moves I had picked up from a movie where Tom Cruise had indulged in the act. This was back in 2003 when there were only a few women bartenders but none of them was into into flair bartending,” shares Shroff.
She started her journey by assisting flair bartenders which paved the way for her to become the first woman flair bartender in the country. Till now, Shroff has performed at over 20 destinations across the world.
But back in early 2000s, it wasn’t easy for Shroff to make a place for herself and get successful in a male-dominated domain. But with supportive parents and friends around, she proved that a profession has no gender. “In 2009, there were a handful of women who visited bars and my parents were forever concerned about my safety. Initially, I hid the fact that I was working behind the bar but once they saw me live in action, they supported me because they realised I was good at what I was doing,” she says, adding, “But my dad would keep a check on who I was working for and sometimes did background check to ensure I was safe. He has played a major role in looking after me and making me comfortable to start my journey.”
Shroff believes one should be given the freedom to experiment in life. “It can either turn into a career or it can be a fun learning experience. Freedom opens up opportunities for individuals,” she feels.
Getting inspired from Nature, music and arts, Shroff gets hooked on to trying new things and challenging herself to inculcate it into her profession. Looking up to Nicholas St John and Alexander Stefano, she says, “Watching John’s flare style and Stefano creating new things every other day as also other flair bartenders is what ignites my creativity.”
Talking about what she loves the most about her job, Shroff says, “Being in control behind the bar and my space where I’m the person in charge. That barrier is what the bar is known for. It’s a barrier between me and the rest.” She also points out other things like meeting people, playing with ingredients and flavours, experimenting, creativity, performance.
Attention is what Shroff enjoys the most about being a fair bartender, a mixologist and a performing artiste. “When I’m visiting new places as a freelancer, the bar is different every time and that is one of the most exciting parts of this field,” she puts in.
WALKING IN AMI SHROFF’S SHOES
Shroff lists out the three qualities to hone the art of flair bartending: balance, multitasking and experimenting. “Understanding balance is most important because you are balancing multiple objects and are in a performance yourself. Balance in mixology is extremely important. It is also about balance of flavours and ingredients and finding the right proportions,” she explains.
The next key quality of a flair bartender is multitasking. “It improves your hand-eye coordination, dexterity, being alert, being out there, being in the moment and being in the now. That is something which I think flair bartenders need to inculcate and develop,” says Shroff.
The third quality is creativity or ways to experiment and try something new. “The key agenda should be to visually impress guests and audiences. Even if you are making a simple pour, add a little trick to make your work more fun as well,” she puts in.
For aspiring bartenders and mixologists, she says that there are bartending schools across India where one can pursue a course to to become a mixologist or a bartender. There are courses specialising in wines or spirits or beer and brewing. One can analyse what their calling is and go with the flow, she advises. But Shroff learned it the hard way, before work, after work and during work while on the job behind the bar but for young aspirants she says, “The simplest approach is to learn it from a school and then master the art on the job because there’s so much to learn practically on the job and from the internet. There’s so much creativity out there on the internet and it’s best to observe something you like and then try it out yourself.”
IF NOT A FLAIR BARTENDER…
As a curious child, Shroff had many other things she aspired to be in her early ages that she thinks can still be accomplished. “There was a phase when I was interested in mountaineering and trekking. I wanted to surf, skateboard and highline. I still want to do those things. Maybe I would be a person building tree houses and mud homes. I want to incorporate these little things in my life even while I’m a flair bartending,” says Shroff.
THE FUTURE
In the coming years, Shroff sees herself alive, happy, healthy, exploring new places and practicing in a more sustainable way. “If I do have a cafe or bar space, I will make it as sustainable as possible. It will be a zero waste bar and that’s a concept I’m working on. I hope to get more refined in it in the next five years,” she concludes.
