Technical Flair:
Difficulty,technical execution of moves
This category judges the technical portion of the bartender’s flair. Rather than individual scores for each technical flair category, the bartender’s score will be a summation of each category. Technical flair is defined as the difficulty of the bartender’s flair, and the actual technical execution of the moves the bartender performs.
Difficulty – The degree of difficulty that the bartender’s routine contains as a whole. Only moves that are successful will be taken into account when determining the bartender’s difficulty score. If a bartender attempts a trick and does not hit it, and does not go back and attempt it again, the trick will not count towards the bartender’s difficulty. Difficulty can come in several forms. It could be the level of difficulty in one individual move. It could be the combination of a series of moves put together, or it could even be the way a bartender hits their moves to the music or the beat. Keeping a routine on cue with music demonstrates tremendous difficulty. (This would also add to the SHOWMANSHIP & OVERALL categories.) Technical execution of moves – The control of which the bartender has over their bottles, tins and tricks that they attempt. Was the bartender able to hit the moves they attempted? Did the bartender look like they had control of the objects they flaired with throughout the entire routine? Were they able to hit pauses and stalls when intended?

Flow of Routine:
Smoothness, transition of moves
This category judges the bartender’s flow. The flow of the bartender’s routine is a combination of the bartender’s smoothness and their transitions from move to move. Their score will be a summation of the entire round, not just one particular routine.
Smoothness – The flow in which the bartender executes their moves. Is the routine smooth or choppy? Do they maintain the smoothness throughout the different routines they perform? Is the bartender’s multiple object flair smooth? If a bartender has many drops they will lose points in smoothness. There are different types of smoothness, very dependent on the bartender’s style. Transition of moves – Does the bartender have to re-adjust the bottles between moves or do they blend the moves together into sequences? Do the moves flow together or do they look like they don’t belong together? Pauses for reaction or planned pauses will help the bartender in this category.

Creative Flair:
Variety, originality
This category judges the creative portion of the bartender’s flair. The bartender will be scored on their ability to perform a wide variety of creative & innovative moves using multiple bar objects. Creative flair is defined as the variety and originality that goes into a bartender’s routine. In order to keep flair entertaining for spectators, we need to continue to push the envelope of creativity.
Variety - Bartenders will be judged on the variety of different moves they perform and variety of objects they perform with. The more aspects of flair they display the higher they will score. If the bartender is repetitive with their moves they will score lower here. If a bartender performs only the same style of routines they will score lower. (example: If the competitor were to do their whole routine with two-bottle tricks, even though they might not repeat moves, they would score lower here than someone who does bottle/tin, two-bottle, two-tin/one-bottle & three-bottle tricks, as long as the latter bartender, also does not repeat moves.) Originality - Bartenders will be awarded more points for more original moves. If you have signature moves that help to define you, you may do those and gain points here. What we are not looking for are entire sequences of moves or entire routines that we have seen before. This is where the creativity really comes into play. Bartenders that score the highest here will have routines that are highly original and creative. Judges will be extremely knowledgeable in flair.

Showmanship:
Presence & composure, entertainment
Bartenders will be scored on their showmanship behind the bar. Showmanship does not necessarily have to do with the actual physical flair bartender performs. Showmanship is made up of the bartender’s presence & composure behind the bar and their ability to entertain. Bottom line was it a show or were they just making drinks?
Presence & Composure – This is a measure of the bartender’s demeanor behind the bar. Do they look confident and sure of themselves throughout their routine or are they nervous and unsure? Are they in command of their performance throughout? How does the bartender handle them self throughout the routine? Do they seem flustered by mistakes or do they seem to be able to move past them and keep a flow to their routine? Entertainment – Is the bartender just flipping bottles or are they entertaining the crowd? Did they manage to break down that imaginary wall between competitor and crowd? Entertainment could also be achieved through the bartender’s choreography? Did the routine flow with the music, or were they just flipping bottles with no concern for the music? Was the bartender hitting moves to the beats?

Technical Mixology:
Cleanliness, Professionalism, Procedures
Bartenders will be scored on their skills as a technical mixologist. Mixology is a true art and good mixologists adhere to certain standards. Does the bartender serve cocktails in clean, polished glassware? Does the bartender handle glassware and garnishes properly? Do they use their bar tools properly? Does the bartender maintain a sense of professionalism when they are performing and creating? Do they pre-chill their glasses and tins prior to making cocktails in them? Do they use the proper amounts of ice when creating their cocktails.
Cleanliness – This refers to the appearance of not only the bartender and their work area, but also the manner in which the bartender creates their cocktail. If a bartender is sloppy while making of their cocktails, or their work area becomes sloppy, then this will directly affect the bartender's score. Not having a clean polished glass to serve their cocktail in will adversely affect the bartender's score. Professionalism - This refers to the manner in which the bartender handles themselves behind the bar. This event is not about costumes or silly antics. While we definitely want the bartenders to have fun and entertain while performing behind the bar, we want them to do it with a sense of professionalism that would make a classic bartender such as the original mixologist himself, Jerry Thomas, proud. Procedures - True professional mixologists follow guidelines when creating cocktails and we want to make sure that these guidelines are followed in this event. How the bartender handles their tools, glassware and products fall into this category. These are the steps the bartender uses in the making of the cocktail. Chilling of glasses and tins, handling and using the bar tools and glassware properly will be considered procedures and will be taken into account here. How the bartender pour and cuts will be taken into account here also.

Creative Mixology:
Drink Presentation, Creativity
Bartender's will be scored on the appearance, eye appeal, and creativity that went into the creation of the drink and the drink itself. Does the cocktail look like something that you would want to drink? Did the bartender use glassware that goes with the cocktail? Is the garnish a bar standard or did the bartender go above and beyond with something more creative? Was the bartender creative in their procedures in the creation of the cocktail? Did the bartender use any innovative or unique ways of creating the drink?
Drink Presentation - This refers to the final appearance of the finished cocktail. Everything is taken into account here. The glass, the garnish, the color, just the basic eye appeal of the cocktail. Creativity - This creativity has to do with the mixology procedures used in the building of the drink. This is the opportunity for the flair bartender to demonstrate the creativeness that they display in their flair and carry it over to the mixology side.

Taste, Name, and Quality:
Aroma, Balance, Flavor, Finish, Creativity & Descriptiveness
Bartenders will be scored based on the taste, name, and quality the cocktail. How does the cocktail smell? Is there a good balance of ingredients or does one particular ingredient stand out above the rest? Does the cocktail have a pleasing flavor? How does the cocktail leave you? Is there a powerful after taste and if so is it pleasing? Is the name unique? Is the name something that would be easy to remember and possibly catchy? When you think of the more popular names of cocktails, they are less wordy and easy to remember.
Aroma - This refers to the smell of the cocktail. Judges will be looking for a pleasing smell that makes them want to taste the cocktail. Balance - This refers to the way the ingredients in the cocktail compliment each other. Ingredients that go together to make a pleasing taste will not have certain ingredients that stand out strongly above the others. Flavor - This refers directly to the taste of the cocktail. This portion of the points will be very subjective based on whether or not the judge likes the actual taste. Finish - This refers to the way the cocktail leaves you after you taste it. Judges will base their score here on the aftertaste. If after tasting the cocktail, the finish should make you want to taste again. Creativity - This refers to the creativity of the name. If the bartender comes up with something completely unique they will score well here. If the name is creative, but complicated, that may hurt the score here. We are looking for names that would actually stick as a name for the bartender's cocktail. Descriptiveness - Judges will look to see if the drink name helps to describe either the look or taste of the cocktail. If the name of the cocktail has the word apple in it, yet the cocktail does not taste anything like apples, the bartender's score would be adversely affected here. Quality - Judges will look for a drink that is of high quality. One that is made to spec and presented well.

Overall Performance:
Overall Package, Crowd Response, Blending of Styles
This is a summation of the entire round. How does the bartender combine all tools? Was there a seamless transition between the styles of FLAIR & MIXOLOGY or were there distinct differences when the bartender was going from style to style. Both Flair and Mixology are art forms of their own. With that in mind, how well did the bartender combine them into one round? What kind of a crowd response did the bartender receive? Were they able to capture the audience's attention, or did the audience seem to lose interest? Was the bartender on their game? When the round was over did the judge say to themself, "that was a great round"? This is not necessarily an average of other categories. It is more an overall rating of the round. For instance, you may not have tremendous difficulty, or great creativity, so you may not score as well in those categories, but you may put together a great overall performance. Not many drops, great showmanship, great blend of flair & mixology, good bartending skills and a routine that brings the crowd in, and you may score well in this category. Vice versa, you may score well in other categories and still not score well here.
Overall Package - This is how the bartender combines everything throughout the entire round. Judges will be looking at how the bartender puts it all together to make THEIR show. Remember the days of just standing behind the bar and flipping bottles are gone. To score well in this category, the bartender must put together a good show. They may be better than, or not as good as, they score in this category, based on the actual package they put together. Everything gets taken into account. Crowd Response - Did the bartender bring the crowd in because of the performance, or did the bartender have a lot of friends there? A bartender can bring in a crowd without the crowd being loud, also. Crowds maybe on the edge of their seats without being crazy. Many times the way the judge feels about the round is a direct correlation to the way the rest of the crowd feels. Blending of Styles - This refers to the way the bartender combines flair and mixology. If there seems to be two different distinct rounds in one then the bartender will score less here. The styles need to blend together well as the bartenders transitions from one style to the other and vice-versa.