How to Perform the Behind the Back Catch

Flair bartending tricks are one of the best ways to impress your friends and clientele when you are bartending. To perform the bartending skill called Behind the Back Catch, you will need to gather a few items and gain a little practice before you can wow your audience with your amazing agility.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Shaker glass
• Bottle or unbreakable bottle

1. Hold the bottle in your right hand. It is best to grip the body of the bottle instead of the neck for this trick.
2. Using your empty hand, either pick up a shaker glass and position it behind your back or use your empty hand and position it in the same way. This will be the preparation for the catch.
3. Lift your right arm over and behind your head, turning the bottle upside down so that the pour spout is now facing downward.
4. Let go of the bottle and let it slide down your back using your shoulder blades as a guide. You may want to lean forward a little to give the bottle a good chute to slide down.
5. Catch the bottle in your left hand or in the shaker glass as it slides down your back. Congratulations, you have just completed the over the back catch.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t wear a shirt that you care about or that has a design that might catch up the bottle in the fabric. When you practice this trick, you may want to try with a capped bottle to avoid getting very wet.
• Flair bartending sites often carry unbreakable bottles, which are a useful tool when learning bartending tricks.
• Be careful if you are catching the bottle in a shaker glass or Boston shaker, since you could get cut by broken glass. It is best to use a Boston shaker and an unbreakable bottle while learning the basics of this trick.
• You are going to get wet. It happens. Any time you are dropping an open bottle of liquid down your back, you're likely to spill some on yourself.