The HOTTEST new trend in Bartending in 2019
Updated: Mar 29, 2020
As Cocktails For You we travel around the world almost on a weekly basis searching for new ideas, techniques & ingredients to share with bartenders all over the world. It is our pleasure to reveal the literally ‘HOTTEST’ new trend in bartending for 2019.
The LoggerHead Poker Although technically this technique goes back to the 17th century in the creation of the original ‘Flip’ cocktail there has been no bar globally that had recreated the practice in the 21st century. There have been those who attempted using modern wizardry but it our pleasure to reveal the pioneer bar that has not only brought back the ‘Red Hot Poker’ cocktail technique but has championed & modernised it to be enjoyed by cocktail connoisseurs worldwide.
The Loggerhead bar Artem Skapenko is the co-owner of one of the leading cocktail bar in Kyiv, Ukraine. He had initially stumbled upon the technique in a book from David Wondrich regarding old bartender tools for bartenders. There is discovered the original method to making the Flip cocktail & for him this entire technique was a game-changer in his bartending career. He had seen bartenders champion old spirits, bitters & syrups but had never encountered anyone who had taken on the use of the technique of using a red hot poker in the creation of the original Flip cocktail. Inspired by this discovery he made it his quest to recreate the technique & bring it back into use.
On the 12th of December 2015 is a special date for Artem because after years of searching he finally managed to track down an antique Loggerhead poker with an age range from the 1740s to 1780s that is still present proudly displayed in his bar. In honour of tool & technique he decided to name his bar after the forgotten piece of history. All of the pokers produced by Loggerhead for use in their bar are still based on this ancient original find.
Then began the real test for the young bar owner because how would they be able to create a machine in a square space of 3.5 metres that would be able to heat a metal poker up to 1,000 degrees Celsius safely for human consumption & consistently. A metal poker would need to be heated to 850 degrees Celsius before it starts to turn red & they eventually stumbled upon a small smelting machine used for the low-scale production of jewellery. The machine was imported, turned on, the prototype poker was inserted & as it was inserted into a classic blazing cup there was FIRE. Mission success!
The problem is that because no one had been playing around with the original technique for over 200 years & it isn’t featured in any classic bartending manuals from the likes of Jerry Thomas or Harry Craddock. Not to mention that one was drinking with the LoggerHead in Ukraine since all mentions of the original Flip cocktail come from New England or Britain. There is no guide, there is simply an insanely hot piece of metal & all the ingredients in the world to play with! Originally the ‘Flip’ cocktail was a pretty simple concoction but the guys from LoggerHead took it to the next level with their ‘Red-Hot Chilli Poker’ cocktail:
The basic formula listed was a combination of rum, strong ale & molasses/sugar most definitely feeling more like a hot alcoholic meal in a glass than a cocktail as we know it nowadays. Regardless Artem sees it simply as a combination of swapping out the base components for similar ingredients. He takes it also one step forward attempting to help balance the cocktail with a sour component to really bring balance to the drink in the end & believe it is simply up to the bartenders creativity when it comes to the final product.
The future is here & the future is RED HOT!
Just like the 'Japanese Hard-Shake’ or ‘Throwing Drinks’ were trends in the preparation of drinks that have become very in-vogue over the years the preparation using a red-hot poker is very much in the same vein. Theatrical preparation of cocktails has always been popular with guests hence the use of dry ice, fire & elaborate garnishes has never failed to disappoint. The red-hot poker technique is one of the founding pillars of bartending & can be argued that the drinks made with it fall under the category of ‘cocktails’ even if they weren’t named as such. The rule of 3 ingredients is a cocktail means that the drinks made at that time period would’ve been described as cocktails in the 21st century.
The best part of re-discovering this old techniques is that the drinks it creates are unique & can be only be replicated with this method. They don’t all have to be flips & blazers either as the instant caramelisation of the ingredients at 1000 degrees changes the flavour profile so that after you can use the new mixture in a cold drink such a sour. We at Cocktails For You believe that this trend will explode in 2019 ushering in an era of drinks around the world!
What this article captures beautifully is the idea that bartending history is full of lost techniques waiting to be rediscovered, and that the most exciting innovations are often not inventions at all but recoveries. The Flip cocktail was not obscure because it was bad — it was obscure because the tool required to make it properly had simply fallen out of use and out of memory. Artem's contribution was not to invent something new but to ask a question that no one else had thought to ask: what would happen if we actually tried this again with modern resources and a contemporary palate? For anyone creating mascots, brand characters, or thematic visual identities for a cocktail bar inspired by historical…
The point about theatrical preparation being consistently popular with guests is one that every bar owner and bartender should take seriously. Dry ice, fire, elaborate garnishes — these elements have never gone out of fashion because they transform drinking from a passive experience into a participatory one. The red-hot poker technique takes that theatricality to an entirely new level because the drama is not decorative but functional: the fire, the heat, and the transformation of ingredients are all essential to the final drink rather than just visual flourishes layered on top. For bartenders who enjoy creating unique team names, cocktail competition squad identities, or bar crew nicknames, a DnD name generator can generate wonderfully evocative and memorable options. If you are…
December 12, 2015 — the day Artem finally tracked down that antique Loggerhead poker — must have felt like the culmination of years of obsessive research and patient searching. There is something deeply romantic about a bar owner naming his entire establishment after a forgotten piece of 18th century bartending equipment, and then building a modern machine capable of replicating what that tool was designed to do. The Red-Hot Chilli Poker cocktail that emerged from this process — with its balance of heat, sweetness, and a sour component to bring harmony — sounds like one of the most genuinely unique drinking experiences available anywhere in the world right now. For anyone counting down to a planned visit to Kyiv or…
The engineering problem at the heart of this story is one that most people would never think about: how do you safely heat a metal poker to 850–1,000 degrees Celsius in a 3.5 square metre bar space, consistently, for human consumption? The solution of adapting a small jewellery smelting machine is exactly the kind of lateral thinking that defines great innovation — not building something entirely new, but recognizing that an existing tool from a completely different industry can solve your problem elegantly and cost-effectively. That creative resourcefulness is something every bartender and bar owner can learn from, regardless of whether they ever use a red-hot poker. For anyone thinking about the density of heat distribution in a metal poker…
The historical depth here is what separates this article from typical bartending trend pieces. Most trend coverage focuses entirely on what is new without asking why it is new or where it came from, but this piece traces the red-hot poker technique all the way back to its 17th century origins and explains exactly why it disappeared — not because it was inferior, but simply because no one was paying attention. The parallel to the Japanese Hard-Shake and Throwing Drinks trends is apt because all three techniques share the same quality: they are theatrical, they are technically demanding, and they produce a result that is genuinely different from what any shortcut can achieve. For cocktail historians and researchers analyzing whether…