Mid-Day Anniversary Special | `I learnt about the profession through movies`: How Ami Shroff carved her space in the male-dominated industry of flair bartending

Flair bartending and mixology is by and large, a male-dominated profession in India. In 2015, La Maison Cointreau India Championship had a special category of women-only bartending competition at Hakkasan in Bandra. Ami Shroff, then 30, represented India at the next round of Cointreau La Maison Mixology competition.

When one met Shroff outside the Bandra hotspot, she was nostalgic about her journey. She said, “I learnt about the profession of flair bartending through movies like Cocktail (1988) when in school and found it fascinating. Since then, I have wanted to be a flair bartender. Years later, when I met somebody from the profession, I showed him some of my skills; next, a friend and I got a job assisting him for a month in Goa. It started from there. I was good at it, and I wanted to keep doing it.”

It is hakka, hakka yay, yay for flair bartender Ami Shroff outside Hakkasan in Bandra (West). Pics/SATEJ SHINDE

She recalled her nerves jangling before the competition in 2015. She said, “At Cointreau, you put yourself out in front of people you are unsure of. At that moment, several questions cross your mind: What will work and what will not? What do you do under that pressure? That creates edgy excitement and is fun too. There’s a mix of pressure, as well as confidence and love for what you do which is a beautiful mix of emotions.”

The competition in Mumbai saw many female flair bartenders and mixologists from across India. Celebrating women in the niche is why the competition holds a special place for Shroff. She said, “There are very few flair bartending competitions where they have a women-only category. There are only general categories in most competitions. I met and saw several women mixologist-bartenders from across the country for the first time, thanks to this competition enabled me to meet them. Awesome skill sets, ideas and creativity were on display. It was great to know there were many of us.”

Shroff has some advice for the younger generation, keen to enter the industry. “My advice for men, women, non-binary people and trans people would be to just be as inclusive and diverse as you can. Open your mind towards concepts. Sometimes, these social structures are within ourselves, and we need to learn to unlearn certain things. The influence of capitalism, of patriarchy is very strong in this industry. I believe hospitality should come from warmth, care and comfort that you provide to someone. You see that in homemakers, the hospitality industry can learn a lot from them. Aspects of colonisation, servitude and the master-servant concept, can sometimes trickle into the hospitality industry. We should try and get rid of it,” explained Shroff.   Well, cheers to that profound thinking.