With the coronavirus pandemic slamming shut the doors of every bar, restaurant and café in Mallorca, owners are wracking their brains to find a way to diversify and claw back some money.
Many have latched on to the takeaway and pick up boom but others have found something completely different to get stuck into.
Javi Post was named Champion Young Spanish Barman in 2010 and owns Harlequin, a company that under normal circumstances stages cocktail events. Now he’s joined forces with Cocktail creator, Fran Marcos, Las Vegas Legends winner, Ezequiel Abergo and Santa Catalina Lab Bar owner, Stefano Di Carlo and between them they’ve created the Mallorca Bartending Academy.
"The goal is to train professional bartenders and people who are passionate about cocktails and right now there is a great demand from sailors and people who work on the yachts and luxury boats," says Javi.
With little or no work available Events Organiser, Marta Roig is taking advantage of her time off to learn about the world of the acrobatic cocktail bar.
"I've always been curious, so I came to learn, but I'm better as a customer,” she laughs.
Stefano Di Carlo is an engineer by trade, but he’s worked in bars his whole life. He used to have a cocktail school in Sicily where he taught mixology classes using the techniques and infrastructure of molecular gastronomy to create cocktails. Now he’s also teaching mixology at the Mallorca Bartending Academy and offering advice and training to bars.
Fran Marcos, who hails from San Sebastián, specialises in creating cocktails and acrobatic cocktails and has lived in London, Norway and Prague and used to work at the prestigious Dickens cocktail bar in San Sebastian.
Students are attending the classes for a variety of reasons. Interior Designer, Marta Jaudenes is doing the class for fun whereas Personal Trainer and Bartender, Pere Coll wants to expand his knowledge of the trade.
Practical classes are also taught at another Mallorca Bartending Academy location in Can Valero.