The best flair bartender in Korea is now working in Daejeon.

About six years ago I lived in Iksan, Korea. That was my first time to Korea and it was made even more enjoyable by the friendship of Leo (pronounced "LEH-oh") a young bartender, 21 years old, with a talent for flair. I met Leo when I wandered in to a bar called "Ssleabar". My friend Ian Graham, Sandman, and I were going out on our Humpnight barhunts, that is looking for new places on Wednesdays.

Follow up:

Sometimes we would have a crowd and sometimes it would be just the three of us. We wandered in to Ssleabar and there were three bartenders, two of which I forget, and Leo. That night was also memorable because Sandman ordered a glass of milk.

We took a liking to Leo and the crew and came back every once in a while. The bar fell on hard times, the owner sold out, and it became yet another bar with cute girls who sit across from you and tell you that you are handsome. Leo, luckily, found another job at one of our regular watering holes, a place called "Montana's". In the course of the rest of my time in Iksan, Leo regaled us with great drinks, magic tricks, and some nifty juggling. I considered Leo a friend and asked his advice about anything Korean. I even started to dine regularly at the restaurant that several of his family members owned and operated. When I left Korea, Leo was just about to do his required military service, leaving the life of servicing part-time drunks like myself and tossing bottles in the air.

A couple of months back my friend Trisha Poole said

"Hey, Leo is going to be working in town for a while." I replied

"I love Leo! Where's he going to be?"

"He's going to be working in the new nightclub that's opening up. That's what he does now, he opens up a bar, stays for a month or so, and then goes on to open another one. He's probably the best or second best bartender in Korea now, people want him to open their bar."

Now, Trisha says things that I don't understand sometimes and I couldn't understand how you could quantify our old buddy Leo as the best bartender in Korea--I mean, unless you're famous at the national level, it seems kind of silly to say such a thing.

Then the next month I finally went to Cocoon, the new club, and I was telling my friend Sunyoung that I went there.

"Oh!" she exclaimed "I want to go there because they have a famous bartender that I want to see. Hmmm... his name is... I can't remember..."

"Leo, by any chance?" I asked

"Yes, that's it!" she replied

Later Trisha told me that after his military service, Leo has made a name for himself in flair competitions, representing Korea in various competitions in the world.

Lucky for me, he's still the same guy deep down, and he still makes wonderful drinks and tell me good stuff about Korea.

Haven't seen any magic tricks lately.