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| - You can find fancy cocktails and drinks at just about any bar in Vegas. So if you're looking for the classics (a Gin Fizz, a Long Island Iced Tea, or Rob Roy) or a shot of this or that, just about any bar will do. But if you want to discover a really unique drink, you have to seek the services of a mixologist who serves up specialty cocktails at a mixology bar.
While bartenders mix and serve drinks, a mixologist develops their own recipes and has taken cocktail making to an art form. We're not talking about flair bar tending here, where cocktail shakers are thrown in the air and bottles are juggled. Mixologists infuse bourbon with bacon, use only the freshest fruit and veggies, turn to specific brands for their blends, include exotic ingredients in their drinks (like the Szechuan Button that leaves a tingly feeling on your tongue), and create a cocktail for you when you name your favorite poison or flavor, and guide them as to how savory, spicy or sweet it should be.
Our favorite mixology bar in Vegas is the ulta-sophisticated and chic Vesper Bar at The Cosmopolitan Hotel. It's located off to the side of their front desk, so you can grab a drink right after you check in or end your trip with a cocktail at check-out time.
Its talented mixologists love to put modern spins on classic drinks, and create multiple variations on them. Why settle for a plain old Manhattan, when you can have their take on it -- the Mayan, which combines rye, a floral bitter called Amaro Meletti, some cinnamon, and fig vermouth.
Our last visit here was an early morning one, where mixologist Roger Gross was clearly wasting his skills serving coffee to sleepy guests who wanted nothing fancier than two creams one sugar. The professional that he is, he poured every cup of Joe with love and a smile, but his face really lit up when we told him we wanted to start our 6 a.m. morning with a bit more pep.
He quickly mixed up a coffee-based drink for my wife with some black coffee, a bit of Tia Maria, some espresso-infused vodka, and a touch of cream. I suggested I wanted something spicy to start my day, and Roger served up a Burro Caliente. This is a spicier version of their Hot Mule that still uses ginger beer and ginger syrup, but substitutes spiced pear vodka with a chili pepper vodka. The Hot Mule is itself a revamped version of a traditional Moscow Mule for any taking Drink History 101.
Roger is an evil genius when it comes to developing new concoctions and is always eager to tailor a drink for you, turning to the laboratory of spirits behind him (and his many jars of herbs and spices that sit on the bar) for inspiration. He is so bloody creative, that when a wimpy guest with an "upset tummy" who wanted to continue their all-night party handed him a bottle of Pepto-Bismol early one morning, he gladly accepted the challenge to turn it into a cocktail. After a botched first attempt, he muddled it with cucumber, and mixed it with some lime cordial, rose syrup, fresh lime juice and gin, and offered up what he named the Bubble Gut Gimlet! Party on!
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