All mixed up: Drinks in Las Vegas changing with the times

Kimerley McGee

Wednesday, July 11, 2001 | 8:22 a.m.

Smooth and fruity, clear or colored.

Cool libations being served at Las Vegas' popular night spots this summer range from new spins on old classics to over-the-top creations by local bartenders.

Summer drinks may appear to be simple concoctions of liquors, but behind the pastel colors is a trend toward sophistication and a smooth taste.

Las Vegas is known for its flashy hotels and bright lights. As for the drinks offered at its bars and restaurants, style, substance and simplicity reign. These days a martini is more likely to be infused with a flavor, such as apple or chocolate, and patrons are asking for high-end name brands of vodka, rum or bourbon.

And the customers don't mind paying premium prices for a quality drink.

"That's the difference of going to a local bar or a nice club," businessman Stewart Scheinman said. "I expect to pay more."

As president of his own distribution company, Desert Collectibles, Scheinman regularly meets clients at restaurants to talk business in a comfortable atmosphere.

A nice drink complements the evening, he said. Over the years clients have asked for more sophisticated libations.

Recently at Red Square at Mandalay Bay, Scheinman and a group of business associates each ordered a martini.

The order took some time as each requested a specific liquor, flavor and style of martini.

"It's so much more advanced these days that a vodka isn't just a vodka," Scheinman said.

The season is open and the alcohol is fine top-of-the-line, actually.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) tracks drink trends. In the mid-1990s, after a decadelong decline, the American public came back to spirits and alcoholic beverages, Judy Blatman, spokeswoman for DISCUS, said.

Summer drinks, specifically, bring people to the bar, she said.

"It's the desire to treat yourself," Blatman said. "People want something simple to drink and they take the time to sip it and enjoy the drink."

The in things

Martinis are in. Margaritas are still popular. But it's the simple cocktail that is gaining respect. The old days of frou-frou drinks with tiny umbrellas and large fruit garnishes are being edged out by upscale spirits served in chilled martini glasses.

"There's a desire for people to go back to a simpler time and distilled spirits remind people of a simpler time," Blatman said.

People are willing to pay more for premium drinks -- anywhere from $12-$45 for a shotglass full of aged liquor, such as bourbon or scotch.

Overall sales of distilled spirits have increased 3 percent since last year, Blatman said. Tequila sales have increased 75 percent since 1990, and vodka remains the most popular spirit in terms of sales volume.

The rise can be attributed in part to the men and women behind the bar who entertain the public with their craft -- serving drinks.

"Distilled spirits have been elevated to an art form," Blatman said. "Bartenders are striving for new creativity every day."

And Las Vegas' doesn't disappoint. Local bartenders have created simple drinks, from the Pink Thing at Spago, to the large What the Witch Doctor Ordered at the Rio's VooDoo Lounge.

The latter draws attention with its unusual presentation, said Ken Hall, creator of the Witch Doctor ($21) and a master mixologist at the VooDoo Lounge.

The 60-ounce beverage contains 10 ounces of different rums and liquors. It is served with billowing faux smoke made from dry ice, which pours from the opening of the oversized cocktail glass.

"People notice it," Hall said. "But that's what they want, something big and fun."

Hall and three other bartenders created the specialty drinks served at VooDoo Lounge.

"We wanted something you can't get anywhere else," Hall said. "That's what a lot of tourists want."

The over-the-top drink is an event, which is why many order the large signature drinks that many bars and restaurants offer.

However, Hall has noticed most customers generally prefer to order a brand they are familiar with for everything from beer to rum.

"The big trend is to drink the premium stuff," Hall said. "The public is starting to learn the names of the good stuff, becoming more sophisticated."

A pink, frothy cocktail with a fruit garnish and umbrella doesn't appeal to customers who belly-up to the bar anymore, Hall said.

"They want something they can be seen with," he said. "It's a bit of vanity."

Greg Harrington, master sommelier and an associate partner of Wolfgang Puck fine dining, agrees. He is the creator of such fanciful drinks as the minty Mr. Mojo Rising ($8.50) at Cili at Bali Hai Golf Club.

But sophistication and simplicity doesn't have to be boring, he said.

"We try to make it as fun as possible," Harrington said.

When tourists step off the plane, sometimes giddy from the mini-bottles of wine and spirits they have had in flight, they are looking for something exciting that they can't find at the bar around the corner from their home.

"They don't want the same old cosmopolitan or vodka martini," Harrington said.

Instead of a combination of crushed ice and tequila, for instance, Harrington has mixed Sauza Hornitos tequila, Blue Curacao, fresh sweet-and-sour and lime for a Kind of Blue Margarita ($8.50) served in a chilled glass.

The largest trend he's seen in bars in New York and San Francisco are freshly squeezed juices added to drinks. In response, Harrington has created the Strawberry Lemonade ($9.50), a blend of fresh strawberries, lemons, Absolut Citron vodka and Cointreau.

"People still do froufrou," Harrington said. "But what they are really looking for, just like in food, is something simple but well made."

The mix of the energy drink Red Bull and vodka continues to be popular among the younger crowd, mostly men in their 20s, but that may wane.

Pretty in pink

A future trend, Harrington said, is vintage, smooth rums that are to be sipped -- not stirred into sodas or juice drinks.

He recommends Monte Cristo, a single-barrel rum distilled by two local brothers, Robert and Michael Frey.

Lana Trevisan, general manager for Spago, said the classics are still considered such by locals.

The restaurant bar offers the trendy apple martinis as well as other drinks that most spirit connoisseurs would recognize and request.

But there is a secret behind the bar: the Pink Thing.

"It's a password for the local people in the know," Trevisan said. "They ask for it by name, but it's not on the menu."

The Pink Thing is a Spago original that was created by bartenders at Wolfgang Puck's Las Vegas location. Its conception came from a local woman who was tired of the same old Cosmopolitan and asked for something different -- entertaining, yet light. She wanted to be surprised.

The drink is a mix of Absolut Citron, cranberry juice and fresh-squeezed lime. It is served in a chilled martini glass among appreciative "oohs" and "ahhs" from patrons.

The word spread down the bar, and then around the city.

The bartenders knew they had created something good. They kept the ingredients simple, as well as the name. They let the patrons christen their creation.

"People said, 'Oooh, that's pretty. Can I have one of those pink things?' " Trevisan said. "It stuck."

As has the classic cocktail in a martini glass in general, she said.

"They are festive, fun," Trevisan said. "It's what people are going for."