A Cocktail in the Sun

As it gets hot outside, a young drunkymonkey's thoughts turn to cool refreshment. I've spent several recent weekends searching for what will likely become my go-to summer watering hole and cocktail, and so far the search has proven fruitful.

The first great summer find was the Spanish Trampoline at the Mirage's Rhumbar. YES. I will certainly return often to enjoy this fine establishment's delicious libations and lovely patio area.

The second great find is the Cucumber Gimlet, a delightful concoction you will find at T-bones Chophouse inside the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa. Comprised of four muddled cucumbers, Hendrick's gin, rock candy syrup and fresh lime juice, the cucumber gimlet isn't overly sweet and has a nice touch of citrus-y tartness. It also has a nice overall essence of cucumber, a flavor that works well in combination with the unique flavor of the Hendrick's gin -- unsurprising since Hendrick's' unique flavor is acquired through infusions of Bulgarian rose and, yes, cucumber. The cucumber gimlet is refreshing, light and crisp. My first occasion for the cocktail was a stop for pre-dinner drinks on the way to somewhere else (the much loved Hachi where, by the way, I very much enjoyed the Hyuuka, another perfectly good gin/cucumber concoction, but unwisely let the bartender talk me into trying the Sake-tini, a deplorable example of the dreaded whatever-tini craze. Putting crap in a martini glass --some sort of promotional vodka and sake flavoring in this case -- does not a martini make. But I digress.)

A return trip a few weeks later proved the cucumber gimlet to still be delicious, and possibly even more so when enjoyed in the afternoon sun on the T-bones patio. A spacious area overlooking the pool, the patio has plenty of comfy couches and chairs and laid-back atmosphere. If the thought of a cucumber gimlet doesn't quite float your boat, the T-bones bar also serves up a super booze-y, generously portioned Old Fashioned and a nice classic martini featuring the most delicious blue-cheese stuffed olives I've found in Vegas.

Ewwww?

So there I was, minding my own business, when my bartender brother-in-law announced he had a bottle of Three Olives Cherry Vodka and a can of Red Bull, and it was time to combine the two into a Cherry Bomb and sample it. Granted, this sounds gross, but who am I to refuse to at least try this potentially terrible creation?

The verdict? On first sip it was actually pretty good, considering I expected it to taste exactly like cherry cough syrup. The flavors became increasingly more harsh and syrupy on the next three sips (our drinks consisted of 1 1/2 oz. of vodka and 2 oz. of energy drink, a more than generous serving of this particular concoction) and I realized that this is only "good" in the way Flamin' Hot Cheetos are "good." Which is to say not good at all, but sometimes oddly satisfying.

As I started to doubt the Cherry Bomb was even drinkable, the b-i-l reminded me it's all about perspective with a drink like this: You have to compare it to other cocktails made with energy drink. Compared to a gimlet? Not good. Compared to a Jager bomb? Delicious!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Occasionally an old aphorism does wonders to sum things right up: The more things change, the more they stay the same. True unless, of course, they don't stay the same at all. In the past two weeks I've hit up two favorite old haunts, and the experiences stood in complete contrast to each other. First up was The Griffin, and it was just as awesome as ever. Dark and cavernous inside, with a decent selection on its handful of taps and the same cool ambiance as ever, it was just as it was the last time I stopped in for a drink, maybe eight or nine months ago. There are two reasons I really like this downtown bar; one is the energy and overall ambiance. The place opened a few years ago, during the height of the buzz about the Fremont East District, and the hipster charge to make downtown cool. The Griffin's feat was in transcending the trendy side of the hype. It is classically cool, sidestepping that sad fate of being on the cutting edge for a year, then hopelessly dated forever.

The other is the drinks themselves, and the knowledgeable bartenders. The drinks are always good, very reasonably priced and poured with a slightly heavy hand, which I will never, ever complain about. And if you go in the early evening (before the place gets crowded) and sit at the bar, the bartenders will talk to you about their wares and make suggestions. This was the case when I first tried a martini with Hendrick's gin a couple of summers ago. Now I see Hendrick's all over the place, and sometimes request it. So thanks, Griffin. Thank you for the Hendrick's and for continuing to be awesome, even though I've been gone for a few months.

The flip side of that coin was discovered last weekend during a stop at the Green Valley Ranch. When I was just a young Henderson-dwelling girl several years ago, the Green Valley Ranch Resort was home to what were without doubt the most exciting lounges in the city, Drop Bar and Whiskey Sky. At the time they were very cool, and very different for Henderson. Whiskey was not only a lounge, but also had a bit of a club-y vibe, and by way of its then-ownership (Mr. Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber) was probably the only place in Henderson that ever has or will count George Clooney among its patrons. During my recent visit the place was closed, and based on what I could see by peeking through a crack in the door, under renovations. Surprising? No. The true surprise was still ahead of me, lurking at the Drop Bar.

Granted, though I use to hit up the GVR for booze and entertainment at least once a week, I haven't been back in at least a year, so the "new" Drop Bar is probably not actually all that new. What was once the epitome of mod cool, an all-white, minimalist interior (a round space, the circumference was ringed by white booth-style couches surrounded by small white cocktail tables and ottomans) has gone polar opposite. It's like the GVR hired Saturday Night Live's Jon Bovi to create a concept. Where the lounge was once white and futuristic, it now looks like a vampire lair/super-goth palace in shades of black with touches of purple. The former clean lines have been replaced with ornate wood and brass cabinetry, extensive wrought iron work, including a mind-boggling chandelier dripping with clear, black and purple crystals, a dropped faux ceiling in mirrored black, and dramatic velvet couches ringing the walls. My date may have summed it up best when he said the whole thing reminded him of Disneyland's Haunted House ride. At one time the lounge was tended by cocktail waitresses and bartenders clad in white tube tops, skirts and go-go boots. No more. There were no waitresses present during my visit, but the female bartender wore a simple, stiff black suit. Frankly, I was surprised she wasn't decked out in something reminiscent of Prince, circa Purple Rain. It would have been more fitting.

Signs on each coffin-shaped cocktail table inform customers that Drop Bar now turns into a Hookah Lounge at 7 p.m. nightly. I'm not big on hookah, but I stopped in during the early afternoon hours and I'm curious to see this place at night, in all its goth glory. In any case I'm pretty much forced to go back, because I'm still too shocked by the extreme changes to decide if the new Drop Bar is awesome or awful.

The Breakfast of Champions: Tequila edition

From time to time it can be entertaining to try something new that you know is going to be kind of gross. That line of thinking led me to order shots of Patron XO Cafe yesterday morning, a move that indeed turned out to be kind of gross, although it did reveal the potential for some tasty mixed drinks.

The Patron was served as a room temperature shot, and smelled like the devil's breakfast drink. The coffee essence was strong, and was interesting combined with the tequila flavor, but the XO Cafe is also incredibly sweet, so much so that sipping just an ounce of it was cringe-inducing. (Since I planned to sip this in order to get a feel for the flavor, I did make a mistake by not ordering it on the rocks -- however, even icing it down wouldn't make up for the extreme sweetness.) Regardless, I'm not ready to write the stuff off altogether because I suspect the XO Cafe would be magical combined with Baileys or Kahlua, or as an ingredient in a booze-laden milkshake.

Get Ready to Rhumbar

Don't be fooled by the wall of booze-slurpy machines just outside of Rhumbar -- the cocktails served up inside this new establishment are seriously good. The interior of the place (all white glass bar, all white barstools, floors and walls and strange looking shiny silver alien-robot things in glass cases along the top of the bar and the ceiling) combined with the music (mostly latin-flavored world music while we were there) give it the feeling of a tiki bar. In the future. In outer space.

But it's the drinks that really drive the tiki feeling home. Our visit started with a Spanish Trampoline (pictured right) and a Daiquiri, and for me, it was love at first sip. The Spanish Trampoline is a magnificent concoction of tangerine, mint, pure cane sugar, lime and Sagatiba cachaca. It may be my new favorite cocktail, the one I've been waiting my whole life to find. The drink was perfectly balanced, light, fresh and citrus-y, and went down like a tangerine-infused mojito. I normally dislike overly sweet, sugary drinks, but the Spanish Trampoline was so refreshing I believe I could drink 100 of them.

Likewise, the daiquiri was perfectly balanced, and much to our great happiness was not a blended drink, but a simple and tasty mixture of rum, lime and syrup over ice. Maybe I haven't been looking hard enough, but I haven't found many bars serving up a true, classic daiquiri.

For our second round, we went with the Spicy Lover and the 1944 Mai Tai. As a fan of (almost) all things spicy, I was pleased with the combination of tequila, cucumber and Tabasco sauce in the Spicy Lover. It goes down smooth, the cucumber and tequila mix nicely, and the spicy kick at the end is a treat. My date wasn't quite so enthused with the spicy-tequila-cuc combo, but his deliciously booze-y Mai Tai (again, not too sweet or fruity but well balanced) made up for it.

We didn't sample any of the establishment's cigar offerings, although the people next to us at the bar indulged. Early in our visit, the bartender had explained the three-week old bar's fancy air filtration system, and sure enough, I barely noticed the smoke from just one stool over. Unfortunately, slightly chilly weather also kept us from venturing onto Rhumbar's outside patio, but it looked like an excellent place to pass an hour or two. I will certainly be returning to the Rhumbar, and when I do I'll take on the Zombie.