Las Vegas is very much a drinking destination. Our bartenders are unparalleled, our servers are unmatched and our cocktails are unforgettable. So why would a spirit-less option have any less spirit?

As more people break away from booze, our city’s mixologists are crafting tastier alternatives than ever before. We caught up with three local standouts to find out how they’re taking the mocktail trend to the next level.

Rylen Komeiji

Lead Mixologist, Todo Bien

After stirring up experience under the tutelage of award-winning bartender Juyoung Kang at the Dorsey and Here Kitty Kitty Vice Den, Rylen Komeiji is shaking things up with a line of tasty mocktails and low ABV options, such as the N/A whiskey-infused Crotch Kick (it tastes better than it feels).

“One of the great things to come out of the pandemic is people are focusing more on quality over quantity and also just drinking a little healthier. Not everyone wants to come here and just get smashed,” says Komeiji.

Komeiji models his mocktails after their most dominant flavors, but is careful not to “give them a cup full of sugar.” For Todo Bien’s Melon Pepino, he combines cantaloupe with fresh cucumbers and Fever-Tree club soda to achieve that full-bodied creaminess. On the Sandia Frambuesa, a pleasantly tart marriage of raspberry and watermelon, a tuft of rosemary ushers in more savory notes.

Since tequila is central to Todo Bien’s folklore, Komeiji has started experimenting with lapsang souchong, a smoked black tea known for evoking the smokiness of Scotch and mezcal. People will be able to try that on the fall menu. 

“What we want to do is make everyone feel included,” he says.

JUYOUNG KANG

Director of Beverage Development, Fontainebleau Las Vegas

A Vegas industry veteran, Juyoung Kang has watched cocktail menus become more curated and thoughtful over time. She’s kept watch over beverage trends, noticing that many bars, in California especially, have started opening non-alcoholic concepts. Going booze-less is certainly more acceptable than it once was.

“Because we raised the conversation and we raised their awareness, people are more confident in ordering it,” Kang says.

The Philadelphia-born mixologist takes an almost culinary approach to her mocktails, seeking how ingredients like starches can mimic the mouthfeel and texture of a cocktail. At Chyna Club, Kang brings the mocktail Heaven down to earth with an infusion of rice water tea, oleo-saccharum (a citrus-like sugared oil), fig jam and Supasawa cocktail mix. It’s a far cry from a glass of pineapple juice.

Kang’s bold ingredient choice shines in mocktails like Clear Waters, where she concocts an elixir of tomato water, bell pepper, white wine vinegar and pungent gochujang with a tincture of lemon olive oil. It’s an acidic flavor bomb, evoking the burn of a high-proof spirit so well, you’d swear you just sipped something strong and neat. Kang notes the use of oil helps coat the mouth and enhances the flavor. 

She adores teas for that reason, too. “With tea, because the tannin is higher, it kind of acts the way sake does where the amino acids are a little higher too, which allows whatever flavors you put together to be a little more savory and have umaminess,” she explains.

Mariena Mercer Boarini

Master Mixologist, Wynn Resorts

You’d be surprised how many world-class mixologists don’t drink. Mariena Mercer Boarini quit roughly seven years ago, but that’s hardly muted her magic behind the bar.

“I want to be able to provide the same experience for guests, whether they prefer a spirited beverage or one without. Guests are definitely looking for it and appreciating it. And I’m finding so much creative inspiration in doing it,” says Mercer Boarini, who creates all of her syrups, teas and garnishes at a special mixology lab on property.

When it comes to mocktails, Mercer Boarini takes everything into consideration, even ice, because temperature can alter how we process flavor. At Casa Playa, her signature Electricdust Fire also raises the alchemy bar with its mouth-tingling, “supertaster” properties, simulating the loud and spicy flavors of Sichuan peppercorn that she experienced on a Macau trip.

“A supertaster is a real phenomenon. People that have more densely packed taste buds than others can taste at a higher intensity,” she explains. “What’s happening is your salivary glands are going wild and as you sip your cocktail, you’re gonna start tasting different nuances.”

For poolside drinks, she always opts for what’s “light, refreshing and feels healthful in a way.” That might mean aromatic garnishes of passion fruit pearls or mocktails like the Made You Look, with a base of jasmine pearl and green tea plus cucumber and watermelon. The drink gets its lilac hue from butterfly pea tisane, a low-pH ingredient from Thailand that changes color when it encounters acidity.

“I don’t want someone to feel like if they’re not drinking at that moment, they’re missing out on that nuanced flavorful experience that a cocktail can be,” she says. “I think a zero-proof or a mocktail beverage should be that.”

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