Ginger Cocktails Spice Up Vegas

LAS VEGAS (MainStreet) -- Mixologists are taking cocktails back to their roots -- ginger roots, that is. Newly popular ginger cocktails use the aroma and bite of the tantalizing spice to complement a variety of spirits, giving mixologists the opportunity to revisit old-world favorites and create new classics.

TravelsinTaste sought out some of the more unique twists on the traditional cocktails, finding them at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas where Aria's director of beverages, Michael Shetler, encourages his mixologists to push their creativity to the limits. The resort's repertoire of ginger cocktails evolves constantly.

Why the renewed interest in using ginger in a cocktail? It's sweet, it's savory, it has medicinal uses. Isn't that enough? "Ginger is very versatile," Shetler explains. "It brings out the botanicals in gin, the sweetness that comes from the sugar cane in rum and adds a citrus profile to vodka, giving character to an otherwise neutral cocktail."

The Ginger Margarita at Jean Georges Steakhouse in Las Vegas.