The Andaz 5th Avenue, located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan across from the New York Public Library, is a World of Hyatt Category 6 property meaning free nights start at 25,000 Hyatt points per night.

The Bar Downstairs at Andaz 5th Avenue Spring Mixology

The hotel’s dining options include the shop, located on the lobby level serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, as well as The Bar Downstairs, now in its 7th year, serving cocktails and tapas nightly Monday-Saturday and reservations are encouraged.

The hotel was hosting a Spring Mixology event, so I was pleased to attend to try their latest offerings.

Several new cocktails at the The Bar Downstairs including Midsummer’s Gate, Raven’s Refuge, La Mariquita, and Point Taken.

La Mariquita

See how the Bar Downstairs came up with this name:

This drink also features cilantro as an herbal ingredient. Cilantro is also known as coriander, which comes from the Green word koris, meaning bedbug. Thousands of years ago, the unripened seeds of coriander supposedly smelled like bedbugs, hence the name coriander. We couldn’t name a cocktail bedbug, so we decided upon ladybug because of the insect’s association with luck and protection. In the Middle Ages, plant lice were decimating farmers’s crop, and so they prayed to the Virgin Mary for help. Legend has it that she sent down thousands of ladybugs to ward off the plant lice, saving their crop. Ladybugs have now come to symbolize joy, love, protection, and prosperity. 

Delicious octopus tapas

You’ll find great cocktails and tapas at the Bar Downstairs

Have you had a chance to experience the Bar Downstairs lately? Feel free to comment below with your favorite cocktail!