Lexington Kiss

As I traveled frequently to New York for business, I used to stay at the W hotel on Lexington Avenue, to avoid wasting a whole day traveling, I would leave San Francisco early afternoon and reach New York at 9:00 or 10:00 PM and by the time I got to my hotel and checked in it was often 11:00 PM or even later. Most hotel bars are either closed by then or don't serve food. I usually wanted both a drink and something to eat, I didn't usually want to head out -- being NY of course a city that never sleeps, there are always options if you are willing to walk a few blocks. NY weather of course can be iffy and so that was not always an option.

I would usually head to the bar and it was there that I discovered a drink called the Lexington Kiss. It was just a great balance of sweet and sour and made from my favorite cocktail spirit -- bourbon. I fell in love with the drink and would often order that and either sliders and fries (they had the best with 3 small sliders -- beef, lamb and chicken) or if I wanted to be a little healthy I would order some hummus and pita to go with it.

Given how frequently I visited NY, the bartender at the W got to know what I liked and usually would start the drink as soon as I sat down, so one day I asked him what was in it and he wrote it down on a napkin and I decided to try it at home.

Sadly the W Lexington became the Maxwell when Marriott bought Starwood hotels (apparently Marriott required differentiating owned properties vs franchised and the W Lexington was Franchised), it also so happened that around that time, our offices moved closer to Union Square so I switched to the W Union Square instead but alas they did not have this drink.

I had the recipe though so I have been making it at home:

Ingredients

1.5 oz Good bourbon -- I usually use Bulleit. I sometimes will use Rye as it is a little less sweet and works just as well

.05 oz Simple Sugar

1 oz Disaronno Amaretto

Juice from half a Lime (or 0.5 oz)

Maraschino Cherries

1 tbsp Passionfruit Puree (I use a brand called "The Perfect Puree")

Pour the Bourbon, Amaretto, Simple Sugar and Lime juice, and Passionfruit puree into a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until all the ingredients have mixed thoroughly and the passion puree is not in chunks. Pour into a glass with a block of ice. Spear two cherries and place on (or in) the glass and enjoy!