Friday, November 20, 2015

missionary's downfall

1 1/2 oz White Rum (1 oz Don Q Cristal, 1/2 oz Seleta Gold)
1/2 oz Brandy (Pedro Domecq Fundador Solera Reserva)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
3 dash Peach Bitters (Fee Brothers)
10-15 leaf Mint

Muddle mint in a hightball glass and add rest of the ingredients, top with ice, and stir (shake mint with ingredients and double strain into a Tiki mug; fill with crushed ice). Garnish with a mint sprig (mint and a lime wheel).

While reading Duggan McDonnell's great cocktail tribute Drinking the Devil's Acre, I came across his adaptation of Donn Beach's Missionary's Downfall. This past summer, I enjoyed the one that Beachbum Berry's staff made for me at Latitude 29; that one was true to the one Berry published albeit with less mint and a slightly different Caribbean rum. Duggan's version did away with the blender and swapped honey syrup and peach-flavored liqueur for simple syrup and peach-flavored bitters in a stirred libation (true, I shook mine). It also upped the alcohol content slightly which is amusing since when I ordered it at Latitude 29, I asked the bartender for the least alcohol-laden drink because I had a big night and many hours to go.
The Missionary's Downfall offered lime and mint aromas that led into a lime sip with hints of pineapple. Next, the swallow gave forth grassy rum, pineapple, and mint flavors with a peach and mint finish. Overall, toning down the most likely artificial peach notes (i.e.: more peach than peach is) from the liqueur gave this drink a bit more dignity.

1 comment:

Doug Winship said...

The Missionary's Downfall is one of my very favorite tiki drinks. It is interesting that the version you offer is quite different again from the one I like. Mine is from The Bum's old Tiki+ app.
It uses apricot brandy and is even lighter on the rum. I find it very usefully reassuring for (usually female) guests who are terrified of my usually booze-heavy drinks when it is tiki time.