The Cocktail College Podcast: The (Re)Missionary’s Downfall

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Few tiki and tropical drinks are as light, herbal, and dangerously sessionable as the Missionary’s Downfall. It achieves this profile by straying from the genre’s usual path, swapping out heavy syrups and layered rum blends for pineapple, mint, peach brandy, and, of course, a little rum. Some say it’s a drink so good that it might just make you give up your previously pious life.

Created by Don the Beachcomber in the 1930s, it’s one of the genre’s earlier recipes and one of the first cocktails to embrace the power of the blender. And it’s the blender itself — and proper blending techniques — that will primarily be in the crosshairs on today’s episode. Here to lead us on that exploration is returning guest Garret Richard, VinePair Next Wave Awards 2024 Bartender of the Year, and the chief cocktail officer at Brooklyn’s Sunken Harbor Club.

It’s acid-adjusting, the art of blending, a verbal takedown of the Anti-Saloon League, and it’s all right here on this edition of the “Cocktail College” podcast. Tune in for more.

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Garret Richard’s Missionary’s Downfall Recipe

Ingredients

½ ounce acid-adjusted pineapple juice* or lime juice
½ ounce rich honey syrup (about 3:1 by weight, Florida Orange Blossom or Acacia)
½ ounce peach liqueur, such as Giffard Crème de Pêche de Vigne (from freezer)
½ ounce RinQuinQuin Peach Aperitif (from freezer)
1 ounce white rum, such as Probitas or Havana 3-Year (from freezer)
60 grams chopped pineapple chunks (frozen for a day, then taken out of freezer to defrost, and strained)
12-13 fresh mint leaves
1 ½ cups (170 grams) crushed ice
¼ teaspoon Xanthan gum
Garnish: pineapple wedge and mint sprigs

Directions

Add all ingredients sans ice to a blender and flash blend until fully incorporated (blend for as short a time as possible to achieve this).
Add ice and blend until chilled and fully incorporated (again, the shorter the better here).
Serve in a chilled Pearl Diver (or 10-ounce) glass and garnish with mint and pineapple wedge.