Name: Missionary's Downfall
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 15 fresh Mint leaves; 30 ml Light gold rum 1-3yo; 15 ml Peach schnapps; 10 ml Honey and water syrup; 15 ml Pineapple juice; 15 ml Lime juice

Missionary's Downfall
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Serve in a Collins glass

Ingredients:
15 fresh	Mint leaves
1 oz	Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
¹⁄₂ oz	Peach schnapps liqueur
¹⁄₃ oz	Honey syrup (3 parts honey to 1 water by weight)
¹⁄₂ oz	Pineapple juice
¹⁄₂ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
Prepare garnish of lime slice wheel and mint sprigs.
Lightly MUDDLE mint (just to bruise) with rum in base of shaker.
Add other ingredients and SHAKE with ice.
FINE STRAIN into glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish with mint sprigs bouquet.
Serve with a straw.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Recipes for this venerable Tiki classic vary enormously and are often confused with the Aku Aku which this drink morphed into at the hands of its creator, Donn Beach. The original recipe calls for peach brandy (distilled from fermented peaches) rather than peach liqueur (based on neutral spirit), but due to its clarity and clean flavour, I prefer peach schnapps as a substitute.

Many recipes blend fresh mint and pineapple, and while blending the mint gives the drink a vibrant green colour, it does resemble stagnant pond water and looks like something you'd only drink for the promise of perceived health-giving properties rather than for pleasure. Hence, my version is shaken, but be sure to use generous amounts of mint to impart colour and flavour.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe created in the late 1930s by Donn Beach at his Don The Beachcomber restaurant in Hollywood, California, USA.

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Kirill Ilin

9th June at 19:51

60 mil of dark rum
60 of pineapple juice
More mint
25 mil of creme de peche
Reach instead of honey

Šimon Durica

9th April at 10:44

Did someone try to use agave syrup instead of honey ?

Jose Cruz

13th July 2024 at 05:21

Excellent, delicate though and yield is small so make it a double if serving on large glass. no honey syrup ? microwave 3 parts honey 1 part water less then 5 seconds.

Chris Dimal

22nd January 2024 at 10:29

Everything here coalesces well, with a refreshing mint undertone.

John Hinojos

3rd July 2021 at 23:18

Very nice tiki style drink. As per some of the comments, we did use less mint and it was great. Still could taste the mint, but not overpowering.

Lennon Grimm

21st July 2020 at 01:34

Question: I have made several recipes with fresh mint from this website (which I love, wonderful work), and every single time it is disgustingly minty, bordering on undrinkable. I quartered the mint in this drink, using eight mint leaves for two cocktails, and the mint was still quite strong but not so dominant as to taste like toothpaste. Are you using different mint than I am? Is mint in the U.K. weak and pathetic? How is this discrepancy so strong?

Patrick Varner

22nd November 2021 at 03:16

Your palate, or your choice of mint may be to blame. Preference for mint varies as widely as cilantro/coriander leaf. To me, peach and honey dominate the mint. I enjoy a 2:1 mix of spearmint and peppermint. Grow ‘Black Mitcham’ mint if you can find it.

Simon Difford

21st July 2020 at 05:20

The Missionary's Downfall is a particularly minty drink with mint contributing as much to the colour as the flavour. I don't think our mint is weaker but lots of varieties with different flavours so you may have a point. Perhaps less is more. I'll look out for proportions of mint in recipes.