John the Baptist

1 oz Irish whiskey, Mitchell & Son Green Spot
1⁄2 oz Pineapple juice
1⁄2 oz Pistachio syrup
1⁄2 oz White Crème de Cacao, Marie Brizard
1⁄2 oz Apricot eau-de-vie, Blume Marillen
1⁄4 oz Half-and-half
1 t Coconut cream, Coco López (matcha mix, see notes)
2 ds Absinthe
1 pn Nutmeg (as garnish)
2 spg Mint (as garnish)
Instructions

Shake, strain into a tiki mug over fresh ice, garnish.

Notes

To make the Coco Lopez, take 1 tsp matcha powder and stir it into 1 can of Coco Lopez. Or if you don't want 90 drinks worth, this is equal to 1/8 tsp matcha and 3 Tbsp + 2 1/4 tsp Coco Lopez.

To make the pistachio syrup, soak 8 oz raw shelled pistachios in 4 oz hot water for 30 min, strain. Blend nuts with 4 oz fresh hot water and steep for 2 hrs. Strain nut milk to pan and add 4 C sugar. Heat until just dissolved, strain and add 1/2 oz everclear and dash orange flower water.

History

This is messy, and has changed quite a bit. See comment thread and this video, where the creator makes the drink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii72c6R91H4

Cocktail summary
Created by
Long Thai, The Dead Rabbit, NYC.
Year
2015
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

http://liquor.com/recipes/john-the-baptist/#vR8eSeAZJLrJMm05.97

Curator
Not yet rated
Average
5 stars
(2 ratings)
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From other users
  • 1 oz Irish whiskey, 1/2 oz Apricot eau-de-vie, 1/2 oz Creme de cacao, 1/2 oz Pineapple juice, 1/2 oz Pistachio syrup, 1/3 oz Matcha Green Tea Coco Lopez (90:1 ratio e.g. 2.5oz to 1/8tsp), 2 ds Pernod absinthe — ★★★★★
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Comments

Thanks guys for coming back on this recipe. The drink I made was lovely and I really want to make sure it's done justice. I didn't know we had a source video, this is great!

My opinion on the ingredients as you watch it through:

0:10 - 2 Dashes Absinthe

0:12 - Matcha Paste of unknown components

0:18 Coconut Cream Syrup

0:21 Pineapple Juice

0:24 Pistachio Syrup

0:30 & 0:35 Apricot Eau De Vie and White Creme De Cacao

0:40 Mitchell & Son Green Spot

I think the unsolved mystery is the matcha ingredient - the thing I still know for sure here is he's clearly using 1 spoon, and it's a paste not a powder. The flavour was strong even at my 90:1 ratio so it must be purpose made to a low ratio and you need very little matcha to get such a bold colour like in the video.

I am really confident I've got these right looking at the colour and consistency of ingredients; don't forget the Dead Rabbit Pistachio Syrup is house made and therefore won't have a green colour, which is not natural.

Edit: my brother has a copy of the book which I've asked him to check this evening in case it has a clear Matcha Green Tea Paste recipe.

I based my amendments on the Kindred Cited Source and found a further source detailing the Matcha Green Tea Coco López ingredient based on another Dead Rabbit drink here.

 

The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual doesn't have this recipe or any others that use matcha. I don't think this one's a mystery, though. Multiple recipes call out matcha Coco López.

I'm still skeptical of pineapple. Maybe lime juice, per their menu?

In the video(which is from 2015) the mystery juice is definitely bright yellow and foamy not the paler whitish color of lime juice. I think it's pineapple. Thanks, Zachary 

Mixology and Mayhem has a recipe for the Matcha Green Tea Coco López: 1 tsp matcha in 15 oz can Coco  López.

Drinks Manual has a recipe for pistachio syrup: soak 8 oz raw shelled pistachios in 4 oz hot water for 30 min, strain. Blend nuts with 4 oz fresh hot water and steep for 2 hrs. Strain nut milk to pan and add 4 C sugar. Heat until just dissolved, strain and add 1/2 oz everclear and dash orange flower water.

This is close to the pistachio orgeat recipe in Mixolology and Mayhem (250g pistachio in water at 60C for 30 min. Blend with 600 mL water. Milk is sweetened 4:3 with 600 g sugar, cooked at 70C, 3 mL ea Everclear and orange flower water.

Oof.... so there's 30 Tbsp of Coco Lopez in a can, so the 90:1 ratio is correct. Scaling that down to a less bar-centric amount would mean 1/8 tsp matcha in 3 3/4 Tbsp Coco Lopez, and the 3/4 Tbsp is 2 1/4 tsp... so 3 Tablespons and 2 1/4 teaspoons of Coco Lopez to 1/8 teaspoon matcha powder. Would we like to see two versions of this drink? One from Liquor.com and one from the video? It seems like this changed quite a bit over time so having a definitive version might not be possible. Thanks,  Zachary

The current liquor.com version could be pretty close to what is in the video from 2015. Only q would be the half-and-half.

It is still unclear to me why 2015 menus showed lime and not pineapple.

The "old" liquor.com version (May 2015) and the paste magazine version (Jan 2016) are both of a similar vintage and description, so I doubt the drink "changed" so much as these transcriptions lacked the juice component (be that lime or pineapple).

Ok, since this has gone long, if no one has any objections, I'm going to change this to the "new" liquor.com version, which more accurately  reflects the video. I'll add Coco Lopez/matcha mix and pistachio syrup recipes. Hopefully done tonight assuming the power stays on. Thanks,  Zachary