As I was putting together the menu for a summer tea party, I wanted to make a cocktail with matcha (powdered green tea) in it and came across the
Green Monk by (now-defunct) One Cocktail. I ended up not serving it at the party because it looked like a lot of work and I had a lot of other foods to prepare for the party, but I did make it later because I was very curious about how it tasted.
Substitutions:
- Instead of Chartreuse I used Libertine 72 because I already had it and I was not likely to notice the difference with the small amount in the recipe (plus I'm not really into absinthe).
- I used a regular orange instead of a Meyer lemon since I couldn't find Meyer lemons to buy where I live in July.
Verdict: Due to the tremendous amount of work (making your own ginger honey syrup and brewed matcha) and expensive/hard to find ingredients (matcha powder, Chartreuse, vanilla bean, Meyer lemons) for such a small amount I will probably not make it again but I'm glad I tried it because it was quite good. The tiny splash of absinthe really elevates it.
RECIPE: Green Monk
