Zombie
Three rums, lime, grapefruit, cinnamon and falernum. Don the Beachcomber's famously strong tiki drink, now decoded.
- MethodBlended
- GlassCollins glass
- IceCrushed
- Strengthabout 19.1% ABV
- BaseRum
- Tastestrong, fruity, spicy
Recipe
| 45 ml 1½ oz | Jamaican rum (aged) |
| 45 ml 1½ oz | Aged rum |
| 30 ml 1 oz | Overproof Demerara rum |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Fresh lime juice |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Falernum (liqueur) |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Fresh grapefruit juice |
| 7.5 ml ¼ oz | Cinnamon syrup |
| 1 barspoon | Grenadine (pomegranate syrup) |
| 1 dash | Absinthe |
| 1 dash | Aromatic bitters (Angostura-style) |
Garnish. A large sprig of mint set beside the straw.
Method
- Put all the ingredients in a blender with about 180 ml of crushed ice.
- Blend on high for no more than 5 seconds; you want it chilled and aerated, not slushy.
- Pour into a tall glass and fill with crushed ice.
- Garnish with mint.
About the Zombie
The Zombie is the tiki bar at full strength: three rums, one of them overproof, layered with lime, grapefruit, cinnamon, clove-scented falernum and a whisper of anise. It tastes fruity and spiced and goes down far too easily for the amount of alcohol in it. Treat one as the evening's limit.
History
Documented
The Zombie was created by Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (Donn Beach) at his Don the Beachcomber bar in Hollywood, usually dated to 1934. It became a sensation and was copied across the United States, mostly with invented recipes, because Beach kept his own secret and coded the ingredients for his staff. In 2007 the tiki historian Jeff Berry published a recipe found in the notebook of a Beachcomber waiter, Dick Santiago, thought to date from around 1937; Berry worked out that "Don's Mix" in it means two parts grapefruit juice to one part cinnamon syrup. The spec here follows that recipe.
Legend and lore
Beach is said to have mixed the first one for a hungover customer, who came back complaining it had turned him into a zombie. The bar's limit of two per customer was real, but it was also good marketing, and the hangover story is unverified.
Disputed or unclear: The 1934 date and the exact original recipe both rest on later reconstruction; Beach kept no published record.
Variations
- Later Beachcomber Zombie. Beach changed the recipe over the years; 1950s versions use different rums and juices and are a little lighter.
- Mai Tai. A simpler, gentler tiki classic for a second round.
- Planter's Punch. The old Jamaican rum punch the Zombie grew out of.
Bartender's notes
- If you have no blender, shake hard with crushed ice and pour unstrained; the drink will be a little less frothy.
- The overproof rum is above 70% in some bottlings; never float or flame it near anything flammable.
