How To Make a Zombie Cocktail

Published by Jöhnny Dîablø in Mixed Drink Recipes
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How To Make A ZombieThe Zombie is one of the iconic Tiki drinks from the late 1930s. Created by Los Angeles restaurant owner Donn “Don the Beachcomber” Beach to get a hungover customer through an important business meeting, it reportedly turned the customer “into a zombie” for the duration of the trip. The Zombie cemented its popularity during the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, and hasn’t looked back since.

Zombie

Zombie Drink Recipe

  • 1 oz dark rum
  • 1 oz light rum
  • 1 oz gold rum
  • 1 oz apricot brandy
  • 1 oz pineapple juice
  • 1 oz papaya juice
  • 1 oz lime juice
  • 1 tsp superfine sugar
  • Dash of grenadine
  • Dash of bitters
  • ½ oz Bacardi 151
  • Mint sprig
  • Pineapple chunks
  • Maraschino cherries

Shake all of the juice, dark rum, light rum, gold rum, apricot brandy, bitters, sugar, and grenadine in a shaker with ice. Strain it into a hurricane glass with fresh ice. Float a lid of the overproof rum (Bacardi 151) and garnish with the fruit and mint. You can light the lid of Bacardi 151 to make a Flaming Zombie.

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Zombie Cocktail RecipeThe Zombie is one of the older Tiki drinks, characterized by fruit juice and lots of rum. The original recipe is slightly different from modern versions: in addition to a variety of rums and fruit juices, the old school version featured Pernod (similar to absinthe) and falernum, a cinnamon flavored liqueur, along with grapefruit juice.

Notes on the Zombie

Zombie CocktailThe modern version of the Zombie cocktail was curated by cocktail historian Jeff “Beach Bum” Berry, and discovered the recipes scouring old recipes left by Don the Beachcomber. Donn Beach used to encode his recipes, to make it more difficult for people to discover his secret formulas. The original recipe was altered a few times by Donn Beach between 1934 and 1956, and these variations were chronicled in Berry’s book, Sippin’ Safari.

The Don the Beachcomber restaurants where the drink originated limit consumption of the Zombie to two per customer. That’s not a bad idea, because this drink is a 10 out of 10 on the alcohol scale.

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About the author

Jöhnny is one of the members of the modern day FNDC . In addition to coding and providing content for the site, he also enjoys playing the guitar and watching trippy movies. His favorite mixed drinks are whiskey sours and Jägerbombs. His favorite beers are Blackhawk Stout, Old Rasputin, and Sierra Nevada.

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