Zombie
Ingredients
- 1 oz Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years
- 5⁄6 oz Light gold rum
- 2⁄3 oz Overproof aged pot still rum
- 1⁄2 oz Difford's Falernum liqueur
- 1 oz Pineapple juice
- 2⁄3 oz Lime juice
- 1⁄3 oz Pink grapefruit juice
- 1⁄6 oz Monin Grenadine Syrup
- 4 dash La Fée Parisienne absinthe
- 3 drop Saline solution (20g sea salt to 80g water) or merest pinch of s
- 1⁄4 barspoon Xanthan gum (E415) optional
Method
Glass:
Photographed in a Beachbum Berry Zombie Glasses
Prepare:
- Select and pre-chill a ZOMBIE OR COLLINS GLASS.
- Prepare garnish of mint sprigs.
Method:
- DRY BLEND (without ice) first 13 ingredients on a slow setting and then gradually add Xanthan while continuing to blend.
- Add 7oz scoop of crushed ice and BLEND some more.
- POUR into chilled glass.
Garnish:
- Garnish with mint sprigs bouquet.
- Serve with a straw.
History:
Adapted from a recipe created by Don Beach in 1934 at Don the Beachcomber's in Hollywood, California.
Review:
Powerful funky rum and delicate cinnamon spice, partially tamed by rich fruit and sweetened clove.
Arriving at a definitive Zombie is not straightforward due to Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt (AKA Don the Beachcomber), the originator of this heavily rum-laced fruit punch, changing his recipe over two decades.
Interpretation of his original 1930s recipe:
BLEND all ingredients with crushed ice and pour into a chilled Collins glass.
- 45ml (1½oz) Aged blended Jamaican rum
- 45ml (1½oz) Gold Puerto Rican-style light rum
- 30ml (1oz) 151-proof Demerara rum
- 22.5ml (¾ml) Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- 15ml (½oz) Falernum liqueur
- 10ml (⅓oz) Grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
- 5ml (spoon) Cinnamon syrup
- 5ml (spoon) Grenadine syrup
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 3 dash Absinthe
Over the years, he introduced ingredients such as passion fruit syrup, pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur and brown sugar syrup. And according to Tiki historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, the mixing method also changed from blended to shaken.
Interpretation of his 1950s recipe:
SHAKE all ingredients with ice and strain into glass filled with crushed ice.
- 30ml (1oz) Light white Puerto Rican-style rum
- 30ml (1oz) Gold Puerto Rican-style light rum
- 30ml (1oz) 151-proof Demerara rum
- 30ml (1oz) Passion fruit syrup
- 30ml (1oz) Pineapple juice
- 30ml (1oz) Lemon juice
- 30ml (1oz) Lime juice
- 5ml (spoon) Brown sugar syrup (2:1)
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
My recipe leans heavily on the original recipe published by Jeff Berry in his excellent book Sippin' Safari, which Jeff sourced from the 1937 notebook of Don Beach's waiter Dick Santiago. However, I've added the pineapple juice, which the Beachcomber introduced in later recipes, and reduced the rum to still-zombifying proportions.
