The Zombie is a tiki cocktail that was created in 1934 by Donn Beach and served at his Don the Beachcomber restaurant in Hollywood, California. Rumor has it that Donn Beach created this potent cocktail to help cure a regular customer’s hangover. When asked how his cure worked, the customer replied it made him feel like a “zombie”. Donn Beach was a pioneer of the tiki movement in the USA. He was notoriously secretive about his recipes as they were usually written in code. The Zombie is a monster of a cocktail as it contains 10 ingredients which includes 3 different rums, liqueurs, fruit juices and spices. Although there are many different versions of this cocktail, I am using Donn Beach’s original cocktail which was decoded by tiki historian and author Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. Donn Beach was so secretive about his recipes that he often used unmarked bottles and mysterious numbered mixes labeled Spices and Dashes. Part of the original recipe included “Donn’s Mix” in which no one knew what that was. Berry managed to find the original recipe and discovered it was a blend of cinnamon syrup and white grapefruit juice. It was originally blended together as 1 part cinnamon syrup to 2 parts grapefruit juice. Please note, I have separated the ingredients in this recipe so there’s one less step and increased the cinnamon syrup slightly to a 50/50 ratio because I wanted the cinnamon to shine through a little more but feel free to create it using the “mix” if preferred. Also interesting is when Donn Beach created this cocktail, he was trying to create the perfect rum by blending the 3. He was a true mixologist, and this was his masterpiece! He would only allow customers to have 2 because they were so strong and even stated on the menu – limit 2. Anymore, he said could make you “like the walking dead”. Cheers!
Equipment
- Cocktail Shaker
- Jigger
- Zombie Glass or Mug
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Hand Juicer
- Bitters Bottle (optional)
- Small saucepan
- Mesh Strainer
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Jamaican Rum (I used Plantation now renamed Plantaray)
- 1.5 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum (I used Bacardi)
- 1 oz 151-proof Demerara Rum (I used Hamilton)
- .75 oz Lime Juice (fresh squeezed)
- .5 oz Cinnamon syrup
- .5 oz Grapefruit Juice (fresh squeezed) *you can sub any fruit juice such as pineapple, passionfruit or guava if you can’t drink grapefruit juice.
- .5 oz Falernum (I used Velvet Falernum)
- I tsp Grenadine (I used Finest Call)
- 4 dashes Absinthe (I used Mephisto)
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- Fresh mint for garnish
Method
- Make the Cinnamon Syrup. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar and 4 cinnamon sticks broken up. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let set for at least 1 hour. Strain into a glass bottle. Cinnamon syrup will keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks.
- Make the cocktail. In a cocktail shaker halfway filled with crushed ice, add the Jamaican rum, Puerto Rican rum, Demerara 151 rum, lime juice, cinnamon syrup, grapefruit juice, falernum, grenadine, absinthe and Angostura bitters. Shake to combine at least 30 seconds and pour into a zombie glass or tiki mug.
- Add the garnish. Wash and dry a few sprigs of fresh mint. Slap the mint in between your hands to release the oils. Garnish the glass with the mint and add a straw. Cheers!
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